Pensions are too Lucrative for Governmental Employees

As reported by epi.org we have seen that defined-benefit pension plans in the private sector have in recent years: "… now cover 18 percent of private-sector workers, down from 35 percent in the early 1990s."  This epic decline in pension benefits in the private sector, has as its main reason for this change, the fact that private sector companies are cognizant that defined-benefit pension plans are often fundamentally unsustainable or problematic by virtue of both the amount and duration of the benefits that must be paid out which often cannot be quantified properly, in addition to the limiting of the company's effectiveness in access to bond monies and other instruments of company growth, competitive considerations, as well as making the company less desirable for mergers or buy-outs.  On the other hand, though, governmental employees, who in theory gravitate to their job by virtue of their desire to serve their community, have created pension liabilities in many communities, cities, counties, and various governmental agencies, that are fiscally unsustainable.

The most significant issues with pensions in the first place for many governmental

employees, is that the actuarial basis for the pension in regards to: its amount, its time frame, its determination, its framework, its inflation-adjusted coefficient, its benefits, and so forth, appears to be a situation to which those that legislate and determine these things, have done a massive disservice to their community at large, by not carefully considering the sustainability, fairness, or appropriateness of the pension benefits.  Unfortunately, it is always much easier to pass the buck from one generation to another, from one legislature to another, with a wink and a nod, as compared to actually taking the time and diligence to figuring out the consequences of pensions that are far too generous or poorly reasoned out and to do the right things to begin with.

The fact of the matter is that the pensions as they currently exist are in a significant amount of cases a grand disservice to the taxpayers at large.  For instance, in Illinois, using teachers as our example, and as reported by teacherpensions.org, it is calculated that: "If instead you lined up every retiree in order of their benefit, the teacher right in the middle would receive a monthly payment of $4,613, or a little more than $55,000 a year." That median pension benefit of $55,000 annually, with, no doubt a cost-of-living adjuster, is how much a teacher will receive in compensation year after year, after retirement, until their death.  If you take into full account, that communities are compelled to compensate not only the teachers that are teaching at the present time, but also teachers that have retired and those that are retiring in the future, the amount of money that is budgeted and set aside for teachers is almost always significantly higher than anticipated, and this shortfall must be made up for by the taxpayers who often, in almost every case, do not have nearly anything approaching the generosity of the same defined-pension plans that they are paying for with their taxes.

In point of fact, pensions for government employees should be phased out, and phased out as soon as possible, and replaced with the same sorts of programs that most private-enterprise companies offer today, which is 401K plans and the like.  The upshot would probably result in a higher compensation rate being offered for today's governmental employees, with the corresponding result being that governmental agencies and taxpayers would not have to worry about pension blowups and unsustainably in the future.

Interview Question: Have You Ever Been Arrested?

At any given job interview, all sorts of unexpected and unanticipated things may occur, of which, one of them may be inappropriate or illegal questions.  For instance, there are some job application forms and job interview questions to which one of the illegal questions that is asked is whether or not you have ever been arrested.   The assumed point of a question like this is to separate out applicants that have been arrested from those that have not been arrested and/or to count against the interviewee an arrest incident in their overall application grade.  While those that have never been arrested might even prefer seeing this type of question asked, that is hardly fair to those that march to the beat of a different drummer, come from a different environment, been harassed, unlucky, or various other reasons why their susceptibility of being arrested would be appreciably higher than someone else's.

For those that have actually been arrested, and really aren't aware of the inappropriateness and illegality of the question being asked, the bottom line is it is up to that person's conscience as to how to answer the question.   In general, unless you feel somehow that the question is a question striking at the heart of your integrity and thereby by admitting to something that really did happen, you feel will somehow garner points with the interviewer as demonstrating your candor in an uncomfortable situation, by all means answer the question honestly.  However, in almost every other instance, you are far better off answering the question by denying your arrest, as there is no such thing as being "convicted of the crime of being arrested".  That is to say, if your arrest did not lead to a conviction, than you have absolutely nothing to own up to.

The most significant problem with inappropriate interview questions is that almost always these questions are a form of trying to get you to "make a case against yourself" which is completely and fundamentally at odds with the whole purpose of having the Constitutional right not to self-incriminate and is often best left in the hands of you and God, or to be confessed as a form of contrition to God's representative on earth.  In addition to this, asking interviewees questions about their arrest record are unfairly biased against both males and those of lower socio-economic levels because these people are historically significantly more susceptible to being arrested in the first place.  Not only that, people that are willing to rail against the system in protest for whatever injustices that they perceive and have felt around society, are far more susceptible to being arrested, yet it is exactly those people, that help to cause and implement positive change.

If you look at the great heroes of history, such as Jesus the Christ, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Jones, and Nelson Mandela, to name just a few, they all stood for justice and truth against the forces of injustice and error and were all arrested for their stand or even worse.  The question put forth: have you ever been arrested is fundamentally unsound, as that question by itself divides neither the sheep from the goats; the real question to ask is whether you have ever stood up for justice, knowing that by doing so, you would suffer for it.

The Poll Tax

Most people do not know what the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution stipulates, but in short, in 1964 when it was ratified, it basically stipulated that in national elections voting: "… shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax."  It then took a Supreme Court decision in 1966 to eliminate the poll tax in State elections, so that since 1966 poll taxes are no longer valid or legal in any State of this union.

As for a poll tax, it's name pretty much sums up what it is, a form of taxation or fee that has to be paid in order for a voter to be able to legally vote at the polling booth and those that did not pay such a tax, would therefore not be permitted to vote.  The purpose of the poll tax, not too surprisingly, was to take away the vote from the disenfranchised and poor, so as to tip the scales of justice to those that had the means to create their own form of justice favoring those of a certain class, race, and/or creed.  The poll tax was quite effective in its discrimination, as indigent people simply didn't have the monetary means to vote and often simply gave up trying to fight the system.   

