SWB: Alan B. Rowley II - Success Coach - ECoaching - Email Coaching

Congressional Law versus Economic Law

Congress and democratic presidential candidates seem to be discussing a minimum gas mileage law quite a bit.  We need to conserve gas and cut down on global warming causing emissions. 

I know I'm more laid back than most but I don't see the need to pass such a law.  It has seemed to me to be quite obvious that the problem will solve itself.  Oil is on the decline which means prices are on an incline.  Americans have put themselves into debt to such a point that no matter how much money they make, they are living from paycheck to paycheck.

That means that when gas prices hit $4 a gallon, $5 a gallon, and on upward, people are going to start voluntarily ditching gas guzzling vehicles.  If Congress wants to speed up the process, don't tell people what kind of cars they are allowed to make or buy, just add a sin tax onto gas.  Raise the price of gas and you will see fuel economic car sales go through the roof.

I know, we want our cake, our frosting, a scoop of Neapolitan ice cream, on fine china, with a glass of milk, and be able to eat it too.  Like your mom always said though, if you keep touching it, you're going to go blind.  The more we try to make laws to force people to do what someone has deemed is "right" the more we have to make laws enforcement agencies and even more rules and regulations and in the end, the whole thing just backfires anyway.

Not that this is good for the employees but GM is laying off 3,500 people who were making trucks and SUVs.  Sales are decreasing as gas prices increase.  People are switching to cross-overs.  Maybe those people can get jobs building cool cross-overs or maybe they'll have to switch industries to what ever market will rise with the decline of car sales.

Walking shoes?

Unfortunately, our monkey-spanking government has created tax incentives for companies to move out of the country and preferred free trade agreements that benefit workers in foreign countries.

We could stop the whole thing if we would buy American but we want our companies to pay American taxes and high salaries to people so they can buy the cheapest crap on the planet that was built in Taiwan from Wal-Mart. 

To conserve gas and cut down on deadly emissions, we should pass a law that people aren't allowed to buy stuff that has to travel more than 1,000 miles to get to the retailer.

Ron Paul, Nevada, and the Country

I've tried to block out the treatment of Ron Paul and the American people by the corporations and the media companies as best I could.  This whole Nevada delegate election thing has brought it all back home for me.  We have lost control of our country.  The whole system is just a big hoax to make people think that they have some say in what happens but they don't.

Hillary, McCain, Obama.  Who cares?  The outcome will be the same.  If that weren't the case, they wouldn't be in the news.  Only the the candidates who have been bought and paid for make the Old Stream Media and most Americans still get there news in that fashion.

They can't be bothered to actually learn anything.  Part of the equation is the fact that they have to work longer and harder to make ends meet and so they have little time for actual learning.  Part of it is just laziness. 

Ron Paul doesn't take money from lobbyists so it's impossible for him to become president.  That is incredibly sad to me.  Having Ron Paul as president might not have changed much anyway.  After all, Congress has been bought and so there is little that he could have done but he could have educated America.  The media ignores him now even though he's still running to get the Republican nomination but if he was president, they would be expected to be there with cameras and microphones to broadcast what he said.

Now they can ignore him and instead we get to watch the pseudo-election process for the next president picked by world corporations and the CFR.

I'm still voting for Ron Paul if I have to write his name on the Diebold machine with white-out.  I still believe that you don't earn the right to complain about the idiot in office unless you vote.  When the country collapses into violent chaos, I'll have earned the right to blog about it.

What is Plan B if Ron Paul wins?

Nevada was supposed to pick it's state delegates last Saturday.  They were *supposed to* but they didn't because it was apparent that Ron Paul was going to win.

Yes, for those of you that get your news from the 3 letter boys, Ron Paul is still running to get the Republican nomination and he's going to win Nevada unless the Republican party can find a way to keep Ron Paul people out of the election process.

