Reality? We don't need no stinking reality?

First off, pardon me if this sounds a little angry.  It's with good reason.  I am angry.  I'm angry that in a representative democracy, a few socialists have managed to gain too much power over the population.  And the population helped them get there.  Let's hope that liberals in office are on their way out the door in November before they do anything further to take liberty away from us in exchange for meaningless assurances of good health and the liberal dream of being freeloading do-nothingers that still get paid to produce foul air out of their Sphincter Pelosi worshiping stench holes.

I recommend the following doses of reality from Thomas Sowell (see links at bottom of post), who is a real black man and deserves to be president, unlike our current president who pretends to be black (in order to take advantage of a hopeful black population) and deserves to be peddling hope at a hot dog stand.  I'm not convinced that he loves his fellow black man, much less his fellow American.  Instead, I think he uses them to his own glory.  He should have vetoed the hell out of this bill, but being a man of absent principles, he continues to think only of Obama and his socialist legacy. 

But hey, abortions, 50% off.  So that's great.  What a legacy!  You think that they are passing these laws because they really care about you, or old people, or sick people, or poor people?  You'd better wake up.  My advice to all of us (including myself) is to have the brains and the nuts to vote right from now on, or we may reach a point where the damage cannot be reversed.  Once you burn your skin to a point, it won't heal.  That is what congress has done to America with its vote on Sunday and in the Senate last year. 

To a liberal you are one thing, and one thing only: a vote towards power (theirs, not yours).  They'll tell you they love you, but it's just to get in your pants.

Talking Points Vs. Realities

and

Point of No Return?

The Baby

Storm the Bastille

I don't care if you're a republican, democrat, or what...  If you're an American, your liberty is on its way out the door.  If you'd like to welcome it back, call your congressperson(s).  Don't let this stinkfest go down without a fight. Some of the talking heads and "representatives" may not think that Constitutional procedure is important, but then again, people that say things like that probably don't think you are very important either.  Personally, I love it when my representatives tell me that I don't care about procedure and probably wouldn't know what they were talking about anyhow (almost as much as I love it when they say that Americans are unengaged and uninformed). Certainly, progressives are losing all sense of how laws are passed in this nation of FREE peoples.  Power corrupts.  What was it they said again about absolute power?

You can learn more about being Slaughtered by clicking here.  Welcome to the USSA.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The liberal monkey is right. I do want to see him act. Just not like a damn fool. Hardball... More like Soft Nuts.

Now might be a good time...

...to go short the $USD.  Also, get ready for higher borrowing rates.  Oh, and the social security funds you've had taken from you since your very first paycheck?  Gone.  Poof.

Shoulda listened to Bush 43 when he wanted to privatize Social Security.  That was our last chance to save something of the system.  There were lots and lots of mistakes and thievery along the way, though.

Thought this was interesting...

Haggling over price...

Also, added a couple new links to the Finance section to the right:  Finer Points and Mortgage Daily.

Debt Limit Made Simple

Simple.  That's how I roll.

Letter to Uncle M

My uncle passed away.  A few months ago, he seemed very near death.  However he slowly, yet miraculously, appeared to be recovering.  He relapsed suddenly and is now gone.  I am not a theology professor, or a preacher, or a biblical scholar, so hopefully I have remained logical and theologically on-target.  But after I had seen him in the hospital while he was ill, knowing that he must certainly be fearful of death, I was compelled to write him the following letter to remind him of a hope that is real:

For My Uncle, at the Beginning of Life:

Uncle M, I know you are probably a little bit scared sometimes at this time of your life. You already know that it's normal to worry and wonder what is going to happen. Maybe a good analogy is surgery. When you are about to have surgery, you have hope going in that you will be better off afterwards, but you don't really know for certain that everything went like it was supposed to until you wake up and are reassured by those standing around you. In life, it's easy to have doubts and be worried, especially when you don't know how God will judge you. Let me assure you that God is not only just, He is merciful. I'm going to get a little philosophical here, but please bear with me. There are many examples of what I'm talking about. Here are three:



Example 1 - King David, author of the Psalms, killer of Goliath. In the 11th chapter of Samuel, the bible describes how David who was then a King took a liking to Bathsheba, a beautiful woman that was someone else's wife. In fact, she was the wife of a soldier that was devoted to David's army. He was a man who opted to finish a war when given the option to go home. David not only had an affair with that man's wife, he had him sent into a dangerous battle with the intent of getting him killed. Pretty despicable stuff. David later married that woman, and they had Solomon. God was just with David but also blessed him and loved him. Certainly not because of, but in spite of his failures and his sinful nature.



Example 2 - Before he became the well-known Paul the Apostle, Paul was a powerful Roman citizen who persecuted Christians. He didn't just call them names and make fun of them. He had men and women dragged out of their homes, beaten, and even murdered, simply because they were Christians. He probably left a lot of widows and orphans in his wake. Not only did God forgive him of all of that, He used him and made him one of the world's most famous author's and messengers. Paul himself went through quite a bit of suffering even after he became a follower of Christ, but God gave him a gift by forgiving him and helping him to see the truth. All Paul had to do was accept it.



