Once upon a time religions supported science.  This was before science contradicted religious principles.  Now religious thinking is the exact opposite of the scientific method.  The problem with our children is we teach them contradictory ideas that can not be reconciled.  Like the checking account that is overdrawn.  Religion is overdrawn and we want our children to be balanced.  Take the test below to see what this does to our minds. 

Once upon a time religions supported science.  This was before science contradicted religious principles.  Now religious thinking is the exact opposite of the scientific method.  The problem with our children is we teach them contradictory ideas that can not be reconciled.  Like the checking account that is overdrawn.  Religion is overdrawn and we want our children to be balanced.  Take the test below to see what this does to our minds. 

What will be the tipping point for the US Economy?  For those old enough to remember the 70's it was inflation that sunk the economy.  So what is inflation?  Inflation is a collection of items bought by the average consumer such as bread, gasoline, housing, utilities etc.  Inflation gave then President Jimmy Carter fits.  It wasn't his fault.  Previous President Nixon had taken the US dollar off of the gold standard which helped to limit inflation.  President Nixon reasoned should the US economy be limited by a commodity pulled from the ground with nil utility value.

What will be the tipping point for the US Economy?  For those old enough to remember the 70's it was inflation that sunk the economy.  So what is inflation?  Inflation is a collection of items bought by the average consumer such as bread, gasoline, housing, utilities etc.  Inflation gave then President Jimmy Carter fits.  It wasn't his fault.  Previous President Nixon had taken the US dollar off of the gold standard which helped to limit inflation.  President Nixon reasoned should the US economy be limited by a commodity pulled from the ground with nil utility value.

The reasoning was good but in reality good old Austrian Economics rules.  You don't know what is going to happen until you test it on real people.  Well the people selling the US oil at the time didn't like getting dollars that were discounted so to counter Nixon's maneuver the OPEC oil cartel joined together creating a virtual monopoly.  They reduced supply and raised the price for a barrel of oil.  Oil is a universal product that goes into everything in the commodities basket that is measured for inflation. 

When inflation emerges a chain reaction starts.  Government payments like Social Security, salaries, and budgets are indexed based on inflation.  These payments all go up.  Then the working person wants more pay to cover increased living expenses.  In the 70's labor unions were prominent.  Workers went on strike for more pay.  A vicious cycle followed.  A new president followed too, President Reagan.  He knew inflation was so devastating because of the loss of confidence in the government and for investing in businesses.  The cures for inflation are efficiency improvements, reduction in labor costs and the perception of no inflation.

Reagan chose to adjust how inflation was measured.  He took out the housing number justifying as a home is a one-time purchase over a lifetime and not an annual purchase by the average consumer.  This brought the inflation number down reducing the government indexed payouts. 

So what will bring the US economy down?  Nothing will except the expanding government payroll and the increasing number of hungry people.  When China stops buying US debt and starts building up a military inventory this will mark when the US has passed the tipping point.  

Consider this:

1.     The earth has limited resources and space. 

2.     More people are added each day.

3.     Efficiencies improve each day. In lay terms fewer people are required to achieve the same amount of output. The end result of this phenomenon is concentration of wealth with decreasing number of persons working or an increasing unemployment figure. Artificial fixes to this is the "Practice of Obsolescence" purposely designing things to break, expanding government or by purposeful destruction such as war. The natural fixes are plagues, natural disasters, and famines.

Consider this:

1.     The earth has limited resources and space. 

2.     More people are added each day.

3.     Efficiencies improve each day. In lay terms fewer people are required to achieve the same amount of output. The end result of this phenomenon is concentration of wealth with decreasing number of persons working or an increasing unemployment figure. Artificial fixes to this is the "Practice of Obsolescence" purposely designing things to break, expanding government or by purposeful destruction such as war. The natural fixes are plagues, natural disasters, and famines.

So what are the circumstances now? Concentration of wealth yes but not to the same degree it was concentrated in 1900. Increasing efficiencies, yes this is for sure. No longer is the pony express or a homing pigeon used for sending a message. The pony express rider and pigeon owner are sitting on the couch waiting for a call. Are things becoming obsolete still? Yes at an even faster rate. Who owns a car over 20 years of age or a phone more than 5 years of age? So what's happening? Do we play more? Can't remember the last poker game, the last chess game was over 2 years ago, have played charades in the last year but this was only because the electricity failed, game of ping pong in the last year but this occurred on one day.

