tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276970092024-03-13T21:18:22.418-07:00The Great Depression of 2006 Its a place undefined in time, a location that no one would ever willingly travel to. Are we there yet? The answer is yes. But its going to take 7 to 8 years for the reality to sink in.Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.comBlogger704125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-90512838746504369242023-12-22T20:30:00.000-08:002023-12-23T09:23:08.245-08:00An interesting Solution<p>Judges at various levels in the United States are making
political rulings that show no show no bearing to the laws of the land. These judges can keep on making rulings and
causing a lot of grief. Not everyone in
court can afford to contest these judge’s ruling.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What would happen if a higher court or the Supreme Court
ruled against a judge and stated that any other rulings by this judge in the
future, would have no merit or judicial enforcement in the court system. This
would be a way for the courts to clean their own house. The judge would be out
of a job.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">It's an interesting solution, could it work?</p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-51481349629618056072023-11-01T20:34:00.000-07:002023-11-01T20:34:30.491-07:00The Interest Rate Conundrum<p>Everyone in the United States (I exaggerate) refinance their homes when
interest rates hit 2.25% and of course, this was a new 30-year loan that made
payments lower, but longer. And they
probably refi-ed so they could take more money out and enjoy life. Now interest rates have jumped to 6 %---and for some, up to 8%. Many people now find it hard to afford a home.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The banks loaned money at 2.25% long term to homeowners for
30 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, the banks’ depositors want
higher interest rates. Depositors can withdraw their short-term savings and deposit
them elsewhere at a higher rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
problem is the banks cannot cover the spread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Essentially, they are bankrupt. They loaned hard money at 2.25% long
term, for 30 years, and cannot afford to pay the depositors current rates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You cannot make a promise long term if the
short term makes it impossible. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The government lowered the interest rates artificially to
lower the payments on the national debt. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This robbed retired savers of their retirement
interest income. Everyone refinanced, and the new problem, inflation crept in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Raising interest rates only makes it worse.
And that is where we are at.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This happened once before with the Savings and Loan collapse
of the 1990’s. Of course, no one remembers back that far. Do they? That problem was a minnow, this one is a whale.<o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-50282898296244289782023-10-06T19:56:00.000-07:002023-10-06T19:56:08.200-07:00The New Bill of Rights for the US of A<p> If you are broke and own nothing, you can do whatever you
want within reason. You can shoplift up
to $999 per day, every day. Use the
streets as a public toilet. Camp wherever you want. And beat up and threaten
any one of your choosing. And if you are an illegal alien, you can drive drunk
or beat your wife with a coat hanger and get no jail time. To add injury to insult, since there is no
bail, the perpetrator can return, to beat the crap out of the person who turned
him/her in to the police. And if you are
a witness, you get a free swimming lesson in the bathtub or some hot lead air
ventilation.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>But if you have a job and pay your taxes, God help you, if
you don’t pay that your speeding ticket.
Own a home, you are a sitting duck, the government can tax you to death. If you have some money, you can be sued for frivolous
offenses. The police will not waste
their time arresting a deadbeat or a drug addict. The offender gets released
back on the street. But look like a regular citizen, they can milk
you for any offense of the law.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>These new ideas of bail reform (no
bail) are destroying our system of law and order. If I can plunder $900 dollars
a day and not go to jail, what is that in real wages? That is $328,500 a year. I could bore you with what it costs for a
working stiff, paying taxes, to afford cocaine, but the point is, he doesn’t
have the time to really get involved in drugs like a homeless person can.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 10.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 10.5in;">So, remember, as a tax paying
citizen, you have rights: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the right to
pay taxes and the right to obey the laws or be fined by the courts. Be silent
and make no waves.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 10.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are a dead beat, the laws don’t apply
to you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do what you want. You have no money and are therefore of no interest to the government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A sad perspective on life, isn’t it?<o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-32593107949169575022023-06-23T22:02:00.000-07:002023-06-23T22:02:22.136-07:00Can we spend beyond our means forever?<p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> Can we spend beyond our means forever? Let's see, 31 trillion dollars times six percent is 1.86
trillion. That’s the interest on the
nation debt. Add 5 trillion. Recalculate, now we are at 2.1 trillion in interest on the
debt.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The real problem, taxes are not really covering what we are
spending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The National debt is funded by
banks that have money deposited in them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This money is from retirement funds.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have to admit that retirees have saved for retirement
for a lifetime and the money is there, they saved it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One problem, the banks have loaned the money
to the Treasury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure of the amount,
but it must be between 31 trillion and 52 trillion.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s like Social Security, the money was collected and
borrowed from the fund to finance the debts of the federal government. There is
an IOU that’s declares, the money has been deposited to the SS fund. The
trouble is, it has been borrowed by Congress and has been spent.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Basically, we have to ask one question, “How can our
retirement and savings be there if it has already been spent?”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Technically it is there, because people only draw out small
amounts and the government can cover the withdrawals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Ponzi scheme is getting some
sunlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At what point does the house
of cards collapse?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The retiree is not going to draw out their <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>whole retirement amount, the tax rates would
forbid it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what if I told you, the
money wasn’t there for everyone, It has been spent and you will not be able to recover it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Weimar Republic in 1923 ruined the monetary system of
the German Republic. People’s savings were destroyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>History doesn’t remember much, but people
well off, were left with nothing, their savings were gone.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Old people were reduced to scrounging trash cans for
something to eat.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This could happen again only this time it will be in the
USA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It kind of sucks, doesn’t it?<o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-13789299942025199972023-02-02T20:17:00.002-08:002023-05-19T21:20:18.590-07:00The Unseen Catastrophe<p> Congress has been printing money at a spendthrift rate. Interest rates were low, and now they are rising.</p><p>The national debt is at 31 trillion. The big thing for Congress is, what is the interest payment for the next fiscal year? What are the implications.</p><p>As the interest rates rise, so does the interest on the national debt. The thing to remember is, most people in Congress have not had any education relating to economics. The other thing to remember is that most voters have no idea of what economics is all about. We have a lot of people that think everything is normal and today will be like yesterday. So, what this boils down to is the fact that we could have a meltdown. </p><p>It is kind of like Southwest Airlines. Everything worked until it didn't. </p><p>If /When the interest rates hit 8% the government cannot pay the interest. What happens at that point? Your 401K is dust. They have borrowed everything you have saved and spent it.</p><p>Can you spell Zimbabwe? </p><p>Remember eggs don't cost more, your currency buys less.</p><p>The idea that costs are rising is absurd. It just takes more dollars for the purchase. The government has pissed in the whisky. They have printed what they could not tax out of us.</p><p>At some point, when they can't pay the interest on the national debt, the real problem begins. Insolvency.</p><p>Precious metals could save your retirement.</p><p>I've seen cigarettes go from 25 cents a pack to $10--tell me I am wrong.</p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-26600262672588838352022-10-31T20:03:00.001-07:002022-11-01T21:48:41.555-07:00The claim "Democrats vote early"<p>Every wonder why when it comes election time, you hear the
phrase “Democrats vote early?” It’s
treated as a known fact. There is no way
statistically, that that statement can be substantiated. Most would agree that
it would probably be about a 50-50 split.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let’s look at the term “early voting.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has to involve a paper absentee ballot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early votes are those cast before election
day. The regular votes are tallied and then the paper ballots are counted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If one accepts the premise that Democrats vote early, it is
no surprise to see Democrats rise past their Republican counterparts when the
absentee ballots are counted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The conclusion
“Democrats vote early” is valid.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What you could be looking at is election fraud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would more people vote Democrat than
Republican in just the absentee ballots? Nobody raises that question, after all
everyone knows Democrats vote early.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Any good statistician could, after looking at the polling
numbers of the live voters, could project out the totals for the mail in
ballots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From there, the election commission
or whatever it is called can create the necessary winning ballots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many ballots
mailed out, are not returned and some of the voters are dead or moved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, in an election where say there is about
one million voters, there is about 5% to 20% not returned. Skimming one or two
percent of the vote, could determine the winner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one will know. Democrats always vote early. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also with absentee ballots, you can sell your vote for
cash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>$200 dollars for groceries for
your kid or vote, make the decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Millions of dollars are spent on these elections, and it is not all going
to advertising. $200 a vote buys 5,000 votes with just one million.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We need to get rid the idea that “Democrats vote early” and end
absentee ballots.<o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-31605883923399567682022-10-09T21:45:00.000-07:002022-10-09T21:45:15.942-07:00Do things really cost more?<p>The mentality of the population in the USA thinks that
prices are rising. Things cost more. It
is kind of laughable. The actual fact is, the dollar is worth less than it was
yesterday.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Things are not more expensive; the dollar has lost value. $20 used to fill a gas tank in the 1960’s. Now in 2022 20 gallons of gas costs $120. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The fact to realize, is that things
don’t cost more, your dollar buys less. Politicians’
blame this price rise on the gas refiners and the stores. How dare you gouge the consumer! </p><p class="MsoNormal">What we are really looking at is an
erosion of value of the dollar---it doesn’t buy as much as it used to.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 804.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 804.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p>The concept to look at is: a rise in
prices doesn’t mean the item is more expensive. The dollar doesn’t have the
purchasing power it once had.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 804.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-90967475346453945022022-04-08T20:03:00.001-07:002022-04-09T13:19:06.923-07:00The Hidden Truth of the 2020 US Election.<p>The US is splitting apart.