While the poll tax as it was has now been placed into the dustbin of history, it has somewhat been resurrected by identification laws that certain State legislatures have passed over the ensuing years, so depending upon the State of your residence, in order for you to vote in a given election, you must present some form on legal government issued ID, such as your driver's license.  It would seem that, offhand, the presentation of proper ID to vote appears to be a reasonable request to make, but that isn't necessarily so.  For instance, for a well established person, having proper ID on hand is almost a given, however, there is a substantial part of America to which that isn't necessarily so, for a variety of reasons, yet they are of age, entitled to vote, and in fact, voting is their Constitutional right.

At a polling booth, in order to vote, you have to be able to identify yourself, which historically has meant identifying yourself verbally through your full name, address of voting registration, and possibly also your date of birth, all of this for the benefit of the official at the polling booth so as to verify this information against their records and thereby check your name off of the voting rolls for that election.   While it might be convenient to present one's ID in order to confirm or to establish identity, it should not be the law to do so, as that ID has previously been established by virtue of the fact that your name is on the voting roll.  This means, that a verbal declaration of who you are, to which that information is consistent with the information at the voting booth, should be sufficient to allow you, your right to vote. 

In short, whether you jogged to the voting booth, drove, walked, dropped by, got dropped off, or whatever, you should be able to wait your turn in line, properly identify yourself, and then vote.  Those that insist upon proper government issued ID in order to vote, are deliberately creating barriers to entry, much like the poll tax of old, to keep undesirables at bay, in their place, and left behind.

The New Color of Slavery

Whether you want to believe that slavery ended in America upon Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, or upon the surrender of the Confederacy on April 9, 1865, or perhaps upon the ratification of 13th Amendment in 1865, which abolish slavery and involuntary servitude, one could make a strong argument that slavery or its modern equivalence of never really went away.   The problem with the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865 is that the same power structure that created the Confederacy still existed, unbowed and unrepentant despite any loyalty documents that were signed, still owning the same land and still having access to the same poor and disenfranchised black people of the South, and although there were federal laws on the books, Union men in town, it didn't take all that long for things to inexorably slip back to the way that they previously were.

That is to say, of course, technically Southern plantation owners no longer owned slaves, as that was illegal, and perhaps considered impolitic, but just as surely Southern plantation owners adjusted to these circumstances by creating "black codes" and other laws and restrictions on black movement and labor, that were backed by southern justice, southern arms, southern violence, in such a manner that freed blacks were forced into positions of servitude similar to slavery to which the prime beneficiary of this labor was reaped in large part by that southern plantation class, trapping blacks into a system that offered no escape from economic deprivation.

It was not until the aftermath of World War II that the pressure to give the black man a fair place at the table of American bounty became something that began to inexorably increase on the Federal government; yet, while on the one hand, America began to become a more liberal society, there was a conscious recognition that jobs that were both labor intensive as well as historically poor in compensation, such as agricultural in all of its many facets, hospitality, and so forth, needed to be filled by somebody that would be satisfied just to have some sort of foothold in America.

The answer to that labor need came from south of the border, in Mexico, and in Central America, to which whether purposely done or by benign neglect, the powers-to-be made sure to differentiate these people from "real" Americans, by first allowing them to slip across the borders in unprecedented numbers, and further to make sure that these people would not be considered to be citizens, but instead be looked upon as undocumented workers, illegal aliens, or whatever.  Further to the point to separate these people from Americans, they made sure to setup the logistics of a language barrier; by making Spanish the de facto recognized second language of America.  The brilliance of this decision was that, those that are unable to comprehend English, but instead must rely on Spanish to conduct their day-to-day activities of their communication, place themselves into the inferior position of being both stigmatized by authorities and also exploited by labor, because by their language, there are in essence recognized as people that have no rights that need be respected.  This means, in effect, that they are subject to "Mexican codes" to keep them in their place, that a "good" Mexican is a Mexican that keeps their head down, does their work well, doesn't complain about working conditions or pay, and should be grateful for the bones thrown their way.

While one could argue that it isn't really slavery when you aren't forced to or compelled to move your feet into America, which while technically true, misses the point that the deliberate exploitation of any human labor, that is further not accorded full civil and economic rights, is a civil crime against humanity and a disgrace to anyone that pledges allegiance to this mighty flag and what it represents.

The Insanity of High-End Art Pricing

There are the rich, the very rich, and the superrich that are so superrich that they are absolutely beyond the pale, to which most people are absolutely clueless as to how the world of the wealthy actually revolves.  The world is a very large place to which money is made in all sorts of ways, some legal, some not, some of very questionable actions, some not, and some of blatantly illegal ways, and some not.  Those that make their money on the "dark side", so to speak, have only solved half the equation, as cash or cash like instruments, in and of itself, has limited value if you are unable to turn that cash into something of more tangible value, especially something that is both fungible as well as easily transferrable and preferably of international merit.

The big auction houses such as Christie's and Sotheby's have taken over from the Swiss bankers of old, as the new way to laundry and store money that has questionable origins.  The first clue that Christie's and Sotheby's are not on the up and up, is the fact that some of the most expensive art pieces in the history of mankind are sold or transferred to either straight-out anonymous parties, that "prefer for privacy reasons" not to be identified, or sold to a named person or rumored to have been sold to a named person in the art industry, who in fact is just a front for an anonymous buyer.

The second clue that things at Christie's and Sotheby's are not on the up and up, is revealed within the increasingly insane pricing of art pieces that are sold.  For instance, a Cezanne painting sells for $250 million, and a Picasso for $155 million, and the still living Jasper Johns painting goes for $110 million.  No matter how you slice and dice the pricing on these pieces, none of these pieces demand that type of pricing, yet prices like these or on a somewhat smaller scale are achieved again and again and again.

Because a given art piece must have a buyer as well as a seller, and of course, be able to accommodate the very nice commission for the art gallery or auction selling the piece, there has to be some sort of assurance for all parties involved, that the punch bowl in regards to these high-end art pieces is not going to be taken away anytime soon.  That bowl is primarily controlled and manipulated by the art auction houses themselves in conjunction with certain art critics and the credulous press.  That is to say, you are not going to get buyers, with even the most corrupt and dirty money, even considering buying art, if they aren't confidently reassured that the art game itself is rigged in everybody's favor.