Saturday, in Reno, they started the process of electing state delegates.  In the first Congressional District voting, Ron Paul won 7 of 9 delegates.  Seeing this as a sign of how the rest of the voting would go for the day, the Republican party put the process into recess and said they would start over in a few days in Las Vegas (500-600 miles away to make it more inconvenient).

So, the people in charge of the Republican party (because it's obviously not the people in the part) have stalled to see what they can come up with to somehow keep the people from voting for who they want. 

You have to love democracy.

Article

PS - Don't you love that for an article about Ron Paul, they used a picture of Mitt Romney with a caption about McCain? 

Celebrating Being a Billionaire

Mikhail Prokhorov, Russian multi-billionaire (in the neighborhood of $22 billion), has decided to create a magazine aimed at billionaires and people who want to be billionaires.  The title of the magazine will be "Snob".

There's nothing wrong with being a billionaire.  In fact, I may give it a try sometime just to see what it's like.  The magazine name seems to give it a negative connotation though.

The timing of which could be very poor or maybe the timing is right, depending on who you are.  We are entering a time when many people may have less than they had a couple years ago.  This might be the best time to be a billionaire.

"It's not pleasant to boast about your wealth when you have inherited it but when you have made it yourself, well it is still not very nice, but it is justified," Shmarov said [who will be running Snob].

When you've got it, flaunt it?

Midweek Filler: Money Makes the World Go 'Round

I have never seen the movie that this week's video comes from but my dad must have had the soundtrack because I've heard the songs.

They Just Don't Get It

This news team is interviewing this guy because he's an expert.  He knows what he talking about.  They admit that he's been right in the past.  And yet . . .

Listen to them argue with him.  Smacktards.

Stocks are on their way up. Woo hoo!

Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist and chairman of the investment policy committee at Standard & Poor's, has declared that the worst is over for stocks for the year.  It's upward and onward from here.

The Federal Reserve's rate cuts and King George's generous tax rebates have saved the day.

If you pulled your money out trying to play it safe, now is the time to throw it all back in so that you can come out a winner at the end of the year. 

Whadya wanna bet that another investment firm goes under in May when no one believes the crap that Sam is shoveling?

No Worries. King George is all over it.

Nothing to worry about.  The good king has declared that he has everything under control.

"We saw this coming ... and so we took some action. And I do want to thank members of the Congress, members of the Chamber, for working on what I believe is going to be a very effective pro-growth stimulus package," Bush said.

Problem solve.

They saw this coming.  They didn't do anything about it at the time but they saw it coming.

"Dude, these people are going to be so screwed," Bush said.

"Yes, Mr. President, ha ha, they are," Cheney answered.

"Should we do something about it?" Bush asked.

"Like what?" Cheney asked.

"I don't know.  Don't I have advisors or sumpin' to deal with these things?" Bush asked.

"No, you don't.  Now, take your pills and go to your office.  We'll be there soon," Cheney said.

"What am I supposed to do?" Bush asked.

"We put a new game in the PS3 for you," Cheney said.

"Cool!"

So, it's all under control.  Continue on with your lives.  Nothing to see here.

Sunday Start - April 20

I've missed a few of these because my schedule seemed to be all over the place.  I'm working on that.  I used to be the most spontaneous person I knew.  I would still lean in that direction but I strive now to find some kind of balance between order and chaos.  There are things that I like to do every day, like exercise and blogging.

I usually pick three things that I want to get done in a week but this week I'm only going to pick one.  I need to update my blog index.  It's becoming a bigger and bigger job the longer that I put it off. 

I especially need to update my P90X index because of the popularity of that search for finding this blog.

On my wish list for the week is writing an episode for the August 6th series which just kind of got dropped.  I don't know how many people are interested in the aftermath but I feel that it's something that I need to write for me regardless of what other people want to read.  Maybe I needed the break in writing the story before tackling the harder part.  Shooting someone is easy.  Living with the aftermath is harder.