On one side we have the Republicans, and on the other side we have the
Democrats, News Media and Internet.
Normally the Republicans and Democrats balance each other out and the
independents decide the elections. Now
we have CNN, MSN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Facebook and Twitter
solidly on the side of Democrats. These
internet conglomerates censor the news by blocking users from distributing
content that they deem misinformation or by omission, failing to report the news. Basically, this is censorship. The news medias, through their biases, are
influencing the thoughts of the country.
The funny thing is, these people probably only represent about 5 percent
of the population. </p><p>Most voters begin to think about elections a week before
the event. A majority of American voters don't follow politics, have no memory of the performance of their candidate over the last 4
years. The news media and social media will guide them in choosing a candidate. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our last election had flagrant voter and media fraud. The Democrats, the news media and the
internet giants like Facebook and Twitter censored all of it. They were against Trump. They censored the
Biden laptop that exposed the corruption and graft in the Biden family before
the election. It is now slowly coming to light.
People don’t fully appreciate how powerful censorship by omission
is. This helped swing the election to
Biden. You can see the newspaper bias
when you read “Trump falsely claims that he won the election.” The word “falsely”
doesn’t belong in the sentence. That is
for the reader to decide. Including the word, makes the sentence an opinion.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>A lot has been discussed about the convenience of mail in
voting. If you lived in a country like
China or Russia, would you want mail in voting? Fill the ballot out wrong and you might end
up in a gulag rehab camp. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Democrats and Republicans vote the party line most of the time. With mail in votes, you also have included
people who would not make an effort to vote in person. These are the votes to focus on. 10 million dollars will buy a lot of
advertising and it is always questionable how effective it is. Take the same 10 million and send out
couriers to purchase those blank ballots. Figure they would pay up to $200 per ballot. Imagine a courier is given 2,000 dollars and told to show up with 10
ballots filled out with their parties’ candidates selected, that’s not hard to
do. You knock on the voter’s door and offer to help them fill out the ballot,
give the voter $100 and drop it off for free. Such a deal. If you are poor, $100 is something tangible
that can be spent. It is only one vote,
no big deal, take the money. If you are
the courier, any part of the $200 not given to the voter for their ballot, is the
couriers, free and clear. 10 million dollars could buy 50,000 votes. Zuckerberg spent 420 million on the 2020 election. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The Democrats want voters to be able to vote without having
a voter ID. They also want them to vote
absentee without any identification. In California, if you get
mailed a ballot, you can vote. That mail
in ballot is worth money, you can sell it. By forcing the voter to vote in
person, the ability to buy votes disappears. If you have a city of 100,000 voters, figure 60 percent will vote.
With mail in voting, many of the ballots of people who have moved or have died
get returned to the election board. Those returned absentee ballots are blank
checks. Who’s to say how many were
returned to the election board? No one will know if those “votes” somehow get
submitted and counted, especially if there is no voter id or signature required. This is what the Democrats want to do in
every state, unrestricted no ID voting.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Democrats in the past have been the party of
repression. After the civil war, The Democrats took over the south. They passed laws to keep blacks from voting, referred to as “Jim Crow" laws. They also formed the Klu Klux Klan that went
around terrorizing and killing blacks. They were for segregation in schools. Times
have changed, the Democrats used to represent the working man, now they represent
big money and labor unions.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The thing not fully comprehended by outsiders, is the fact that many
election districts have ways of keeping the local people in power. A city that is run by Democrats for 50 years
is kind of an indication that something is not right. It doesn’t matter how you
vote; the same party gets reelected. In
that case, people stop voting, they consider it a waste of time. Think about
it, if a city doesn't update the voter rolls, a lot of ballots get returned by the
Post Office. Who is to say that post
office returned 100 or 10,000 ballots? Wink Wink, most voter fraud is at local
levels.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The super-rich people in this country are now aligning with
the Democratic party. They are trying to
fragment the rest of the population, by tearing down our historical statues and
rewrite our history with critical race theory.
I don’t think we are ready for this. This isn’t what Democracy is all
about. Live and be free, not live and
fear the "woke" people. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Something is not
right. And the further we go in time; more things seem to be falling apart.
Biden is destroying the fabric of our democracy and everything else to boot. Obama’s
quote about Joe Biden, “Don’t underestimate Joe's ability to F things up,” rings true.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To be continued<o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-10366414537786523552022-03-09T20:27:00.002-08:002022-03-09T20:33:47.311-08:00The Ukrainian Dilemma<p>The Ukraine is a peaceful country and yet it has been attacked by Russia that has nuclear weapons.</p><p>It's definitely not a defensive move by Russia. If the world lets this go without stopping this horrible rape of an innocent country, the other adjacent countries are next. It has nothing to do with Nato. It has to do with human decency. We must stand up to atrocities not turn a blind eye to them.</p><p>Let's take a stand, support the Ukraine and strike anyone who wishes them harm. How can Russia say we risk world war? Putin is the one risking world war. He is threatening that because he is vulnerable. We can attack his forces in Ukraine with impunity; they shouldn't be there.</p><p>Poland, give them the planes now, the USA has no balls under Biden. Europe is next, if Putin is successful. Putin needs to be stopped in the Ukraine. A country will only go nuclear when the homeland is threatened. Putin is bluffing with a bad poker hand.</p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-85615030912923872942021-12-21T23:30:00.005-08:002021-12-22T21:41:24.193-08:00The Money In the Bank<p>When one thinks of all of the money in banks all over the
world, it has to be the savings of individuals. A lot of it is retirement savings. There are
a lot of people borrowing these dollars, governments, investors, stockbrokers,
etc. Banks, brokerages and investment firms are the conduit for these
transactions. The whole thing almost
collapsed in 2008. Congress came to the
rescue and saved the banks. Ever wonder
why? The United States government is the
biggest borrower from the banks. If they
go under, the whole system collapses.
The government would be insolvent.</p><p>Back in the 1960’s, Congress was spending so much that the Social
Security Trust Fund wasn’t generating enough cash for them to borrow from. Well, they figured a way to get access to
more money by passing the IRA and 401k plan.
It sounded like a retirement savings plan. It kind of was. The neat thing about it is that you could not
withdraw the funds until you were 65 and then you paid taxes on it. So, if something went seriously wrong, the
saver could not cash out without a severe tax penalty. This meant that there would
be no panic selling on Wall Street. This restriction allowed the government to
borrow hard dollars earned today and give back inflated dollars when people
retired. This was a lag time of about 40
years.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The thing I look back to in history is the Weimar Republic
of Germany in the 1920’s. People saved
for retirement and then their monetary system collapsed. The old were hit the hardest. These were the
people with savings in the bank. These were
the people who were trashed. They lost
everything. The real thing not realized
is that when you get old, you become invisible. Governments know that old
people are expendable when it comes to their savings, in 10 years, they are
dead and soon forgotten. These people saved and played by the rules
and then in retirement, they get shafted.