For instance, if there is an agreement, an implied agreement, of course, that art pieces will always or almost always go up in price over time, this makes the dealing of this commodity much more enticing for those that need to wash their dirty money and thereby to cleanse it, from either a buying or selling perspective, as today's buyer, is often tomorrow's seller, and that washing cycle continues until such time as the game can no longer sustain itself.  So despite what you might hear from the art experts, or despite the denials from Sotheby's and Christie's, today's art pricing is a manipulated shell game, rigged, and fueled significantly by the very dirty money hiding behind the cloak of anonymity, tax evasion, and/or false fronts.

The Importance of Private Property

In today's modern society the law often in conjunction with the government is constantly encroaching upon man's natural right to enjoy and to control the very things that he owns.  In a country without private property, whether that property is owned by the government outright, or by the people in common, the individual, has no safe sanctuary, since the very steps that he takes upon any part of the earth, is not his own.

While it might sound enticing, fair, or even Christian, for everyone to own everything in common, the actuality of it all is far from some sort of earthly paradise.  First, no matter how the bread is sliced, somebody is going to have effectively more rights than you to common land, and further, that somebody will often have less responsibility to work on that same land as you do.  In point of fact, that is one of the fundamental lies of communism, to which those in power, those with arms, those that are connected, decide just how much or how little freedom of action, or freedom of conscience, that a given citizen may have, and through it all it will be made abundantly clear that not all commoners are equal, and those that are less equal will have to make do with whatever the State elects to parcel out to them.

It doesn't take a genius to understand intuitively as well as in action that you do not treat your own private property the same way that you treat property that you do not own or property in common, or property controlled by some State agency.  In truth, you treat your own property with far more concern and care than any other property, basically because you have "skin in the game" knowing that how your treat your property has a direct material effect upon you, whereas property held in common, or anonymously, is not property that overly concerns you one way or another, so, for instance, if you have trash you toss it, cause you don't really care, even though you should.

Another very important aspect of private property, is that this is your line of defense from State encroachment upon you as a person, so that without private property, without private property rights, there is no safe haven, because a government that does not respect private property, will not typically respect you as a person, and rather than seeing you a person with certain inalienable rights, will see you instead as someone created to serve the State and if necessary, will make sure that you are obedient to this dictate.

When it comes to private property, the interest of the State should be strictly related to the fairness of as well as the acquisition of the holding of private property for individuals and not in contrast for the State to aggrandize unto themselves or to take unfairly private property from individuals.  A country with strong individual private property rights is a country made up of sovereign individuals that collectively may then decide to band together so as to protect those rights, and thereby become a country of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The Dangers of Anonymous Police in Riot Gear

The first thing to remember is that domestic law enforcement officers foremost duty is to protect and to serve the public, not to be a law unto themselves, not to be responsible to just some special subset of society , and that they therefore must be held accountable for the actions that they perform and accomplish in their day-to-day activities.  The responsibility that a given law enforcement officer has to himself as well as to society is enormous, as the real world is a combination of so many myriad factors and tensions that the performance of duties as a law enforcement agent is fraught with dangers, pressures, and decisions that can overwhelm a lesser man.

When tensions are high, there are very valid reasons as to why police officers will be outfitted into riot gear; for instance for their own protection, as well as intimidation, preparedness for danger, organization, efficiency, and safety reasons.  In almost every case, citizens that are facing up against a well organized police force in their full riot gear and accouterments are almost completely at the mercy for life and limb by these officers. 

When it comes to regular police duties, officers of the law are identified with badges or similar with their name and identifying number visible; this is necessary for all parties involved, providing the citizens a chance to basically ascertain that the officer is actually legitimate, as well as a valid protection of answerability for the people.  In addition, police vehicles are uniquely identified by not only their license plate but also the distinctive identification code on the roof of a given vehicle.  

However, when it comes to riot gear on police, with the exception of some word printed on their uniform or gear such as "police" or "sheriff" or similar, it often is virtually impossible to identify any individual officer of the law by name or identification number, if these are even shown.  Additionally, riot gear is typically so encompassing, that often times no body skin of the riot gear outfitted officer is shown whatsoever, in addition to normal visual identifiers such as the eyes and face being obstructed or shielded by the face shield and/or goggles or shades so that in total it is difficult or nearly impossible for the public to identify the officer in question whatsoever.

The officer in full riot gear is well aware that he is both seen as an intimidating force, as well as being cognizant that he is virtually and effectively anonymous to the public.  This anonymity, this unaccountability is extremely dangerous to the public, as those that are the law, or instruments of the law, are far more capable of giving full vent to their free rein, if they believe that they individually will not be held accountable for their zeal in their performance of their duty, as well as believing that those that strike against aren't ever going to be able to know who they really are as individuals and fellow citizens.

The fact of the matter is that all police officers in riot gear should always be readily identifiable by at a minimum a unique identifying number clearly displayed on their helmet so that the public and the police agency itself can know for a certainty the identity of that particular officer.  Anytime that a country degenerates to such an extent that the policing agency of said country is permitted to perform their duties without identification nor proper independent oversight, than the rights of the people, will be held in the hands of those that wield the sword.

Philippians 2: 5-11

The story of Jesus the Christ is a multi-faceted story that because we have heard it so often, perhaps we have become complacent about it.  Here you have, the King of Kings, the Lord of Hosts, who was born not in some sort of kingly mansion, not in some beautiful home surrounded by devoted servants, but instead was born in a manger, because there was not room at the Inn.  Still, the light of his birth was noted by the Heavens, followed by the wise men, so that they could find Him, pay respect and homage to the King of the Jews and to worship Him and this cosmic event.

We read in Philippians 2:7-8 that: "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."  Jesus was the man who made it clear that he sought no clamor from his flocks that instead, he recognized that his mission was to come to the people, in truth, in love, in scripture, and to testify to that truth, without concern for his own safety, his reputation, or of anything of this world.  Jesus the Messiah did not ever assert his ego, or his way, instead he walked that narrow path that gave no quarter to earthly rewards or the temptations of Satan.