A goal but not a new goal is to continue with my new exercise cycle.  This week is my recovery week.  I'm hitting the weights hard for two weeks and then increasing my calorie intake while doing yoga and cardio for a week to let my muscles have a break.  I was doing three weeks of weights before the recovery week but I found that I was suffering from symptoms of over training during that third week: fatigue, irritability, sleep problems, and lack of motivation.  I have no desire to live life like that so I shortened it down, increased my calories a tad, and then increased my calories a tad more for recovery.  I'm looking long term for my fitness so I need something that I can do for the rest of the year.

I have ideas for what I'll be doing after the first week of June.  It's probably going to be 12 week cycles and I'll explain more later.

What are your plans for the week?

For now, blog index.  Focus.  Blog index.  I have Tuesday off from work.  Maybe I'll be caught up by then.

Sword Point Saturday - Who's at the Helm?

The country is headed for an economic dead end.  Even knowing the teeny bit about national economics that I know, I think I could have done a better job of keeping things going.

What this leads me to believe is that what's happening is not an accident.  There is a reason why we are being steered toward a depression while being told that there's going to be a bit of slow-down in the economy for a few months.

We all know that King George isn't smart enough to tie his own shoes, let alone run a country.  He's obviously part of the whole disaster and probably being paid very well.  How much is a legacy worth?  I don't know if you could pay me enough money to be the worst president ever.

Anyway, this leads to my question for today?

Who's driving this wreck?

5 Sword Points.

Gas Prices Costing Us Indirectly

Between my little Saturn and my 3 mile commute, the gas prices aren't having much of a direct effect on me.  I drive to work.  I drive home.  Once a week, we go get groceries. 

That's where we are feeling it.  Not feeling it as in, how are we going to eat?  More of just an annoyance at this point although I'm not looking forward to seeing how high prices are going to go.

I recently read an article that stated that while healthy foods are rising in price, junk food is going down in price.  That's going to lead to more health problems for a lot of people, especially those that are already living paycheck to paycheck.

Exactly the same ones that can't afford health problems.

We are entering a new era which is frightening but at the same time exciting.  What is life going to be like when the violence subsides and the new system is in place?

Midweek Filler: Dibby Dibby Dum

Thursday is a bad day for me when it comes to blogging. Between exercise, work, exercise, and karate, there isn't a whole lot of time left over. To that end, I'm going to be taking shortcuts on Thursdays. Today's shortcut is probably the first song that I can remember from my childhood about money.

McCain want to suspend gas taxes for the summer

From Memorial Day until Labor Day, McCain would like to save motorists 18 cents in Federal taxes. 

Here's a guy who openly plans on trying to continue the United States World Empire which currently costs us about a trillion dollars a year and he wants to cut taxes to save us a few cents a gallon at the pump.

As is the norm these days, the government will make up the difference by borrowing the money from China or the Federal Reserve, which ultimately is going to cost us our Republic.

People are going to wake up to the point that these little games that politicians play to make it *seem* like they are helping, are just for looks and actually make the situation worse. 

At least, I hope people wake up.  So help me Fed, people, take the red pill.

Blood Sucking Interest

Ron Paul would like to do away with income tax because, well, because of lots of reasons.  It's not right, is the bottom line, in many ways.

"How would we run our government?" I've been asked a few times. 

First, do we really like how this government runs?  I don't.

That aside, it's important to understand that income tax doesn't pay to run our government.  It pays interest to the Fed on all the money the government has borrowed from the private banking system operating under the misnomer, "Federal Reserve". 

We are paying the interest on our governments reckless spending.

That means that those wonderful rebate checks that we are going to be getting this summer that King George borrowed will have to be repaid -- with interest.  Out of the goodness of his heart, he's putting each of us more in debt.  Thanks.  Smacktard.