No one will get voted out of office or go to jail for this crime. Nobody
right now, comprehends how bad Congress has screwed up government financing. It
has been going on for years. We are talking
at least 60 years. This isn’t a Democrat
or Republican thing; it involves all of Congress.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What you have to look at is this. All of your savings could end up as a big
zero. Just like Zimbabwe, 4 billion dollars
for a cup of coffee. The 401K has no
investment advantage in today’s world. It offers a negative return on investment
over a span of 40 years.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Precious metals on the other hand, were not that great when
interest rates were high. Why buy metals
when you other investment could return 10-20% interest? Parking savings into precious metals has no
downside at this time. There is no interest
lost from taking possession of precious metals, in today’s world. Inflation
over time, is very cruel to people saving for retirement. Bear in mind that a person’s age defines
their present perception of inflation. To
a person entering retirement, inflation has stolen their savings. When they
started saving, 50 years ago, interest rates were around 5 to 9%. A million-dollar
nest egg would have provided $50,000 to $90,000 in interest every year. Not in today’s
world, the interest is about $10,000 per year.
This is not what was envisioned when they started their IRA. If you’re 25 years old, an IRA appears to be
a fool’s dream. There is no reward for
saving money, compound interest is no longer the “8<sup>th</sup> Wonder of the
World.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Monetary survival of your assets is your goal. With interest rates so low, precious metals
have command of the playing field.
Governments over time cannot control the value of their currency. Real estate is often used as a good store of
value that survive the curse of inflation.
The trouble is, their high visibility to be taxed, not to mention rent
control. It still has had a very good
return over a timeline of 20 years. Gold,
silver and platinum are my favorites. If
you hold all three, you can play the metals market. You can trade from one
market to the other. The nice thing
about precious metals is that they are not visible to the banks or to
government. That can be to your benefit
if you end up in a rest home. I have my
son and wife on our bank safety deposit boxes, only two keys. So, there is no
probate problem in this case.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The reality of what we are looking at in the current financial
markets is rather unusual. Probably the
right word would be absurd. No one is going to save money in a bank paying 0.05
% interest. Are investors accepting a contradiction
of economic principles? I think not. But the problem is this, the investor doesn’t
know what to expect from this sort of convoluted banking, involving our government
debt. This hot mess cannot be financed by zero interest rates without savings
coming from somewhere. We could be
facing the biggest banking collapse in history. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The only plausible source of funds that I can come up with
is the 401K retirement plans along with other pension plans. The real question to ask, is who is holding
on to all of these real estate loans at 2% when the interest rate jumps to say
4%? The rule of 72 states, divide the interest rate into 72 to get the time it
takes to double your money. 72 divided
by 2% interest, is 36 years. That’s a few years short of retirement. 72 divided
by 4% interest, is 18 years, means your savings could quadruple by the time you
hit retirement age. What is not sold to anyone at the present time is that at
1% interest, you wait 72 years for your funds to double. Nobody will accept those terms if it is pointed
out to them. If everyone was to spend their paycheck now for immediate
gratification; the banking system
goes poof.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The economic rules are in place, and the system violates every one of them. I'm debating now, do I buy gold or platinum? I'm not trying to make money; I am trying to keep what I have already earned.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Merry Christmas everyone and have a Happy New Year</p><p class="MsoNormal">Jim in San Marcos</p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-14208457830109442252021-12-12T21:00:00.004-08:002021-12-13T20:59:50.019-08:00The New Green Idiocy<p>The politicians in power want to get rid of gas burning
cars and replace them with electric cars. Less emissions and they tout less of
a carbon footprint. This doesn’t really ring true. We have about 287 million vehicles on the road.
What happens when we go electric? The power plants will need to triple electricity
production (this is a guess on my part).
Presently we have about 540,00 electric cars on the road.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The biggest sales incentive for electric cars, is that they
are environment friendly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They claim that
you can charge a vehicle for about $13 dollars for a fill up and at a cost of 4
cents a mile. If the US went to electric cars, imagine the tax loss to the
government on gasoline; 18 cents per gallon federal excise tax, 67 cents California tax,
and 9% sales tax on the price, comes out to about $1.20 a gallon.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The environmentalists talk about green earth and they miss
the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The amount of electricity needed to
supply trucks to transport goods for delivery is not even feasible using present power plant output.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The funny thing is that it involves burning
more coal and natural gas to produce the power needed.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>If you look at the diagram below, coal and natural gas are 2/3's of our energy
production. The people in charge want to go to wind and solar as a transition
to a green earth plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a little
too far-fetched to believe. The current government wind energy program allows doctors or other high earners to get a half million-dollar tax credit for investing in a wind turbine.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFoYjvqcoca0QC9GC9d7e9D3bfuczwVwrap1bZlIRCuk1JoyGsea7rRhD317s7F-IxwMV-mVYXIlZNhuHXwhYj82O2Bkt2a4kZhiyU6pD8LUOxYuY8eYe_6oUCx-2IQvkSRVzzzZRViL3gzwu_-RQwv55nHF09pCd9sIpqZsFxTuo0CUbrOg=s783" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="783" height="485" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFoYjvqcoca0QC9GC9d7e9D3bfuczwVwrap1bZlIRCuk1JoyGsea7rRhD317s7F-IxwMV-mVYXIlZNhuHXwhYj82O2Bkt2a4kZhiyU6pD8LUOxYuY8eYe_6oUCx-2IQvkSRVzzzZRViL3gzwu_-RQwv55nHF09pCd9sIpqZsFxTuo0CUbrOg=w640-h485" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Diagram courtesy of Wikimedia Commons</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Right now, if the Chinese wanted to attack us, they could shut
down our entire communications network with one Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb. It would
fry cell phones and destroy the electrical grid. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">A solar flare could do the same. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Imagine the extra kick that would have, if all
of our cars were electric. It reminds me of Texas, last winter, with all of the
wind turbines shutting down from the snow and ice.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The car industry as a whole, cannot produce an electric car
that is profitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elon Musk is not
making millions on producing electric cars, but making millions on selling the government
tax credits to other car companies.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal">Quoting Adam Schrader for the Dailymail.com Jan 31, 2021<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="mol-para-with-font" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"></p><blockquote><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 11pt;">The electric car maker recorded a
net income of $721million in 2020, from a gross profit of $5.4billion.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="mol-para-with-font" data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p><blockquote><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 11pt;">But the
company's revenues show Tesla would have noted a net loss for 2020 if it had
not relied on its lucrative $1.6billion in sales of regulatory zero emission
credits to other carmakers.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="mol-para-with-font" data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p><blockquote><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 11pt;">Regulatory
credits are given by the state and federal government for contributing zero
pollution to the environment. Carmakers must hold a certain number of credits
or face hefty fines or have their business licenses revoked.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="mol-para-with-font" data-t="{"n":"blueLinks"}" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p><blockquote><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 11pt;">Tesla can
bank and sell to other carmakers that need help complying with emissions
regulations to avoid the heavy fines. </span></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Cambria, serif;">Tesla is selling for over $1,000 a
share. Kind of reminds me of the South Sea bubble.</span><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Cambria, serif;"> </span></span></p><p></p><p class="mol-para-with-font" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: "Cambria",serif;"> </span><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Cambria, serif;">Energy independence makes gasoline
and diesel vehicles a fail-safe form of reliable transportation in times of
instability. Just waiting in line at Costco
to get gas, makes you marvel at hundreds of cars filling up each hour. Imagine waiting 3 hours to charge your car at
home (no line). Imagine what you could
be charged at a charging station for electricity. Sixty dollars an hour might
be a reasonable price; waiting in line wouldn’t be a viable option.</span></span></p><p class="mol-para-with-font" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Cambria, serif;">The real concept that needs to be advanced, is using hydrogen to power our </span><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Cambria, serif;">vehicles</span><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Cambria, serif;">. The trouble is, there is no cash incentive to bring it to </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Cambria, serif;"><span>fruition. There are billions at stake building electric cars that are unprofitable to produce and at the same time very limited in their range of travel. There is a gold rush among car producers right now, for electric car emission credits from the federal government. </span></span></span></span></p><p class="mol-para-with-font" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Cambria, serif;"><span>Running out of electricity is not like running out of gas, but you do have to wonder why electric cars are considered better by the government. I've always said that whatever the government wants you to do, be against it; they don't have your best interest at heart. What do I </span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Cambria, serif;">know?</span></span></span></p><br /><p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-24723694511213564042021-11-28T21:39:00.000-08:002021-11-28T21:39:46.618-08:00California Living The Good Life<p>All of our interaction with the government seems very
normal. A bill for property taxes, a
bill for car registration, car insurance, and other items are all the norm. If you
own a car, and want to keep it legal, you need to pay for plates and insurance.