So as Fareed Zakaria would say here is my take:

1.     We do things faster but have less time to play

2.     We have more money but much more debt as a whole

3.     We know more but wisdom is in short supply

4.     People have more facebook friends but fewer real friends who bring soup by during a crisis

5.     That's my take

Learning is an ongoing phenomena.  Learning ceases to be when our opinions become firm and unchanging. Blacksmiths work with malleable material. They start with raw materials taken from the earth apply temperature and form malleable material. This material looses it's value when it oxidizes completely or becomes so non-malleable to become brittle like glass.  

Quite a bit of negative connotations were applied to those in the political forum when their opinions evolved. For most people who stop evolving terms like digressing, dementia, limited mental capacity, or in street terms his/her elevator is missing some top floors, like a box of rocks, not the brightest bulb or my favorite "Did I really say that!" 

Learning is an ongoing phenomena.  Learning ceases to be when our opinions become firm and unchanging. Blacksmiths work with malleable material. They start with raw materials taken from the earth apply temperature and form malleable material. This material looses it's value when it oxidizes completely or becomes so non-malleable to become brittle like glass.  

Quite a bit of negative connotations were applied to those in the political forum when their opinions evolved. For most people who stop evolving terms like digressing, dementia, limited mental capacity, or in street terms his/her elevator is missing some top floors, like a box of rocks, not the brightest bulb or my favorite "Did I really say that!" 

Here is a phenomena to consider. Maybe a dozen persons were asked this question: If you worked with your 4 brothers in a family remodeling business and the workload declined by 20% which option would be choose.

1. Reduce the work week from 5 to 4 days
2. Lay off one brother without pay

All respondents who chose reduce the work week from 5 to 4 days were Non Americans. Americans chose to lay off a brother. Feel free to form an opinion. A note here one Non American suggested the 5 brothers continue working 5 days but each spend one day trying to illicit more work for the business.  I thought this was right on.

Here is another self test for those who have all the answers. Consider this Simple Test below! If you get the right answer congratulations so did a bird.  Yes that is right a bird got the answer correct.  If you didn't get it right I would tend to listen more and talk less.

ING Corporate Leaders Trust has outperformed most of its competitors over the past decade, thanks to outsize holdings in energy and railroads, which both benefited from rising oil prices. The fund was also underweight in financials, which helped it dodge the worst of the 2008 bear market.

So who is the savvy portfolio manager who made those bets?

 There is no such manager.  He She does not exist.  The 22 stocks were selected 75 years ago. Where the fund ranks:

ING Corporate Leaders Trust has outperformed most of its competitors over the past decade, thanks to outsize holdings in energy and railroads, which both benefited from rising oil prices. The fund was also underweight in financials, which helped it dodge the worst of the 2008 bear market.

So who is the savvy portfolio manager who made those bets?

 There is no such manager.  He She does not exist.  The 22 stocks were selected 75 years ago. Where the fund ranks:

My Take Away Thoughts:

1. Financial Managers, mutual funds, and financial advisors are irrelevant.
2. The smart investor will take this information start their own investment holdings and save the .49% expense fee.  Over the life of this fund the expense fee has siphoned off $282 million or roughly 1/3 of the current value of the fund. 
3. Their largest holding is ExxonMobile.  The best fundamental stock in this energy category is BP.  BP has 3 times the confirmed oil and gas reserves as ExxonMobile.  BP is valued $6.97 per barrel of confirmed oil in the ground.  They make money on every barrel of oil priced over $35.
4. The second largest holding is Union Pacific Railroad.  They are still top rated among Railroads. CSX has better fundamentals comparatively.  My personal sentiment is to move into pipe line transports due to the abundance of natural gas which will become an integral component in the US energy picture.  A top rated gas transporter is Energy Transport Partners paying an 8% dividend with sufficient cash flow for additional investment.
5. I would add a utility to this mix.  I like Southern Company.  They service the southern states which is the fastest growing population region.  They are capable of utilizing either coal or natural gas depending on costs.          

Quality of life: 

What exactly is quality of life?  Is it determined by the size of a bank account?  The number of letters behind one's name, possibly it is the amount of sleep averaged each night?  What if it had something to do with walking barefoot outside or the smell of oak wood burning in a wood stove?  Another indicator might be the variety of natural nutritional options one has?  Quality of life is a mix of all of these components.  To really grasp the concept of quality of life the essential ingredients should be identified.

To define the basic components means defining what is essential for life.  That part is easy.  Humans require clean air, clean water, healthy nutrition, sometimes clothes, and interaction with other social animals.  Social animals do include other humans. 