The telling message of Jesus the Christ is one that is so often missed by those that see the glory but fail to recognize that He was ever humble, and obedient to the dictates of God, to which He willingly surrendered to Him.  This is the simple message which is often misinterpreted by mankind that spends an inordinate amount of time and energy asserting itself one against the other, railing against the system, railing against principalities, but often misunderstanding the very purpose of life to begin with.  The race on earth is not to the swift, nor to the strong, but to those who willingly listen and are obedient to the word of God.

The word of God to us, is the exact same words as to those of the Christ himself, and those words are to stop with all the madness, stop with all the uproar, and to by-and-by take the time and consideration to find a still and quiet place so that within you and within that place, in true contriteness of heart you will begin to hear for the very first time, the sweet soothing whisper of God.  None of the glory of this world means anything, none of the applause, none of the awards, means a thing at all, if it isn't in accord with the way and that way is the same throughout history, and it is that mystical untrodden path of surrender to God.

There is very little point in chasing after vanities, because you can never catch the wind, but you can catch a ray of sunshine and from that sunshine you can build a pathway to Heaven.  Every step to Heaven is a step created by recognizing that the way to God's heart is forged by forgetting yourself and instead working towards helping and aiding others by your actions, by your concern, by your love, and by your care, so that step by step, hand in hand, one will aid the other, and thereby come into God's ineffable unending glory, a glory that only can be discovered by listening and obeying that still, small voice within.

Obey the Law

We are told to obey the law, but why, and who are these people or institutions telling us this in the first place?  Not too surprisingly, today those that tell us to obey the law, don't necessarily have our best interests in mind, as in actuality, they try to take man's law and make it equivalent to God's law or natural law, so that in effect, we will be subservient to the State and the State's law for the convenience and service to the State.  Additionally, there isn't anybody alive today that can actually obey all the laws on the books in the United States, as some of these laws are contradictory, subject to interpretation, or disjointed, to say the least.

While it makes sense in a civilized nation that citizens should obey the law, that law in order for it to be respected and obeyed, must be sensible, rational, equally applied, non-discriminatory and in accordance with God's law.  Too often, nations want to pass law after law after law as if the fact that more laws are passed, will make for a greater country and a sounder nation, when in fact, typically the result is simply to make more willful acts crimes, that aren't really crimes in the scheme of things, but are considered to be crimes in the eye of the State so as to pander to certain powerful segments of the State, and to place citizens in the uncomfortable position of being perpetually in a state of subservience to the State.

The foundation for good law must always come via a hierarchy to which at the very top of that pyramid is natural law.  Natural law is defined as: "a body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct."  It is important to understand that this definition of natural law emphasizes that this law consists of "unchanging moral principles", which is the very basis for good law.  All laws that change with the times, change with demographics, or political correctness, or whim, are not good laws, because they are forever changing depending upon how the wind is blowing, and thereby it is virtually impossible for the populace to obey the law, when the law itself, changes from administration to administration, from judge to judge, from legislature to legislature.  That isn't law.

In actuality, virtually all that we need to know about the law is contained within the Ten Commandments and/or the Two Commandments giving by the Christ: "…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22: 37-40).  Those that obey these Commandments, this law, so to speak, will find that they will obey the most meaningful law of all, God's revealed law.  Unfortunately, in today's' upside down justice system, by virtue of obeying these Commandments in good conscience, this could easily mean, in fact, does mean that you will undoubtedly come into conflict with arbitrary man's law.   

We are told by so many great men in history, such as Saint Augustine, that: "An unjust law is no law at all."  It is important to understand the real meaning of these words, because the true test for any man is whether or not he will obey natural law, despite the fear of dire consequences in this world for not doing so, and whether too he actually comprehends the words of our Declaration of Independence, that the people are empowered with: "… the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them."

The fact is when it comes to obeying the law, the only law to be obeyed must be in harmony, and in accordance with God's law or it is not a law that any good man needs respect.  God has gifted each of us with a mind and a free will, to do whatever that we want, to serve whomever that we desire; to which each day we can assert ourselves, obey or not obey, recognizing that it is always within our hands, within our will, to do what we ought.

Negative Interest Rates

Receiving a negative interest rate from a banking institution that is holding your money, seems like an oxymoron, as most people correctly associate bank deposits with earning a positive return on their money as well as being a prudent thing to do, but these are not normal times and the era of parking money in banks, by consumers, or by other banks or other financial institutions, and thereby making easy money by virtue of that money being loaned out at a high enough interest rate so as to afford the depositor a nice rate of return have ended.

While there isn't a lot of difference, unless one gets to extremely large numbers, between a small nominal positive interest rate for a depositor of money, as compared to zero interest, or even compared to a minute negative interest rate, just the fact that a deposit of $1,000,000 instead of being slightly positive after a term of one year, or the exact same amount as if the money has been stuffed inside a mattress for a year, but instead to see that the principal has been reduced to $999,999, is both unfathomable, and erringly strange.

Because we live in an era to which inflation is quiescent and in some economies and countries, deflation has become or is now the norm, so that if prices are indeed declining, it makes sense that the value of money, real cash or its substitutes, should also deflate, because in the end, because products have been reduced in price and/or are providing more bang for the buck, than even with a negative interest rate, the overall value of the money held as a liquid asset has actually gone up in value relative to the fact that the basket of products that it can buy has also increased in quantity and/or quality over the same period of time.

The reason that negative interest rates are in play comes down to the fundamental fact that in a deflationary cycle or the anticipation of such, most banking institutions make it public policy to try to get ahead of the curve, because when the public believes that pricing of products will get cheaper over time, than they will have a distinct tendency to spend less money now so as to be able to buy more later and if done in mass, this leads inevitably to a downward spiral of an economy slowing down or in fact, turning negative, which means higher unemployment, less income, less revenue, stock market collapse, and the increase of monetary defaults.

The whole point of negative interest rates is to provide an incentive for banks and banking institutions to lend money so as to maintain economic vibrancy because money or assets that sit either unused or underutilized are large contributing factors to a slowing down, stagnation, or ultimately the decline of business activity within any country, which then lends itself to the creation of an economic depression, to which America suffered through such from 1929 through 1933 and does not want to go through such an event, ever again. 