Those of you that are following along with my P90X Journal know that Tia and I decided not to go on the cruise this summer.  One of the reasons was because we were not involved in the decision making for the cruise and it didn't make any sense to allow someone else tell us how, when, and how much money we spend.

Unfortunately, we don't get that choice with Big Brother.  He has prisons, guns, and the ability to seize all of your money and property.  Most everyone knows at this point that income tax is actually illegal but most people continue to pay it because they don't want the government to f*ck with their lives.  Protection money.  Nothing more.

As long as the government continues to borrow money from the Fed, taxes will have to increase.  War in Iraq, war in Afghanistan, rebate checks.  Next up, war in Iran, war in Venezuela, national health care.  It's going to be hard to be excited about going to work when most of our paychecks go to the Fed.  The Fed will have to give us our ration of food and maybe a little bit of an allowance.  Maybe we'll get a thank you note and some movie passes with our pay stub (no check) each month.

In Fed We Trust.

Me-Me Monday: What's It Like?

This one is taken from Friday 5.

What is your keyring like?

My key ring is a kubotan.  I bought a kubotan to hold my keys when I was going to the police academy.  I could tuck the kubotan into my bat belt and it kept my keys handy.  I tried keeping my keys in my pocket after I entered civilian life and hated it so I went back to keeping my keys on a kubotan and tucking it into my waistband. 

What is your briefcase like?

It's a soft black nylon kind of thing.  Gathering dust.  I don't use it anymore. 

What is your wallet like?

It's a soft black nylon kind of thing.  Not gathering dust.  It's pretty beat up.  I like it because it's very slender.  I don't carry much in it.  A debit card, a credit card, a couple pictures, a couple business cards, driver license, work ID, concealed weapons permit, and a few bucks.

What's your mouse pad like?

It's a soft black nylon kind of thing.  Not really.  It's more of a neoprene kind of thing with a Schimmel picture on it.  I had to dig it out of storage when my trackball died.  I need to buy a new trackball.  I don't like using a mouse.  The picture is of a baby tiger and a baby leopard hungrily staring at Trey's Superman mouse. 

What are the curtains in your bedroom like?

Wrong, they are not black nylon.  Good guess though.  They are actually nonexistent which leads to adventures such as this and this.  We've talked about getting curtains but they seem to be low on the priority list.  It has been a while since we've updated our wish list but my guess is that bedroom curtains will still be on the bottom.  There are so many cooler things to get.  Like a flat screen TV.  =)

Sword Point Saturday - When you gotta

What kinds of tricks do you use to get yourself to do things that you don't really want to do but that you know need to be done?

I have two favorites.

1.  Break it down into small tasks if possible.  Just get a little bit done at a time.  It eventually reaches a point where I just go, "Screw it!  Let's finish this."

2.  Delegate.  I find people that enjoy doing the things that I don't and have them do it.

Your turn.

Whose fault is it?

Our economy is coming to a dead end (Adam Kritzer sums it up HERE) and someone is going to have to be blamed.  It's the American way. 

Quick side note: I saw a headline that Virginia Tech paid victims and family for the shooting.  So I need to rephrase. 

Someone with money is going to have to be blamed.

Quite frankly, I think we should all sue the Federal Reserve.  Think about it.  The most important consideration when filing a lawsuit is finding the deep pockets.  Actual cause and effect, common sense, Darwinism, and warning labels are simple hurdles to overcome.  You have to find someone with money.

There are no deeper pockets than the Federal Reserve.  They can just print and print money.  You can sue them for a trillion dollars.  If you win, they'll just have to run the printing press until you get your money.  I think we should file a class action suit against the Federal Reserve.  Their negligence is leading to records in oil prices, gas prices, foreclosures, bankruptcies, unemployment, and unhappiness.

Any attorneys taking on this case?  I'd like my piece of the pie.

Two homeless countries for the price of one

The senate would like to help people keep their homes in some way or help people buy up the huge oversupply of houses on the market.  Have they thought about trying Overstock.com? 