Example 3 - The criminal on the cross. When Jesus hung, nailed to a big wooden beam, two other men, both criminals, hung close enough to him for them to speak to each other. One of them sarcastically told Jesus to save them since he was the Christ. The other, who truly believed, admitted that he was punished justly for his crimes and asked Jesus to remember him. Jesus assured the man that he would be with him in paradise. What a comfort that must have been to a man who was struggling for his last breaths. Even though that man could not go back and undo any of the mistakes he may have made, Jesus knew his heart was in the right place. The criminal's life was not miraculous like David's may have been, but Jesus' words to him are proof that God cares for even the very least of men. Without knowing it, the criminal knew the meaning behind what is in Romans chapter 10 vs. 10: "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."



Finally, I want to remind you something that you already know. Even though I was raised in the church, this never really clicked for me until about a couple of years ago. I never really got it. I didn't get why Jesus had to die to save anyone. It seemed odd for a God of the universe to require a sacrifice when he could just choose to forgive. But there is one important premise which defines our Christian faith. Simply put: the penalty for sin is death. That is the point of the whole thing. That's the reason why Christianity matters. I still don't know exactly why death is the penalty; maybe because God is good and is life, and where there is no life, there can be only death. All sin, no matter how small is infinitely apart from God because He is Good. The only bridge over that gap between men and God is the fact that Jesus who was both God and man suffered the penalty of sin: death. Only a man who was blameless in the eyes of God could satisfy this requirement. That is why you and I don't have to. That is why you and I, who have not lived perfect lives, will still be forgiven and welcomed into Heaven. Our God, who requires justice, loves us enough to have found a way around His own requirement for death and replaced it with forgiveness and life.



In Matthew chapter 19, the disciples ask Jesus: "Who can be saved?" Jesus answers: "With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible."



I love you, and so does your God.

This Made Me Laugh

Powered by oranges.  Nice.

Economics 101 - ebook edition

Found this NYT article through Marginal Revolution.  Here is the relevant quote:

“The sense of entitlement of the American consumer is absolutely astonishing,” said Douglas Preston, whose novel “Impact” reached as high as No. 4 on The New York Times’s hardcover fiction best-seller list earlier this month. “It’s the Wal-Mart mentality, which in my view is very unhealthy for our country. It’s this notion of not wanting to pay the real price of something.”

In which Mr. Preston confuses price with cost.
Listen.  It "costs" the book publishers a certain amount of money to create, in this case, a physical book called "Impact".  That cost includes royalties to the author and salaries to the various employees who do editing, copyediting, proofing, art design, marketing, and production among many others.  Also included in that cost are charges for paper and ink.  We won't even get into pro-rated portions of property, plant, and equipment.  Add up everything that goes into creating, publishing, and distributing the work of fiction called "Impact".  That, Mr. Preston, is the publisher's "cost".
Then there is the middle man: Barnes and Noble, Amazon, your local book shop.  That book shop has certain expenses it must cover also, and therefore must sell the book at some dollar amount over and above what they paid for it.  This is called the retail profit.
Price, on the other hand, is what a willing buyer (me, the book reader) will pay to a willing seller (Amazon) in exchange for a good or service, in this case, your book.  That is the "real price".  The willing seller must make a profit.  The willing buyer must get something of value for the money exchanged.  If the bookseller cannot make a profit, they can either reduce their costs, or in the long run, go out of business.  If the buyer (me, the book reader) does not feel like he would receive enough value for the price the seller is charging, the buyer will not purchase the good or service - or he will purchase the good or service from a competitor of the book shop.
On a more macro level, and in a competitive marketplace (in which booksellers and publishers operate), the ultimate price of the book is determined by supply and demand, which changes over time.  The "Wal-Mart mentality" that you so decry is the economic theory of supply and demand playing out, and applying downward pressure on book prices.

The great thing about the capitalist marketplace is, if you don't like it, or if you can't make enough profit you can either find a different (more cost-effective) way of doing business or you leave the industry altogether.

Everyone else is doing it, so why can't I?

In no particular order, my favorite super bowl commercials from last night:
1) Dodge Charger - Man's Last Stand - my #1 favorite
2) TruTV - Punxsutawney Palomalu
3) Doritos - Snack Attack Samurai
4) VW - Punch
5) Monster.com - Casual Friday
6) Denny's - Screaming Chickens.  (Yes, I know.  But I laughed.  Twice.)
7) Dove -  The Journey to Comfort
8) NCIS - Head Slap

Most of the commercials were crap.  I absolutely hate E*Trade's baby commercials.  Go Daddy makes me sick.

I will see Robin Hood and Prince of Persia in the theaters.

The Who was bleh.

The game....oh, yeah.  The game.  Exciting.  I was glad New Orleans won.