The fact that negative interest rates exist and are in play signifies a seismic shift in financial markets, and is a clear signal, that the economy is in recognition that an economic abyss, is more than a remote possibility.   Whether negative interest rates or the threat thereof, increases bank loans which therefore increases business activity and thereby stokes the economy actually works is questionable, but that is how the die has been cast, by the smartest bankers in the world.

Gap Insurance

For most Americans the two biggest purchases that you will ever make in your life are your home and your vehicle so the financial decisions that you make when transacting this business has significant ramifications.  The thing about purchasing a car is that many auto dealers will try most everything in the book to make extra money off of you, for example, by pushing for extended warranties, or extended loans so as to make the monthly payment lower but the total cost of the vehicle appreciably higher, financial charges and markups added to your loan under miscellaneous fees and charges, along with various nefarious dealer add-ons, including one of the absolute worse, which is gap insurance.

Gap insurance is insurance for your vehicle that covers the "gap" between what your loan amount is for the vehicle and what in actuality the vehicle is physically worth it if was involved in an accident and the car was completely considered totaled by your car insurance company.  The first issue with gap insurance is the fact that it doesn't make a lot of sense that the vehicle that you are driving off the dealer's lot is worth less than the amount of money that you now owe on the vehicle.  Not only does that not seem fair, it certainly appears to be a rotten deal, after all, if you are on the short end of that stick, why purchase the vehicle in the first place?  The next problem with gap insurance is that you can take it for a 100% certainty that if your car dealership is pushing for you to get something for your car and that this certain something must be purchased through that dealership, right here and right now, that they definitely don't have your best interests in mind, that instead they have their extra profitability in mind, and will utilize your fear that this beautiful car needs this extra protection against you.

The fact of the matter is that auto dealerships are not insurance companies, and therefore any gap insurance that you buy from a dealership, in almost every instance, does not originate and is not financed by that dealership.  Instead, that dealership has brokered deals with outside insurance agencies that handle gap insurance to which these insurance companies have made a separate deal with the dealership that enables them to handle the transaction, and thereby the auto dealership by virtue of outsourcing the gap insurance to the insurance company is able to at the time of that sale of the vehicle, book that profit or fee, and wash their hands thoroughly of any responsibility in regards to that gap insurance. 

This means that should you have a need to avail yourself of this usage of this gap insurance you won't be getting your money back from the dealership that sold the insurance to you, but instead, you will be dealing with a third party insurance company, that may or may not still be in business, that may or may not be legitimate, that may or may not honor their agreement, and almost certainly as part of their business model makes it their business to do every and anything to preclude consumers from collecting on their gap insurance.

Whether gap insurance is something that Is needed or not, a good deal or not, depends on a multitude of factors; but what can be said for a certainty is that you should never get or contemplate getting your gap insurance from a car dealership, but rather instead should contact a legitimate major car insurance company and inquire with them about gap insurance as they are both regulated and have the wherewithal to actual pay a claim out fairly.

Cold Tap Water in the winter

If you live in the part of America to which winter time brings cold temperatures, you are always delighted that when you turn on your tap water or shower water and give it a little time to warm up, that the water pours our fairly warm or even hot, but the credit for that temperature change goes primarily to your water heater and you definitely pay for that convenience.  However, there are times when we need or desire cold water, but there isn't anything built within a typical house that impacts the temperature of the cold setting for the water, so that during the dead of winter, you will often find that cold tap water, really is ice cold water, especially when you first turn the tap on!  Why is that?

The origin of the water that is tapped into our homes typically comes from lakes, streams, rivers, and whatnot that surround our particular community to which this water is piped and pumped underground, and once you get piping situated about 4 feet below the earth's surface that water stored there will find its equilibrium at around 50-55 degrees, so that even if the water entering the pipes is below 55 degrees or well above 55 degrees when it enters the piping, it will over time moderate its temperature to conform to the earth soil that surrounds it.  However, not all piping is dug to a depth of 4 feet or lower and further the piping that is in close proximity to a particular home is typically closer to the surface of the land, meaning that it is more susceptible to surface air temperatures and additionally because water is stored often times in large water towers that water there too is susceptible to air temperature.

The bottom line is that the air temperature most definitely affects the temperature of the tap water that comes out of our faucet when we turn the dial to cold, so that in the dead of winter that water coming out of the tap will be appreciably colder than the hottest day of summer, with probably a temperature difference easily exceeding 10 degrees, even though the faucet dial is in the exact same position and further, these temperature extremes will be more noticeable when the faucet is first turned on.

If it wasn't for the underground piping in the first place and the fact that deep water lakes have remarkably consistent cool temperatures far beneath the surface, than cold water would be far more problematic in achieving our home water needs and desires.  We shouldn't be surprised that the air temperature does affect the water temperature of our tap water, however, if it wasn't for the actuality that the water is primarily pumped to us deep underground to which the ground temperature is quite consistent and thereby provides the basis for our tap water being cool, we would not be able to have pretty much cold water on demand.  That said, not too unexpectedly, when the temperatures drop or rises appreciably, our cold tap water pretty much follows suit.

The Super Bowl should be played on a Saturday

During the regular NFL football season, NFL games are typically played on Sundays, although there is usually one game played on Thursday, as well as on Monday.  The reason that the NFL is played on Sunday, comes down to the fact that Fridays are set aside for High school football, and Saturdays are set aside for Collegiate football, leaving Sundays to the professionals.  It is not until the playoffs that any Saturday games are played, to which half of the Wild Card and Divisional Round games are held on Saturday, with the other half being played on Sunday.  For the Conference championship and for the Super Bowl those games are held on Sunday.