King George has told them not to even bother trying to pass the bill on to him because it would be too expensive.  He just can't go along with that kind of spending.

In completely unrelated news, direct costs of the war have exceeded $500 billion and total economic impact is over $1.3 trillion.  Unmeasured is the moral cost the war has had on our country.

The United States spends about $100 billion a year destroying houses, schools, hospitals, museums, libraries, and anything else that can be bombed.  The only safe place to be in Iraq when the bombs are bursting is next to an oil well.

Every year that we continue to annihilate Iraq, the longer it will take for both countries to recover.  Maybe when our economy tanks, the tanks will stop running and Iraq can begin rebuilding and Americans can look around and wonder what the hell happened.

Gotta Love Debit Cards

The Fed is auctioning off more money and looking to lower the interest rate again.  This will of course devalue the dollar some more and cause inflation.  It will also cause investors to be real things like oil, gold, and silver.  This will drive those prices up and so oil, gas, plastic, food, and anything that is shipped will increase in cost.

The cool thing about debit cards is that you won't have to take a wheelbarrow full of money to the grocery to buy food for your family.  You can just take a little piece of plastic with you and empty your bank account electronically.

Handy.

King George didn't get the memo

Congress is trying to decide what to do next because almost everyone knows that the tax rebates aren't going to work. 

It's fiat money that only adds to the problem.

It's a drop in the bucket.

It's not going to help the people that need it the most.

Gas prices of $4.00 a gallon are going to wipe people out.

$5.00 a gallon diesel prices are going to cause price increases in everything.

Biofuels competing for corn are going to drive up grocery prices.

That 600 bucks just isn't going to go far but King George is telling Congress to wait and give the rebates a chance and he's sure that we're going to pull through this "rough time".

This begs the question, is King George:

• overly optimistic?
• lying through his teeth as ordered by the puppet masters?
• a complete tard?

Grandpa Greenspan upgrades recession chances

The Alzheimer's lifted briefly today and Grandpa Greenspan broke with his whole 25.56% chance of recession talk and said that there is better than a 50% chance of recession now.

I really think I could be an economist.  You just wait until the thing actually happens and then say that thing is likely to happen soon.

Can you just see the weatherman outside with his umbrella up so that he doesn't get wet telling us all that there is a better than 50% chance of rain.

Ya think?

"Put this one in the record books.  Rams 41.  Cowboys 27.  Madden, what did you think of the game?"

"I'd say there is a better than 50% chance that the Rams are going to win this thing."

Does anyone put any stock in what Uncle Ben or Grandpa Greenspan have to say?

Uncle Bernanke finally almost said it

We just might be heading for a recession. 

No, seriously.

It has to be true if Uncle Ben said so.

Things must be getting so bad that it's hard to skew the numbers enough to say that we aren't possibly heading for a recession. 

If Ben ever says that we are in a recession, it'll mean that we're actually in a depression.

Playing Hard To Get with Money

Tia and I were talking during a car ride on Monday and we agreed on an observation.  I've been giving it some thought and mentioned it again to PTE Rick today.  I'm sure there's a known psychological reason behind it but it doesn't matter.  All that matters is understanding that it exists.

Tia and I could buy things but we don't.  We say, "We could . . ." a lot.  We don't buy much though.  (I did buy this arch-thingy for one of my climbing roses on Monday.  I'll take a picture when the roses are blooming.)

I think a lot of it goes back to people wanting what they can't have.  Credit cards and store credit have solved the problem of not being able to have it but people still can't afford much of what they buy.

Once you can, items seem to lose their desirableness.  We just buy what we truly need or want.  It seems like a paradox.  We shop more when we can't afford it and shop less when we could actually buy things.

I still believe that part of it comes back to the idea of spending money.  Credit isn't money.  You aren't spending *your* money when you use a credit card.  The pain comes later.  When you are using your own money, your more picky.  At least that's how it works for us.