Go to a store and pay for your
merchandise and walk out.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In California it is different. If you are homeless, there are no property
taxes (kind of obvious). No license, no
car insurance, no big deal; you won’t go to jail. When you get a ticket, forget about it. Steal under 900 dollars and you will not go to
jail. If you shoot someone and there is
a witness, they will release you until the trial. It’s not rocket science; if the witness can’t
testify, you don’t go to prison.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>What is different for responsible working people? If you have a job, a family and a home, you
cannot behave like that; the government can screw you over. They can foreclose
on you house for nonpayment of taxes. If you don’t pay your traffic ticket, the
government will go after you. They know you have money. The threat of jail could mean you lose your
job. From there, you can join the homeless.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Notice, the only ones that have to comply to the laws, are
people with money, homes, a family, cars, and a job. If you are homeless and, on the
streets, government doesn’t give a damn about you. You pay no taxes and if they have to lock you
up, it costs the city real money. Jail is a service that returns no money back
to the government. It is an expense.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>So, what does it all mean?
If you are here illegally, you get out of jail free. If you are broke,
you don’t have to pay things like fines or report to court for physical
offences. But God help you if you are a
bonified taxpayer who has money and is a scofflaw. You will pay, because government
can ruin your life; they know you have money and they can mess with you.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The bureaucracy is not stupid, the state government assumes the taxpayers are extremely stupid. And they are right. They legalized crime, so don’t act surprised by
the results.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>How do you fix this? The poor can live and exist outside of
the rules for the middle class without punishment. The poor can ignore the
system and there is no repercussion for doing so. There is no feedback from the state government
stating that the deadbeats are not paying their assessed charges. Taxes go up
and people move out. Is that the solution to the problem? The answer, sadly is
yes. Most problems solve themselves. The California State government is broken and cannot be fixed. Don't tell them, there is nothing worse than political indignation. I might not get my 20 ballots for president in the next election.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-53023134287365443582021-11-11T21:36:00.002-08:002021-11-26T21:55:14.106-08:00Tax the Rich<p>When it comes down to taxing the rich, you have to ask
yourself one question, who are the rich?
There are the lottery winners, or those whose fortunes come from novel
ideas. The great majority of rich people
overlooked, are those that saved $100 dollars a week for a lifetime. Its not uncommon for a married couple to amass
a fortune of a million dollars. If the
intertest rate was 8% these retirees would be getting $80, 000 a year in
interest—not a bad retirement income. We
know that is not the case, it is more like 0.5% interest and that is about
$5,000 a year.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Here is where it gets interesting. Most of these funds are in IRA’s. It’s a taxable event if you want to take your
money out of it and run. That is what
has created stability in the financial markets.
The average retiree will withdraw funds in a manner that minimizes their
taxes each year.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Let’s take a retired couple with
one million in a retirement fund. Assume
6% inflation. They will lose $60,000 to
inflation the first year. And since they still have the million, they will lose
the same 60K the next year if inflation is still at 6%. So over 10 years, they would lose $600,000 to
inflation. I am assuming that they didn’t
dip into the fund for the 10 years to simplify the math. $1,000,000 minus $600,000 equals $400,000. That is the buying power of the million-dollar
portfolio over 10 years. Their savings have lost 60% of their buying power. So,
if you retire at age 70, you will survive the next 10 years okay. Over the following
10 years, your million will turn into $100,000 in actual buying power. Drop a
zero off of your wealth every 20 years to determine the forward buying power.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 414.6pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 414.6pt;"><o:p> </o:p>In the above example it is assumed
that you don’t need to withdraw funds from the retirement fund. Life doesn’t quite work that way. With
inflation, your funds will probably last 15 years or less. The US government is
not going to raise the interest rate on Treasury’s to 8%, the interest on the
national debt would bankrupt the country.
Interest on 30 trillion at 8% is 2.4 trillion. That’s more than the government collects in
taxes.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 414.6pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 414.6pt;"><o:p> </o:p>The neat thing about taxing the
rich, or should I say elderly retired, is that no one is listening to
them. Grandpa and Grandma just didn’t
save enough for retirement. The kids today
at age 20 have always paid $7.00 for cigarettes—they were 25¢ when I was 20. When I was young, I could never understand
how my grandfather (who lived to be 98) got so angry over paying 35¢ for a
loaf of bread, he would say it was only a nickel when he was a kid. He saw the theft by government and was
frustrated because he could do nothing about it.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 414.6pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 414.6pt;"><o:p> </o:p>Precious metals appear to be the only
lifeline for retirees. A lot of the trading on the precious metals market, is done on paper and there are no demands for delivery. The
real market, is the precious metals shop down the street, take physical possession. Buy gold, silver and
platinum for the second 10 years of your retirement. From my anecdotal sources, no one at the current time is
selling metals, everyone is buying. The
weird thing is that a zero will drop off of your total saving in 20 years
(buying power), but a zero will be added to the precious metals value.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 414.6pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-9756431089298133822021-11-07T21:30:00.003-08:002021-11-12T21:41:55.010-08:00Old Age Tips<p>I’m getting old and have learned a few things I would like to
pass on to others my age. It doesn’t really pertain to the blog, but what the
heck.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The skin on my legs and feet started itching at times and it's really bothersome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used to use a
prescription ointment to fix it, and it worked well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found a better solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rub a teaspoon of water over the leg, getting
it wet and rub the skin in a constant motion. You might have to add another one
or two teaspoons of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about
30 seconds, you will notice that dead skin is rubbing off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll find that the itching stops and you
don’t need the expensive creams.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Taking a shower washing your hair (if you have any)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I take a shower every day and if you have ever closed your
eyes you tend to lose orientation and get dizzy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the shower, leave your eyes open and keep
your face dry. Water will roll off of your eyelids if you keep them open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To wash your hair, wet the back half of your
head and apply shampoo and pull the shampoo forward to the rest of your
hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you do it right, you don’t have
to close your eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you rinse your
head, use your hands to shield your eyes from the soap rinse. You can keep your eyes open.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-31785294997773095572021-08-05T22:51:00.003-07:002021-09-05T13:04:17.317-07:00The American Voter, a Real Disappointment<p>The Republican party is looking towards
the next election. Do you think that the
voter is smart enough to understand all of the political rhetoric and vote responsibly
in the next election? I Contend that the American voter is too stupid and the Democrats know it. Most people don’t even pay any attention to the elections
until it is time to vote. Basically, the population will vote the same way they
did 4 years ago. You have the 40 -40
split of the Democrats and Republicans. Then there is the 20 percent left over,
that are the lunatic fringe voters, that will determine who gets elected. Save
a tree, pro-abortion, green earth and ad infinitum.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 502.2pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 502.2pt;">Now you see why political
endorsements by movie stars are so important. The Democrats have gotten into
sports and movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People in these
fields influence young voters, that is all they watch. Youth tries to emulate
their heroes and be just like them. What these movie stars or athletes say, has
political impact.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 502.2pt; text-align: justify;">Although not
many people still subscribe to the newspapers, they are pretty much in the Democrat’s
control. Instead of reporting “Trump believes the election was stolen.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The copy reads “Trump <i>falsely</i> believes the
election was stolen.” The reader is not given the option to form an opinion,
rather it is hard wired into the article.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 502.2pt;">If we look at the internet, everything
is hidden from the unbiased voter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Material is censored from the internet. Views on the Corona virus, that
do not spout the political correctness of the Democrat party, never make it to
the internet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are censored as “mis-information.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many very prominent
doctors have released papers on their successful treatment of the Corona virus
only to be labeled “Mis-information.” Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine are
not even mentioned as a prophylactic or as an initial treatment for
symptoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your doctor cannot prescribe
these medicines, they are on a list of “do not prescribe medications if you
want to keep your license.” Good luck on trying to get a prescription. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My two doctors refused to write a prescription
for either drug.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 502.2pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The socialists have gotten into our education
system and colored the thinking of our youth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The demand to destroy our rich historical heritage is not what we need
to have. The Confederates lost the civil war, but the memory of that war is a testament
to our heritage and a tribute to those who died in the fight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tearing down monuments does not change
history. It was a war of great sacrifice and many lives were lost on both
sides. Remembering them all, is what counts.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 502.2pt;">The next election should be an
overwhelming Republican victory, but maybe it won’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Democracies don’t last long, probably because
the voters love all of the free stuff promised by the politicians.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 502.2pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 502.2pt;">As a side note, one million
illegal immigrants have been let into the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Corona virus is running rampant with these
people and no one appears to be dying from it; It kind of makes you wonder
about how lethal the virus is. Just maybe we are being gaslighted by the Democrats in power and by the press.<o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-44852038341722289222021-07-18T22:29:00.000-07:002021-07-18T22:29:32.641-07:00The New State Voter Laws<p> The Democrats are claiming the new voter laws restrict
voting, and it is really hard to figure.