There are many people that believe that if it isn't broken, then there isn't any reason to fix it, and as the Super Bowl is consistently the event of the entire year, there seems little point to fix something that doesn't next fixing.  Yet, if television wants to have even bigger and higher ratings, than it would behoove the NFL to move the game to Saturday, as opposed to Sunday.  The advantages of a Saturday Super Bowl are massive as Sunday is the day that the fewest amount of Americans have commitments to work, thereby signifying that they can devote more time and energy to their usage of the free time on a Saturday, recognizing that on Sunday that they can still recuperate.  As it is, nearly 150 million people live in the Eastern Time Zone, and presently the Super Bowl game does not reach its conclusion till after 10PM EST, on Sunday, an evening to which most everyone will have obligations to go to work or to school on Monday. 

In addition, just because the Super Bowl ends, doesn't mean that the party is or should be over, as there are always going to be plenty of people that still want to talk, discuss, argue, or enjoy themselves, and perhaps need some time to settle down to that quietude that is necessary for a good night's sleep.

None of this would be a bother, if the game was held on Saturday, in addition, the game time could be moved to a little bit later in the evening so that more of the game would be seen in prime time on the West Coast.  All of this combined would bring even higher TV ratings, and hence more people that could enjoy the full panorama of the Super Bowl experience, with time to recover from such, on Sunday.

Also, all of the high powered business executives that must be at the Super Bowl proper in order to conduct and to glad-hand clients, would be far more appreciative of a Saturday game time, as this would allow them to resume their usual business schedules on Monday, with far less wear and tear.  All of the above, points to the sensible thing which is to move the Super Bowl from the Sunday time frame to Saturday, which would increase viewership here and abroad, increase advertising dollars, and make for the best super experience ever

The Men that would be god

The more that scientific and technology advances and the more that mankind achieves; the more that certain scientists believe that they are discovering the origin of, or at least the understanding of, life itself.  This means for the layman that believes and the esteemed scientist that understands or knows how to manipulate life, that this fundamental understanding of the origin of life, this particular knowledge, pretty much somehow aggrandizes the powers of life to mankind, and therefore it follows that mankind is through his own knowledge and efforts, now a god, master or near master of life and death.

All throughout history certain figures have believe that they are god or its equivalence, the main difference today, though, is that those that believe themselves to be godlike, or that mankind is the highest form of life, have increased in numbers substantially because the more that man knows about the physical body, the brain, the molecules, the atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons and so forth, the more that man is absolutely convinced that he is the real life incarnation of Dr. Frankenstein, only rather than starting with the various pieces and parts of corpses, he starts instead with an embryo, and unlike the fictional Dr. Frankenstein, this embryo is real, its genome can be altered, and when successfully done, will ultimately create a real human baby from virtually nothing.

This mastery or near mastery of human reproduction is absolutely remarkable, and the advances in science will undoubtedly continue over the foreseeable future, and for those that believe the physical form is all that there is, there really isn't anything more to say.  The fact is, the greater that man's powers and understanding are, the more responsibility that he has to his fellow man to use this wisdom correctly, because great powers used for selfish and evil reasons, will ultimately have devastating effects upon all and this is this misery that mankind lives through again and again and again.

When mankind incorrectly believes that he is all, that he is all knowing, infallible and the like, the only possible result for this hubris is a disaster of epic proportions.  God has gifted us with free will, but for all this free will, is the world that we live in is it: fair? Just? Equal? Paradise?  It is none of these things, although it could be all of these things if mankind recognized once and for all, that: "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God…" (Psalm 46:4).

There is something to be said about living the simple life, by just doing the things day by day, that are beneficial for yourself as well as your family and community and not worrying about the big political picture, or the government, or science, but just being about your business and in your efforts and in your actions making the world better for you having been here.  These people are most definitely the salt of the earth and the Kingdom of God are filled with them.  Then there are those that push the envelope in all sorts of endeavors, this too can be wonderful, look, for instance at the mightiness and influence of America, but recognize that without careful prudence and humility that this can become all vanity and with this great vanity comes a very great fall.

The Disrespect given to Nuclear Energy

For anyone that has been in a blackout or a brownout, one recognizes instantly, that without electricity, that life not only becomes inconvenient, it becomes very quickly problematic.  This means that reliable and consistent electricity is of paramount importance, not so much so that we can enjoy the conveniences of life, but to actually be able to have and to sustain life itself.  America derives its energy from many sources, of which nuclear is one of them, however the percentage of power usage generated by nuclear as remained at about 20% for the last twenty-five years and shows absolutely no sign whatsoever of that percentage increasing in the near future, for two very basic reasons: which are that nuclear plants have a finite amount of life before they are decommissioned and the second reason is that America has deliberately turned its back on nuclear power and is simply not building or barely building and developing any new plants.

All of the above might be okay if there were ready alternatives to nuclear, that were or consisted of their being smaller footprints, more reliable, more efficient, more able, and the like, but none of these things are actually true, yet nuclear energy has been set aside, or shunned for no good reason.  It doesn't help that the media and the liberal press are not on board for nuclear, and that they make it a point so often to vilify nuclear as unsafe, dangerous, catastrophic, and so forth.  Of course, there are risks with any energy source, nuclear has risks particular to its usage, but then again as reported by nei.org: "A 1,000-megawatt nuclear facility needs just over one square mile," and has an average capacity factor of 90 percent or better.

While critics of nuclear energy have their place what is often missing from the discussion is the fact that technology and its proper application only approve over time and by virtue of the fact that since 1990, America has brought virtually no nuclear reactors online, it is important to recognize that tomorrow's nuclear reactors, whether created in America, or abroad, will be more efficient, safer, and more effective than ever.  In addition, the electricity needs of man continues to go up year after year, especially in countries such as China, which is and has been on a massive growth rate and additionally has significant pollution problems that cannot resolve itself unless more of their energy needs are met by nuclear reactor's non-carbon footprint.

In the natural, the United States typically leads all other nations in innovation and technology, yet, for whatever reason, America has wasted a lot of time and energy embracing so-called "renewable" such as wind and solar that does not now, nor ever will, be able to consistently, economically, and reliably provide meaningful electrical needs for Americans.  Everything that America really needs is contained within nuclear energy, yet, it has been wrongly shunned aside, in a country that runs on energy, and claims to be seriously concerned about its carbon emissions problem.  The real answer to our energy needs is in nuclear, and every day that America fails to recognize this, is another day lost to substandard replacements that while politically connected are woefully inadequate.