Quality of life: 

What exactly is quality of life?  Is it determined by the size of a bank account?  The number of letters behind one's name, possibly it is the amount of sleep averaged each night?  What if it had something to do with walking barefoot outside or the smell of oak wood burning in a wood stove?  Another indicator might be the variety of natural nutritional options one has?  Quality of life is a mix of all of these components.  To really grasp the concept of quality of life the essential ingredients should be identified.

To define the basic components means defining what is essential for life.  That part is easy.  Humans require clean air, clean water, healthy nutrition, sometimes clothes, and interaction with other social animals.  Social animals do include other humans. 

What defines clean air?  The coal miners of West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky used a canary as their indicator for clean air.  If the canary died they would die soon too.  So birds would be a good indicator of clean air.  If the song or call of a bird is heard each day that is a good way to know the air is clean. 

What defines clean water?  Some people drink chlorinated water but chlorine kills bacteria and germs.  The human body has more bacterial DNA and RNA than human DNA or RNA so that doesn't sound so clean.  Possibly filtered water or bottled water from the supermarket is clean.  If it comes in a glass bottle, was distilled then we could call it clean.  If it is only filtered the same EPA standards are applied.  Here is a list of 100 random things found in filtered clean water with the stamp of cleanliness by EPA standards:

To really know you have clean water it must be either distilled, ground filtered which means it comes from a spring testing is still required or it comes from plants such as watermelons (97% water), cucumbers (96%), lettuce (96%), zucchini (95%), celery (94%), tomatoes (93%), strawberries (92%), apples (91%), grapes (91%), oranges (90%).  The above foods are proportioned with the proper amount of water for digestion.  Foods such as roasted peanuts, popcorn, pretzels have nearly no water and require equivalent amounts of clean water for digestion.  So that's why those places give these foods away.

How about quality nutritious food as important for a quality life?  Quality nutritious food would equate to a healthy body but most people are overweight, on medications and can't remember what happened the day before.  Maybe a diet based on corn, milk, sugar and meat is not so good after all.  A good rule of thumb for quality food is check out what our nearest animal relatives live on.  Bears live on plants, nuts, berries, fish and small amount of protein.  Chimps live on plants, nuts, insects, berries and small amounts of protein.  Small amount of protein is 5% or less.  For humans if it comes from a tree, grew from the ground, or swam in the water it likely is nutritious for us. 

The quality components will be limited to four only to finish this article is interaction with other living animals.  Take the contact away and quality goes down.  Too much contact and the quality goes down.  Finding the right balance is key just like the right balance to all the above.  This is only a start to a quality life.  If there are wild animals sharing the same space probably a good indicator of quality except for rats and mice.  

Fiscal cliff, that's all we hear on any so called "News" shows or talk shows.  Why are quality news reporters who will present the entire situation so rare?  Why don't any of these national news shows put the coming events scheduled for the end of the year into their proper perspective.

Fiscal cliff, that's all we hear on any so called "News" shows or talk shows.  Why are quality news reporters who will present the entire situation so rare?  Why don't any of these national news shows put the coming events scheduled for the end of the year into their proper perspective.

Here are the effect of the Bush Tax Cuts expiration in perspective. The middle class worker making under 75K will loose $1,132 to higher taxes.  This is not a life stopper or something to loose sleep over. The middle class income payor will give back about 2% of yearly wages to the Federal Government. A million dollar income earner is giving back to the Federal Government .6% of their income if the Bush Tax Cuts expire.  Let's compare this.  Middle class under 75K is paying 2% of their earning to the Federal Government whereas the Million Dollar earner is paying only .6% or a third of what the Middle class guy does in percentage terms if the Bush Tax Cuts Expire.  

Let's address what is called Sequestration.  Sequestration is an automatic cut of 6% based on 2012 spending negotiated by Congress and President Obama in July 2011.  Let's put this spending cut into perspective.  Sequestration rolls back government spending by one year to what budget levels were in July 2011.  That sounds like a good idea not like a fiscal cliff.  More than anything it sounds like the American People have been mislead to some degree.  Maybe if the negotiated cuts took the size of government back 4 years but to negotiate a deal that keeps spending at what was the current government levels at the time the deal was made seems like a bait and switch ploy. So much for finding a decent news reporter to actually report what is actually happening.  Bottom line is the Middle Class Earner looses more on a percentage basis than the Million Dollar Earner if the Bush Tax Cuts Expire.

We hear numerous people refer to the coming fiscal cliff.  What is the fiscal cliff?  Is it like we are jumping from some elevation to our death?  No, it isn't.  Nobody is going to die.  Over a 1000 government agencies will see their budgets reduced including the Military Budget. The Military Budget will be reduced 6% this year and following nine years.  Let's look back at history.  Harry Truman ended WWII during his Presidency.  Two years after ending WWII the defense budget was cut 75%. The US economy began expanding each year after until 2008.