It is almost as if they can look at a person and determine how they will vote. Peculiarly it seems to be the black
voter they are most interested in protecting. If there is one vote to each franchised voter
and it was done in person, the election would be determined by the vote. Common
sense would suggest that if voter fraud was suspected, both Republicans and Democrats would be equally concerned, and that is just not the case.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Democrats claim the need for mail in voting without identification,
is rather absurd. Only 60 percent of the population votes in an election. So, if everyone eligible to vote is sent a
ballot, 40 percent do not care who wins and probably won’t return their ballot. At this point the blank ballots could be sold
for cash. Notice that, that option disappears
if the voter has to show up in person to vote.
If only 70 percent of the voters return a ballot, then there is the
chance that 30 percent of the unreturned ballots could be “voted” by a third
party, not the intended voter. If they
don’t need to be signed by the voter, it makes it very easy to enter them as
valid votes in an election.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In a two-party system, the voters are usually evenly
split. 40 percent Republican and 40 percent Democrat. So, in order to steal an
election, you need to estimate what party, the 20% swing voters are going to
vote for. As a corrupt official, you are not interested in who votes for whom.
Most of the votes cancel each other out. You’re interested in how many votes
are needed to swing the election. At
this point, you can either print the ballots or purchase the ballots from
voters who would rather have the money. With a budget of 50 million dollars,
100,000 votes could be purchased at $500 apiece. All you have to do then, is
mail them in or put them in a drop box and you are done. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Voter registration drives in certain areas, is a point to
concentrate upon, when purchasing votes.
Get prospective voters to register, then volunteer to come back and help
them fill out the ballot and deliver it for them. The person picking up the votes would probably
pay the “voter” $50 to $500 for each vote. He might pay a druggie $50 and keep $450
for himself. A woman with 4 kids might
get $400 and so on. You give the vote
collector $10,000 in cash and tell him to come back with 20 blank but signed
ballots.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Another thing about mail in votes, is that the government
can literally scan your ballot and tell how you voted. You might wake up after
the election and find out that you have been signed up for retraining indoctrination.
Your “white privilege” can be documented.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mail in ballots compromise our voting system, giving people
the right to sell their vote. And in today’s
elections where hundreds of millions are spent on each candidate, this can be an
abuse that can end democracy. A lot of
people don’t vote because they think their vote doesn’t count. They could be
right if they live in Detroit or New York City. Ever wonder why?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-9491403138737743612021-06-18T23:14:00.001-07:002021-06-18T23:23:19.495-07:00Precious Metals in The New Economy<p class="MsoNormal">I haven’t been writing much. I’m kind of burned out on how
the economy is going. When I started this blog in 2006, I saw the depression
coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was hidden by the government
and the news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did have a depression
in 2008 and it more or less went into a stagnant economy. But in 2008 the banks
almost collapsed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Congress had to prop
up the banks. Think about it, if the banks had failed, where would the
government borrow from?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The banks didn’t
fail and we kept on putting straws on the camel’s back (the national debt).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Economics is the study of the economy and how it responds to
certain stimulus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trouble is, economic
theory can’t predict the future; it can only explain what has already
happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Economics is not a science. So
here we are increasing the national debt with many people retiring and the
Covid stimulus packages being paid out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Something is wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Millions of
workers are being paid to not work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
cannot continue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People need to produce
product, if they don’t, the product desired becomes scarce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is where inflation comes in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the product is scarce and you want it, you
have to pay more for it. The fact not even realized is that it cost 23 cents
for a pack of cigarettes in 1962 and now a pack cost $8.00.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been slow and progressive.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lawmakers know what is happening, but it is drawn out over
time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most people will never notice
until they retire; their saving doesn’t have the buying power it had 40 years
ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The real factor not realized, is
that the dollar saved in 1965 has the purchasing power of 4 cents, in today’s
world. Kind of mind boggling. What was saved in 1965 would pay the rent, now in
2021 it only buys groceries. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An ounce of silver
used to be a guide on the hourly wage, and an ounce of gold was a paycheck for
the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It looks like that may still
ring true. Bear in mind that precious metals are not rising in price, they are
reflecting the drop in the value of the dollar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As the water level rises in a lake, the boat will still float.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Right now, there are four areas of investment; Bonds, real
estate, stocks, and precious metals. The bond market interest rates are so low,
you have to ask the question, who would be dumb enough to put their cash into
savings. Real estate and stocks seem to be the markets of choice right
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The precious metals market is kind
of an unknown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With inflation at 10% and
the cost of money at one percent, it costs literally nothing to hold precious
metals.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you examine the precious metals; silver, gold and
platinum, you’ll notice that they fluctuate in price, unrelated to each
other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gold is in the lead; Platinum is
underpriced and silver is trending upward. Last week, I converted my silver to
platinum. 50 pounds of silver converts into 10 ounces of platinum and doesn’t
take up much space in a safety deposit box. Also converting Gold to platinum is