Show-rooming and Ethics

Never has the buyer of consumer goods had more power than he possesses today, for instance, with apps that are freely available for smart-phones and the like he can go into a traditional brick and mortar store, take out his phone and by scanning in the barcode or the QR code of a given product be able to almost instantly see other stores that are offering the exact same product and the price that they are selling it for.  This means that the brick and mortar store rather than being seen as a place to actually shop and to thereby purchase a given product is seen more as a place to show-room products, see their performance or demonstration of, feel and test them, but the actual purchase will frequently be made somewhere entirely else, that has a better overall price.

Not too surprisingly, the brick and mortar store has two very big disadvantages to most online competitors the first of which is that brick and mortar stores are almost always compelled to collect sales tax on the products that they sell, of which, none of this sales tax money goes to the store, but are in fact, distributed to the tax agencies as directed by the city, State, and local sales tax laws.  The other big disadvantage is that the brick and mortar store has set up their store in such a manner that it can showcase many products in a format that is pleasing to the eye, in addition to having to pay for experienced and knowledgeable personnel, the actual building, utilities, taxes and so forth.  The non-brick and mortar stores may or may not even have physical inventory of the given product that they are selling but may instead be utilizing a warehouse as their proxy for the goods and the actual shipment of the goods will come from that warehouse to which perhaps the given item has never even been inspected or had the original shipping container open.  Obviously, in those types of cases, and especially in situations to which the online retailer doesn't charge the consumer sales tax, they have enormous pricing advantages that a brick and mortar store simply can't compete against.  While this does appear to be a total victory for the consumer as he purchases a product at a cheaper price point, as well as being beneficial to the online retailer that has determined where to price the product at in order to maintain a reasonable gross margin, the story doesn't really end there.

The fact of the matter is, there are losers, the first being the brick and mortar store and its business model, along with its employees, its management, and its stockholders.  In addition, lost sales tax, lost property taxes, lost business taxes, and so forth are also overall losers for the community and society at large.  Still that might be okay if it wasn't for one more additional issue and that is, the very people that walk into these brick and mortar stores without the intent to purchase the product from that store have conducted themselves in a way that is unethical.  That is to say that it most definitely is a false front to enter any place of business without the intention of conducting business within that establishment.  These stores are not in the charity business they are in business to sell product to consumers and they are not glorified testing or show-room stores created so as to help you try and test products to buy elsewhere at a cheaper overall price-point.

That said, there are plenty of people that believe that none of this applies to them, personally, and/or believe that brick and mortar stores should just suck it up and recognize that this is a brave new world.  Perhaps that is true, what is definitely true, however, is those that they are above it all, exceptions to the rule, special, and so forth, will find themselves one day, soon enough, playing against those that believe just the same, only those players make sure to control the die, and the rules of the game.

Sand Dunes and Sinkholes

There are natural sand dunes in typical places such as beaches and near lake beds, to which many people enjoy climbing up on the sand dunes and then enjoying a nice ride back down the sand dunes' face.  Then too there are manufactured sand dunes made by companies that need to utilize sand for construction purposes, mortar, and so forth.  In general, sand dunes are stable, but that stability is based upon the underlying makeup of the materials of that sand dune, its density, its construction, and its form, which often fails to take into account the potential of either visible sink holes or the creation of hidden ones.

The thing about sand dunes that presents a potential danger is the illusion that a sand dune will often give people, which is that it is inherently stable, when in fact, natural sand dunes are forever changing by weather, by age, in visible and invisible ways that are not necessarily seen or recognized and because of those changes, there are often areas of the sand dune that aren't as stable as other parts of the dune which creates the real potential for there to be a problematic sinkhole in the sand dune itself.  

The obvious problem of a sinkhole is the fact that it can kill you, via suffocation, as a sand dune does not construct itself in a way that you are able to easily step your way out of it, should you sink significantly below the surface.  This again demonstrates the mirage that things that we take for granted as being solid, for everyday activities and enjoyment, may not be as secure as we might imagine.

Then again there is another type of sand dune, created by industrial machines that often create wonderfully high piles of sand for the construction of buildings and other infrastructure, to which sand is a material that is used in the mixing in and the creation of concrete and asphalt.  These manmade sand dunes are typically fenced off from the general public as they are often on company construction property, but not always.  For instance, there are times when huge sand dunes are dumped and then left at a given construction site, so that those manufacturing cement or the like can utilize them on a given project.

Not too surprisingly, children especially are attracted to playing in the sand, and there are times when despite whatever fencing or security or signs that may be displayed at a given workman's site the urge to play takes control over proper discretion and the lure of fun with a manufactured sand dune for the adventurous is too strong.  In most instances, this may well just be a rite of passage, but not all sand is the same, some sand is much softer than others, and sand with more give in it, naturally or in conjunction with wet weather, can result in the creation of a sinkhole with devastating consequences.

It is wise to remember that sand is always shifting, seldom completely stable, and thereby caution should always be a careful consideration.

Isaiah 66:15

Isaiah 66 is the final chapter of the book of Isaiah to which we read midway through this chapter the following:  "For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind,
to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire."  This chapter concerns the righteousness of the true faith of those that rightly fear and tremble at God's power and word, as compared to those that ridicule them for that faith, and are themselves hypocrites in their hearts as well as in their actions, that at best, take on the semblance of the faith, and at worse, work at cross purposes to that faith.  The passage makes it very clear, however, that God is not one to be mocked, and that the choices that people make here on earth, have consequences now and in the future, to which His great power sends the message that the earth is the Lord's footstool and He is on the heavenly throne.

Today, it is infrequent to hear preached tales of rebuke, or even to be taught to fear the Lord, as people are only too willing to believe that either that there is no God, or that there is a God but He isn't going to do much about anything, or that God is a God of love, and so there isn't any point in fearing Him.  Yet, fire properly controlled is a great cleanser, as it clears out the old underbrush so as to replace it with a new growth, not destroying the good soil necessary for renewed growth, nor harming trees of solid character and of deep roots. 