We hear numerous people refer to the coming fiscal cliff.  What is the fiscal cliff?  Is it like we are jumping from some elevation to our death?  No, it isn't.  Nobody is going to die.  Over a 1000 government agencies will see their budgets reduced including the Military Budget. The Military Budget will be reduced 6% this year and following nine years.  Let's look back at history.  Harry Truman ended WWII during his Presidency.  Two years after ending WWII the defense budget was cut 75%. The US economy began expanding each year after until 2008.

Let's repeat this very important fact.  The current defense budget is 902 Billion.  After the 6% cut the defense budget in 2013 will be 852 Billion. If anyone knows the name of the current war we are fighting let me know.  I want a country not a war on terror, war on drugs, war on poverty or other similar accolade. 

More interesting facts: the US economy entered the 1946 year with the largest debt in history, over 100% of that years budget.  This was the year when Truman instituted miliatry spending cuts and public sector union crack down.  The GDP remained basicly the same with a fractional decline from 1945 to 1946 after this the economy grew.  

A few other interesting facts: 

1. Barack Obama shares common principles with Theodore Roosevelt and both were winners of the Noble Peace Prize
2. The US debt steadily declined after 1945 until President Nixon's Term.  
3. After Nixon the US debt only declined during the Carter and Clinton terms
4. A decline in GDP is not necessarily a bad thing if there is a fundamental transition going on.

GDP or Gross Domestic Product is the total of all economic activity including wasteful non productive government activity and other non wasteful projects.  If wasteful  spending (ie government expeditures and excessive military spending without a cause ) is reduced a temporary decline in GDP is likely to happen.  Next time someone tries to win a discussion based on a declining GDP, look them straight in the eye and say SO THAT IS A BAD THING?

Interesting Video of Vanderbilt, Carnegie, & Morgan . These three men had more wealth than the top 40 wealthiest men today. They also controlled more assets than the US Government.  Teddy Roosevelt initiated a redistribution of wealth from the 3 rishest men to more of the working population.  At that time 90% of the US population lived below poverty levels.  He was called a progressive.

Marketing Vacation Rentals is a skilled endeavor.  Marketing successfully a vacation rental involves attention to details and customer centered.  The first aspect is to connect with the potential customer.  To do this bobzio.com has 20 $100 Adword Coupons to those persons interested in marketing their Vacation Rentals using bobzio.com and Adwords on google.  Use the contact form on Bobzio.com to request your free coupon code after starting a new listing or modifying your current listing by adding more photos or a special offer.  Use an exact word match technique.  I prefer to use my location combined with Vacation Rentals as the axact phrase match.

Marketing Vacation Rentals is a skilled endeavor.  Marketing successfully a vacation rental involves attention to details and customer centered.  The first aspect is to connect with the potential customer.  To do this bobzio.com has 20 $100 Adword Coupons to those persons interested in marketing their Vacation Rentals using bobzio.com and Adwords on google.  Use the contact form on Bobzio.com to request your free coupon code after starting a new listing or modifying your current listing by adding more photos or a special offer.  Use an exact word match technique.  I prefer to use my location combined with Vacation Rentals as the axact phrase match.

Warren Buffet is asking everyone to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. The social media help launch the Arab Spring and the movement for freedom and democracy. Let's use social media for the same purpose here to institute real change and freedom for the people.

In three days, most people in the U.S. will have the message.
This is one idea that really should be passed around.

We're ALL in this mess together ... it's up to us to fix it ... for our kids!
Read and pass on to 20 of your friends...

Warren Buffet is asking everyone to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. The social media help launch the Arab Spring and the movement for freedom and democracy. Let's use social media for the same purpose here to institute real change and freedom for the people.

In three days, most people in the U.S. will have the message.
This is one idea that really should be passed around.

We're ALL in this mess together ... it's up to us to fix it ... for our kids!
Read and pass on to 20 of your friends...

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling ...
"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that any time there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election."
The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months and 8 days to be ratified! Why?
Simple! The people demanded it.
That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.
Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure. Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message.
This is one idea that really should be passed around.
Congressional Reform Act of 2012

1. No Tenure/No Pension
A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other Purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care systemand participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/12.

The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.
Congress made all these contracts for themselves.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days
for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message.
Don't you think it's time?
THIS IS HOW YOU FIXCONGRESS!
If you agree, pass it on.
If not, delete.
You are one of my 20+ ... please keep it going, and thanks!
We're ALL in this mess together ... it's up to us to fix it