rather attractive.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The thing you need to remember about precious metals, is that if this mess gets worse, you might have the cash to purchase precious metals but most suppliers may be out of product, and you won't know that until you go in to make a purchase. That has happened to me twice this year. The premium to purchase has gone up considerably especially on silver. I kind of choke on a premium of $3.50 per ounce for silver. The following 6 months could be an eye opener. The precious metals market for delivery is in a very unknown condition. Is the physical metal there for purchase? </p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-28715771804500427122021-03-14T13:40:00.000-07:002021-03-14T13:40:31.521-07:00Restaurant Menu Prices from 1938<p><br /></p><p>This is a reprint from August 20, 2013 that I thought might be worth another glance.</p><p>I was searching through some picture albums of my parents from way back and ran into some restaurant menus from the depression era of late 1930's.. The first 3 pictures are from the Manhattan Restaurant.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtWBN9ghRSKKHaj868LxGgKNVFL9o4y3A4sFkz8xlSzY97yjq4vqqtkH5lbNEjNL7SsIzamZNoMD5EVT94gCOGHcUF5V_zWB7VklSd9ry7GmKgMuQaBiGvJPs3PD8KRfbXBPr/s1600/menuaa.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtWBN9ghRSKKHaj868LxGgKNVFL9o4y3A4sFkz8xlSzY97yjq4vqqtkH5lbNEjNL7SsIzamZNoMD5EVT94gCOGHcUF5V_zWB7VklSd9ry7GmKgMuQaBiGvJPs3PD8KRfbXBPr/s320/menuaa.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMzRPq3uFhO2RFysVoKVkXu7MpkJ5xoxFl7ir04HnctEQCOL4qx7rQh2hDVFjsR6YoRmqK6yuoosoBSJutHMUidX7XwBdqLZrPap8Okr1cCfQkMKJFCGsaC7cW3SNIC93jmjg/s1600/menuaa1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMzRPq3uFhO2RFysVoKVkXu7MpkJ5xoxFl7ir04HnctEQCOL4qx7rQh2hDVFjsR6YoRmqK6yuoosoBSJutHMUidX7XwBdqLZrPap8Okr1cCfQkMKJFCGsaC7cW3SNIC93jmjg/s320/menuaa1.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJDKkXiU04wWxwcz_-FIacXRMMyqjA86MUQ3mPLwScvCTjJAeH82IVgyQ1fCDvSemSkQYQVme6Wnz801Bs41ftjYtFUiO77630hctPr6oZ79Dmgs5OZouh6_uSzgbIUQ4ef_h/s1600/menuaa2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJDKkXiU04wWxwcz_-FIacXRMMyqjA86MUQ3mPLwScvCTjJAeH82IVgyQ1fCDvSemSkQYQVme6Wnz801Bs41ftjYtFUiO77630hctPr6oZ79Dmgs5OZouh6_uSzgbIUQ4ef_h/s320/menuaa2.jpg" width="302" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><br />The Second menu (three pictures) is on the Union Pacific Railroad from 1937 somewhere in Wyoming.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAl84SAht8_DBPnAvJpOgL12mOFA9b9gJhBRLFvobVGYGtAwFYrAQtW0HellVJyDcKey3ONhDyGr81GfehpxL8Ba4YPDdswD7vpTcQJqMv74MKpCHLX9AjjbWIyNSc5FRFNCV6/s1600/Menubbx.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAl84SAht8_DBPnAvJpOgL12mOFA9b9gJhBRLFvobVGYGtAwFYrAQtW0HellVJyDcKey3ONhDyGr81GfehpxL8Ba4YPDdswD7vpTcQJqMv74MKpCHLX9AjjbWIyNSc5FRFNCV6/s320/Menubbx.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjAcb6wVmy23IgQCjhTPy9Ye5BXskuE_u8DZr_xH478nX44TCusK5bCb_IfjD9eanKiojrNsCZhoEf3eBex1BgiO61-mK_pOgrD52AsufnJOEBjyP3KUcwsHHAaqAV5UdJs8jj/s1600/menubb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjAcb6wVmy23IgQCjhTPy9Ye5BXskuE_u8DZr_xH478nX44TCusK5bCb_IfjD9eanKiojrNsCZhoEf3eBex1BgiO61-mK_pOgrD52AsufnJOEBjyP3KUcwsHHAaqAV5UdJs8jj/s320/menubb.jpg" width="279" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3m8hWgo3Pv_-y4qvV4lOktBSBGuOR-PIEaHeNZwvHg8VT0TCjiGcSQ6Yn75iwSJvDC32vJby5zyjeq4sbYiegy8871ZAm9bn0rCWVS2_zq7u_ImjTfN-4PHTXGRBnxJ0TF1I/s1600/menubb1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3m8hWgo3Pv_-y4qvV4lOktBSBGuOR-PIEaHeNZwvHg8VT0TCjiGcSQ6Yn75iwSJvDC32vJby5zyjeq4sbYiegy8871ZAm9bn0rCWVS2_zq7u_ImjTfN-4PHTXGRBnxJ0TF1I/s320/menubb1.jpg" width="221" /></a></div><br /><br />This last menu is from the Hotel Windermere in Chicago 1937.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWl9vLq7F8VIdSYcZkpuNileWvT0SxD3RNegFDzr7m3dU-UNON19Gk2863AJ8KN0P2N7jd9vizhu9f6lLEqfQzcWokURRhCDjwHZpaxkEyPqke7SiKF63php18nAw8o6YCqIAk/s1600/menucc.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWl9vLq7F8VIdSYcZkpuNileWvT0SxD3RNegFDzr7m3dU-UNON19Gk2863AJ8KN0P2N7jd9vizhu9f6lLEqfQzcWokURRhCDjwHZpaxkEyPqke7SiKF63php18nAw8o6YCqIAk/s320/menucc.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><br />Double click on the images to see what the prices were back then. Did you notice that the Manhattan offered a broiled (Whole) lobster for 65 cents? In today's world, you'd be lucky to get half a lobster for $30. Bear in mind, the people that read these menus in real time are probably dead by now.<br /><br />The pay raise that everyone gets each year because of inflation is just an allusion. Look around, the new hires are starting out a few pennies less than what the seasoned workers are making. The neat thing about inflation is that Congress doesn't have to raise the tax rates, you earn more, you pay more. That's the real difference between the Democrats and Republicans; print as you go verses pay as you go.<br /><br />The real odd thing is that the average person does not connect the dots. The relationship between government spending and inflation does not exist. Rumor has it, we've always had inflation-- I guess we're supposed to get used to it. My wife bought a new battery and asked me to guess how much she paid for it, and I said $40. Her answer; "That's the price you would have paid 20 years ago, the battery was $100."<br /><br />Let's see,(from top menu third picture, red part) I'll have the broiled lobster with coffee and a slice of cake--that's about 85 cents total, plus 15 cents for a tip. The trouble is, 83 years of inflation have raised the prices a tad.Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-59492346865959193552021-03-05T21:21:00.002-08:002021-03-06T07:18:53.301-08:00Turmoil in Washington DC<p>We have approximately 5 to 10 thousand National Guard troops
in Washington DC, with barbwire on top of the barricades to protect us from an
impending invasion of God knows what. If you were to tie one of those fence barricades
to a truck and pull away, it would probably pull down about 200 feet of it in a
couple of seconds.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other thing not pointed out, is that 99.9 percent of the
National Guard in place have not been issued ammunition. There is no reason for it. It only takes one bad apple to screw up
things, so no ammunition.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is a pathetic political play to make the voter feel threatened
and to influence possible voters who are undecided.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Play soldier for the civilian spectators, because the people in charge are afraid of the "We the people." It has to look importantly significant for the news. Go figure.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Ask your congressman; "If it is such a severe crisis, why don't the soldiers have ammunition?"</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-11501672621970297192021-02-02T20:36:00.002-08:002021-02-23T21:40:39.160-08:00The Doctor Visit<p>I went for my yearly physical today and got an AOK. I mention to the doctor that I think I had
Corona Virus a year ago. I had a pretty
bad case of the flu, but it didn’t stop me from going to work. Two weeks after I recovered, I put a bagel in
the toaster oven and went back to my paperwork. After a while, I noticed that
the dog was barking a lot and my glasses looked awful dirty. Then the smoke
alarm went off. My bagel was on fire in
the toaster oven. I put the toaster fire out and noticed that the timer
didn’t stop at zero it went past it, and kept on toasting. At this point I
realized that I could not smell anything.
That explained why food didn’t really taste very good lately. I had lost my sense of smell. My doctor said that he had many cases that
started in January, a year ago, including his wife. He mentioned that he was at a loss as to why
the media had not picked up on this.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Right now, the media has kept the death count from last year
of 300, 000 and continued on this year adding to it. This is what I call yellow Journalism. Exaggeration for readership and political influence. The death count for this year should have
started at zero and it didn’t. 79
percent of the people dying from the disease are over the age of 65. People do die from old age, don’t let the
Corona Virus take all of the blame. 99.9
percent of the population will survive the disease, so why the panic?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The news media has panicked the nation. It makes good copy and sells advertising. People are frozen in place in terror because
of the news media. “My god, I could kill
someone by not wearing my mask” this projected suggestion to the public is
blatantly wrong. The truth is most of us
can go out and do business with no problem.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Remember the first restrictions were to lower the curve so
hospitals could accommodate the patients.
It was not pointed out to anyone that the area under the curve remained
the same, the same number would die only over a longer period of time.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I think we will find out, that most people will get the Corona
Virus and survive. It is a form of the cold virus and it has been around forever. I think we will also discover that the
death counts for other diseases like heart disease, will drop considerably from
previous years, from fear to consult a doctor. The total death rate for the nation will be
above 2.7 million per year. But bear in mind the average reader has no visual
concept of 2.7 million people dying each year normally. This has panicked the masses, the perspective
of 80,000 drug deaths, 40,000 car deaths, 70,000 Influenzas deaths has left the
people with no perspective of how to interpret the data.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The yellow press impresses upon us, that 300,000 died last year
from Corona Virus. People do die of old
age and it is usually after the age of 65.