It isn't really necessary to see Isaiah 66:15 as a passage to be taken literally, although it can be, it is important though to understand that this passage invokes the message that those that suffer horribly for their good faith while here on this earth, whereas others with insincere hearts and foolish desires gain over them, without apparently any real harm to themselves, that this cannot now, nor never will, fool our Lord.

Too many men spend inordinate amounts of time creating castles that they feel can withstand not only the ravages of time, but stand up against anything that man can throw against it in the present.  This though is a grave mistake, for these castles are castles of sand, and those that turn their backs on God, that believe that man is the measure of all things, and that in particular, they are the ones that are doing the measuring, are only stoking the fires of the great flames that they will have to face in the whirlwind of God's righteous justice.

How is it that so many believe that the actions that they take are something other than pathetic imitations of real faith?  Unfortunately, for those living this lie, this façade, cannot last and will be exposed for all to see.  How long before man finally recognizes that God cannot be mocked, and that once unleashed, that there will be no escape from the sterling Light that will expose the darkness and evil of those who dare to believe that they are His worthy rivals.  In truth, God's fire will burn completely away the dross of ignorance, hypocrisy, and the hubris of fallen man, leaving him naked, defeated, and completely exposed yet now at least unfettered from the chains of his own doing; while those that are saved will lie down peacefully with the lion and the lamb.

Enrolling your Child Purposely in the Wrong School District

Any good parent wants for their child to have a better life, which usually means that their child needs a good educational foundation, to which, even a cursory look at our schooling situation, indicates that there is a great inequality in the public schools even just a few miles apart.  The fact that our public school system has such a wide variety displayed in school performance and quality is not surprising, considering that the land of the free and the home of the brave, had as its legal policy for decades, that it was not discriminatory to have public schools that were separate but equal, when in fact although quite separate they have never been equal and that clearly certain public school systems had and continue to have higher budgets, better facilities, better teachers, and produce better educational achievements from their students.

Today, public schools are clearly still uneven and unequal in their budgets and in their student safety and educational performance, so that anybody with even a hint of investigation or knowledge, knows for a certainty that certain schools are very much desired whereas other schools are very much to be avoided.  It then follows somewhat naturally, that certain motivated parents have a strong desire to want to see that their children have an opportunity to go to a school that will be more beneficial and helpful for their children, and this urge in itself, is a good thing.  This strong desire to provide their children a fair opportunity to shine in this increasingly competitive world is therefore wise as the flip side for those that do not achieve academic success is to discover that the doors of opportunity for the less educated are utterly bleak.

Unfortunately, In order for a given child to go to a school outside their given designated school district area, parents will in one form or another, often have to be either deceptive, creative, or outright lie, in regards to their living situation and in particular, their location.  This means that these parents are subject to massive fines, for theft of services, that is the non-payment of property taxes for the education of their children in that school district, and/or jail time for first degree larceny or similar.  Perhaps that is the way it should be, that those that try to cheat the system, should pay the fine and/or serve the time for doing so.  However, the mitigating circumstances are that the parents in virtually every case are simply trying to allow their children the opportunity to receive a first class education from a first class country.

The fact of the matter is that the courts and America have failed far too many people that are thereby trapped into a vicious cycle of poverty and failure, which is exacerbated by inadequate school systems which are far inferior and far more dangerous than neighboring ones, that they are precluded from attending because of district lines deliberately structured historically so as to purposely exclude certain people.  In addition, the arm of the law in these situations, almost always targets those that are treated as undesirable because of the color of their skin, or their creed, so that again and again and again these people are targeted to be investigated whereas other people of the preferred color and preferred creed, are not investigated or targeted.

This is law unequally applied in addition to the endless punishing of those that are poor for the crime of being poor and the punishment of their children for having the imprudence of being born into the wrong family on the wrong side of the tracks.

Child Support and Suspension of Your Driver's License

Every State of the union has laws on the book that enables the State to suspend your driving privileges if you fail to stay current within a certain time span and monetary amount on your child support payments.  Further, adding fuel to the fire, many States have additional laws that will suspend occupational licenses, professional licenses, or even recreational licenses for non-payment of child support.  While, in every case to which you may be subject to a suspension there is a path to preclude this from happening, by virtue of getting your child support payments back to non-delinquency and/or successfully responding in time to court summons, petitions, orders, and so forth, none of this should ever have been made law in the first place.

In every single case, to which a non-payer of child support is subject to their driver's license being suspended, or even worse their professional license (e.g. CPA) being suspended, exactly none of these suspensions will be conducive to aiding the delinquent child support payer, in having the capacity to make their payments get current. In fact, this unnecessary harassment, will in effect, add unnecessary expense along with inconvenience, with the distinct possibility of all this ultimately leading to bankruptcy, personal depression, domestic violence, or jail time to someone that falls behind on their child support payments who often doesn't readily understand the nuances of the law and doesn't have their life together in the first place.

The suspension of any State issued license for the non-payment of child support, is wrong in all of its many aspects and does nothing to help or aid in the underlying problem of delinquency to begin with.  In point of fact, all the items needed to collect on delinquent child support payments are already available for those pursuing those payments by virtue that those that owe child support are subject to: wage garnishment, income tax interception, and liens. 

While it may be frustrating and upsetting not to receive timely child support payments, the means to collect on these payments, should be solely limited to extracting wages, tax intercepts, or asset liens, and nothing further.  The fact that the State has on its books to suspend a driver's license or any other license for the non-payment of child support is both punitive and counter-productive to the very problem at hand.

In whole, child support payments should never be seen or treated as a means of punishing one parent to the benefit of the other.  In actuality, child support payments are supposed to be for the benefit of the child, and that should be the court's main concern, not punishment, not license suspension or revocation, and certainly not jail time.  

In short, these current State laws need to be overturned as they are an unnecessary State intrusion into a domestic dispute that already has the necessary means to see that the process for payment of child support is set up in such a manner so as to collect the monies due.  There is no good reason for any further State induced heavy-handed involvement.