Funny how elderly people are not supposed to die from Corona Virus, but rather
from old age. How many of the people
that died had one foot on a banana peel?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-41106821339198437202021-01-18T13:44:00.000-08:002021-01-18T13:44:21.205-08:00Tripping over a torque Vector in a Laundromat<p>Just for laughs type in the title of my previous post into
G00gle or B1ng with or without the dash and see what you pull up. Abs0lutely n0thing.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anything with the second or third word is subject to san1tation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no c0ntrary v1ews a11owed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you don’t have a link to my site, you cannot akcess that
article.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What the viewer can akcess is
determined by the $earch eng1ne. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is sens0rsh1p by 0m1ss1on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0pposing views or c0ntrary information are not
presented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reminds me of a book title that's all numbers, the G00gle sp1ders
might trigger on.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the statement “_____ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>kil1s doctor that tried t0 spread the a1arm;”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what is the real answer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(hint: a form of lead poisoning) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The comm0n man cann0t be left to th1nk for himself, it is
to0 danger0us.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">D1ssent is not to be t0lerated.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Take away my reader5 and you have 5ilenced me.</p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-31064637857120378202020-12-25T19:00:00.013-08:002021-01-23T13:49:11.496-08:00The Corona Virus Panic- a Chinese Fire Drill<p>Divided the 300,000 COVID-19
deaths by 365 days in a year and then
again by 50 states and it comes out to 16.5 people a day. Figure that 2.7 million people died in 2019
before COVID-19. Do the same process
over again. That turns out to be 148 people dying per day, per state. This
model is flawed because the 50 states are not evenly populated. I used the assumption
all states are equal, to create a baseline for our perspective of the virus,
normal deaths vs the virus. The normal death rate of 148 vs the perceived corona
virus death rate of 16.5 a day.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When we count the COVID-19 deaths, did COVID-19 kill them or was
the death from something else like old age?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We really won’t know until the statistics are gathered over the next
three months on deaths nationwide for 2020.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I would suspect that we may have a drop in heart disease deaths by about
100,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may have about 60,000 less
influenza deaths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would expect an
increase in opioid and alcohol related deaths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Deaths from pneumonia will be nonexistent.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When you look at all of the diseases a person could die of, it
becomes apparent, that there is the propensity to distort the actual cause of
death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jumping to a conclusion happens
all of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People can die of
multiple causes. The chosen choice of death can alter the statistics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A hospital that gets a $40,000 government
subsidy for each COVID-19 death, can turn a pneumonia victim into a COVID-19
statistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really can’t blame a
hospital for trying to make a buck.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The political ploy in this mess is very insidious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It won the democrats an election, through
fear generated upon the general populace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The news sources have created a panic and fear campaign throughout the
country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People believe that many are
dying like flies all over the place and that they are next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>79 percent of the people dying are over the
age of 60 and old age is a natural form of death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has gotten ridiculous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You might catch COVID-19, but it ain’t going
to kill you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we are told if we don’t
wear a mask, we are responsible for killing others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the anti-mask research papers have
been censored by Google. This mask mandate is a way the government can look
like it is addressing the issue with a solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It placates the masses; wear a mask and you
are safe. The Guverment will save us!</p><p class="MsoNormal">Fascism wants you to be a part of the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hitler's second in command, Herman Goering said about war: </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote>Naturally, the common people don't want war ... but after all it is the leaders
of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag
the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a
parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to
do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack
of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every
country.” </blockquote><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, with COVID-19, “you are
killing people by not wearing your mask.” Sound familiar?<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In essence, if the state governments were to tell everyone over the age of
60 to hide inside their homes, the rest of us could continue enjoying life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The number of people dying would not be a
factor of notice for day-to-day commerce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And commerce is what drives the economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also note, the people under the age of 60 are not retired and need a source
of livelihood, a job, to pay the bills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>331,000,000
people are in this country. Of the deaths this year, 1/10<sup>th</sup> of 1
percent (300,000) have been dubbed COVID-19 related.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you compare the number of people
affected by the lockdown and compare that to the number the virus has killed,
the cure is worse than the disease.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Wearing a mask <b>is not</b> going to keep the virus away” or “Wearing a
mask <b>will</b> keep the virus at away.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Neither statement can be proven, it has to be taken on faith. However, “Clapping
your hands keeps the elephants out of New York City” must be true, there are no
elephants in New York City.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">300,000 deaths additional to the 2.7 million from all other causes
is not a large amount in comparison to the total population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By staying at home, people are not going to
avoid getting the virus, it only delays it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the normal propagation of the virus, the more virulent strains kill the host
and it ends the virus's ability to propagate. Strains that don’t kill the host, tend
to survive to infect again; that is the virus to catch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A hospital is the perfect medium for the
virulent virus to survive long enough to infect others; that’s the virus you
don’t want to catch.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m 74, if I want to go to a restaurant or fly on an airplane, I
am going to enjoy my latter years of life, not sit in my home quivering in fear.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
panic has been exaggerated by the news services and needs to stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People are dying, but not in any amount that warrants
panicking everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe I should
qualify that, the number of people dying is insignificant when you consider the
total population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t need to ruin
the lives of everyone to save those elderly who are already compromised and may
catch the disease and die. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know how
to protect them now.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Imagine if the newspaper printed the headline “40 million people
without jobs are starving to death.” These are the “non-essential” people in
our country (restaurants, barbershops, bars, fitness centers, etc.). Take this
group, bankrupt them, deplete their savings from lack of work, and now you have a real disaster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Grandma’s son is unemployed and the extra bucks he mails her isn’t coming. 40 million people not paying taxes or
contributing to Social Security. This could be a very sobering year for our
government. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Another scary thing to comprehend, many readers question the
validity of the writer who has no scientific credentials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Follow the science,” is a good way to bury one’s
head in the sand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Economics and business
acumen can be a better guide to addressing the corona virus crisis, than
science by itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then if you discredit
common sense, you mise well follow the herd off of the cliff.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The overreaction of government using lockdowns has turned a nasty
disease into an economic meltdown with very obvious consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The effects of which will play out in the coming
year.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-10837100128470747632020-11-26T21:57:00.005-08:002020-11-28T22:33:03.084-08:00Voter FraudThe election process was changed this year. Many states mailed out ballots to everyone on their rolls. This did not take into account people who have moved or are dead. It also did not take into account that many people didn’t really want to spend the effort to vote, the election didn’t matter to them.<div><br /></div><div> Another thing not mentioned is that the state now has enough information on your ballot to know how you voted. In California there is a scan code on the envelope enclosed that id’s the voter. That is the important thing, they know how you voted. Scan the envelope and then scan the ballot. This circumvents the idea of anonymous voting. They know how you voted, they know who you are and where you live. <div><br /></div><div> I can see where people may request a mail in ballot in order to participate in an election. But when the state issues every registered voter a ballot, it gives the owner of that ballot the right to sell it for profit. The right to vote is one to where you have to show up to vote. An absentee ballot is a certificate that you receive and can be sold to a third party. This new concept of absentee voting allows people to abuse the system. Your ballot can be turned into cash. $200 to $1,000 I have heard. 50 million raised in an election campaign can buy a hell of a lot of votes. </div><div><br /></div><div> Notice that voting in person keeps dead people and people who have moved from voting. One person, one vote, limits voter fraud. Count the voters registered and then compare it to the votes cast, they should match. With everything done by mail, the party running the election process, has the power to determine the results. We depend on the people doing the counting being honest. And they may count the votes correctly, who is to say that the mail in voters were legit. Voting machines can be programed to count wrong, more ballots could be printed. With only 60 percent of the people voting in most elections, it wouldn’t take many invalid votes to turn an election. </div><div><br /></div><div> The real problem not noticed, is if this happens enough times in one location, the losing voter after many elections gives up and stops voting. This could be what has happened in many cities in the country. Corruption is very profitable and the voter has no redress, all they get is a sticker that says “I voted.” You may have voted, but if the results can be changed by adding fictitious votes to the ballot box, have you really voted?</div><div><br /></div><div> I have a blank California ballot in my hands that was not submitted that was received at our house. How can we arrive at the conclusion that the election results are correct? I could have filled it out and mailed it in, and I am too honest to do it. It kind of sucks to be a nice guy. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Postscript:</div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Usually a theft involves two people, the one who lost the item, and the one who stole the item. In voter fraud, the victim is the person running for office. And he is none the wiser that a crime has been committed. He can suspect that there was abuse, but it is very hard to prove.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></div>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-73208089380986156752020-11-14T12:00:00.000-08:002020-11-14T12:00:23.193-08:00The Pitfalls of Mail in Voting<p>In a democracy, the voter gets to elect his government
officials, in secret, by voting, on election day. Back in the 1800’s there were stories of the
boss standing next to you when you filled out the ballot. Not cool.
Think twice about voting by mail.
Your name and address are on the ballot being returned. The government can cull out the opposition by
recording how the vote was cast. You can’t
claim that you voted for someone else, it is right there in black and white.</p><p>In each election, millions of dollars are spent on
advertising, to try and win your vote.
With mail-in ballots, going to every registered voter, voters who don’t
even care to vote will get ballots. Why
spend on advertising in the media for your vote? It could be a lot cheaper to buy each vote for
$200 to $1,000. With a budget of 50 million, one could buy 50,000 to 250,000 unmarked
but signed ballots. This turns the mail-in
ballot into a bonus check. There is a
claim that this already happened in Michigan during the previous election. This should be illegal. Many of our poor would rather have $1,000 in
hard cash rather than voting in an election.
Notice that the time span from the delivery of the vote until the election, pretty much makes the blank ballots a fungible commodity that can be recovered
and processed in a timely manner.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Another thing to look at is the voter rolls. 2.7 million
people die each year in the US. That could be 2 million dead people on the
rolls just for that year. In some
districts, they purge your name if you don’t vote in two general elections. 8 years of dead people amounts to 16 million
dead people on the voter rolls. Mailing out a ballot to all of them might
change the election results. They have
registered voters that would be 120 years old in some states. The neat thing
here, you don’t have to pay dead voters for their vote.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Each year many families move for one reason or another, and re-register
to vote. This can create a duplicate
second mail in ballot. A close friend of mine, moved to Pennsylvania three
years ago and still received a mail in ballot for the California election.
Nothing was done illegal, they moved and the election board had no idea. My next-door
neighbor died last May, and I am sure he got a ballot in the mail.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The voter election rolls determine how many voters are eligible
to vote. The mail in ballot was never
meant to be for most voters. Basically,
the mail in votes were a very small number compared to the whole group of
voters and the ballot had to be requested. It was different this year in
California, everyone that was registered, got a mail-in ballot. Many were ineligible to vote, dead or had
moved from their registered address. In-person
voting eliminates many of the errors in polling records. Some will not vote, because of the time and commitment
involved. Notice, if everyone listed on
the voting roll can vote absentee, the ability to steal an election increases proportionally.
Your absentee ballot can be sold for
cash.</p><p class="MsoNormal">If the people in charge of the voter registration are from
one political party, elections can be massaged with mail-in voting. It is not hard to compile a list of dead
voters or of people who have moved out of state. This method of rigging an
election is not perceivable if done surreptitiously. But in this age of
computer technology, it is not hard to research and discover some of the voter
fraud. With the census that was recently
taken, it might be a very easy thing to validate voter registrations by comparing
it to the census data. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Can we afford to have universal mail-in ballots? It lends itself to internal corruption when
one party runs the balloting process. The real question, is it fair that a
ballot can be turned into cash? Maybe
the Supreme Court can settle the case.
If it can’t, elections <b>will not be</b> determined by the voters, rather the
people running the election process will do it for you. Its kind of like going into an “all you can eat
restaurant.” You get up and go for seconds and are told “That’s all you can
eat.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27697009.post-91426749188406111722020-11-07T18:00:00.007-08:002020-11-08T07:24:53.762-08:00Problems in Paradise<p>Right now, everyone is refinancing their homes at the new 2 ¼
loan rate for 30 years. Everyone with a
job that is. A lot of people are behind
in their mortgage payments 6 or more months.
No problem everything is okay.
The majority of workers have a 401K retirement fund that is probably
heavily invested in the stock market. As
long as it goes up, no problem. A lot of
businesses are or will be closed forever due to the Corona virus. When the government says it is okay to open, quite a few will not be able to.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>A majority of people envision a rich businessman, as a person with gobs of
money. However, in most cases, the
person is highly leveraged and knows how to manage his finances. So, if this average rich man had to liquidate
his businesses to raise cash, he might find himself broke. It can be very hard to sell a 500-million-dollar
company with 400 million in debts in a bad economy let alone shut down for 8
months.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>During the Great Depression many cities increased tax rates to
make up for the shortfall from taxes collected. Their tax base had shrunk
considerably. A lot of wage earners had no
taxable income, they were unemployed. The net result of the tax increases, owners let their homes go into foreclosure.
The cities found themselves owning the real estate. The logic to raise taxes to increase tax receipts,
backfired. Notice that politicians don’t
go to jail for incompetence, they usually just fade away. Their decisions
during that era ruined many a family.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In the 1929 crash, the stock market was owned by individual
investors who thought they knew what they were doing. In the present market,
huge mutual funds manage the market.
They are too big to get out of the market. The stock market is very vulnerable
to a drastic reset, there is no reason for some of the prices, they are absurd. It won’t be quick; it will be slow probably over
three months. Everyone in the market knows what they are doing, wink, wink;
they will go broke buying the dips. Actually,
in a long bull market it is very hard to lose money even if you are incredibly stupid.
In the 70’s and 80’s I can remember a market, where whatever you bought, it went
down. The present investment advisors
have never experienced a bear market. Imagine
what the taxes on your 401 k would be, if you tried to withdraw the whole amount
at once from the market. The government and
your investment advisor are banking you won’t even consider it. Any losses are not tax deductible.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>As the government’s rate
of borrowing increases, interest rates will have to rise. With rates rising and delinquent real estate hitting
the markets, look for dropping home prices.
The monthly payment will remain the same (the price drops 50% and the
interest rate doubles). A bank offering
a higher interest rates will see funds transfer overnight to their bank, reminiscent
of the Savings and Loan fiasco of the 1990’s. Banks deposits are short term and
they lend that money long term. The low long-term loans bankrupted the Saving
and Loans when interest rates rose and depositors fled in search of higher rates.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>With a 2 percent interest rate, it takes about 33 years for
your money to double. At 5 percent
interest rate, it takes about 14.4 years to double. A thing to be aware of is that historically,
interest rates reflected the risk of the investment. That appears to be overlooked in the market
of today. With the government “insuring” mortgage loans, most investors falsely
perceive that there is no risk in the market. Two percent interest does not
even cover the current rate of inflation of 7 percent. If interest rates were to rise higher than 5
percent, the government would be insolvent; unable to pay the interest on the national
debt or for that fact be able to finance Social Security and Medicare. What
that would do to the bond market, which is 10 times bigger than the stock market, is hard to imagine or describe.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In the present market, the best investments may be your home
or precious metals. The caveat here, is do you have a job? I you don’t, there
is no reason to buy either. If the Corona virus lockdown lasts much longer,
things could get very difficult. Most
parts of our economic structure are stressed to the limit. The only real sources of taxation for the
government is earnings and visible assets; real estate, vehicles and retirement
savings. If you are not working, you’re not paying taxes or your mortgage.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The saving grace for our market under President Trump was
the cut in business tax rates, this brought jobs back to the US and gave the
rest of the world higher unemployment. After WWII the US economy surged
supplying goods to the rest of the world.
Since then, the rest of the world has been making goods for the US. This turn around of the US producing goods
for itself, is a stimulus that was beginning to show results. I’m not sure if the next administration will continue
this policy.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>It looks like Congress is going to try to print its way out
of the current economic instability. At
some point it has to fail. The current consensus is that it should work, because
it has always worked in the past. It’s a
little like a mouse going back to the trap one more time for that last morsel
of cheese.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Jim in San Marcoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435296419912935381noreply@blogger.com0