Burma Fulfills Prophecy

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On Thursday, I spoke with my boss about how every dictator and junta America tries to help eventually spits in our eye. This morning, I read how Burma seized the aide sent by the UN for its own use, and not for that of the people.

During the Clinton administration, we fought two quasi-wars to help aide get to its intended recipients. First in Somalia, where a US Ranger was dragged behind a truck through the desert on national TV, US troops went in to help food and water reach the starving citizenry instead of simply filling the coffers of the potentate. Then in Yugoslavia, we went in to depose Milosevic when he seized UN aide and turned around and slaughtered his citizenry with wanton disabandon.

My boss, who originates in the Phillipines, told me how Marcos cares only about amassing as much as he can for himself. If as a side effect it helps his people so be it. It strikes me as odd to watch the Burmese leader handing out aide on TV Wednesday morning as if it CAME FROM HIM.

While as a missionary in Austria, I put an end to a service project helping Tibetan refugees in China/Mongolia. The woman for whom we came to work gathered donations from thousands of conscientious and caring Austrians, took them to Tibet, and handed them out, CLAIMING THEY CAME FROM HER. The Tibetans, by consequence, elevated her to the status of a demi-god, and small enclaves of people prayed to her. When she arrived, it was as an answer to prayer, even though a pittance if any of the donations came from her own closet.

For any and all of you out there who think America is evil and doesn't care, let this stand as an ensample to you. Uniquely US aide still stands outside Burma, having been denied entry. US-funded aide (we give almost $400 million to the UN world food program) was seized by the dictator and may never reach those who need it. America is the only nation that invades and conquers other countries, invests its own resources, and then withdraws, leaving them to self-rule. America is the first country to send aide to nations that can do nothing of value whatsoever to her.

CS Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity about the new men, how they will help people who cannot possibly do anything to pay them back. I suggest to you that America is the New Nation, whose denizens live as close as men can en masse to the Way of Truth and Light that will elevate all men. It is not we, but elitists, sadists, and mascohists, who stand in the way of peace and prosperity, regardless of how much money you think Big Oil is making.

Allright Without You

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When you marry, responsibilities to your wife and children create new questions that complicate life. When I talk to financial advisors and manage my assets/will/etc., they always talk about how little life insurance I have and my abject lack of short term disability insurance. Truth be told, at the moment I need neither because nobody depends on my wages except for he who earns them, and if I die, I own enough to cover the disposition of my remains.

Money management is a difficult thing. At the time I married, I was not as on the ball as I believed myself to be or as much as I am now, so my wife took over our financial planning state. However, we incurred a myriad of exigent expenses occassioned by inconsistency in her attention to the mail. She will tell you she took care of the finances, but we had no savings, considerable debt, and we were late paying bills far too frequently for me. Add to that the complicated width and breadth of accounts in which I have since disbursed my money, and taking care of everything becomes quite a chore.

A few years ago I started compiling a database that listed everywhere I had an account, usernames, passwords, account numbers, etc., so that if I died someone could manage my accounts and responsibilities. When the time comes and I have sufficient money, I'm considering establishing a charitable trust arrangement with Hillsdale College as a way to protect my money from taxes.

The biggest single boon on my financial state thus far has been my divorce ironically. Despite losing the money she earned while married, not only am I still debt free, but I am saving 30% of MY income every month. True, I go without many "necessities" like internet, cable TV, and a cell phone (personal anyway), and I drive a 1995 Saturn SL1 that requires occassional repair but otherwise belongs to me outright. I don't buy a big gulp Diet Coke every day, pick up takeout for lunch, take off work to take care of things she wanted, plus I lost the money drain that was her "business". She was very much like one of those kids in the checkout line who throws a tantrum when she can't get everything she wants.

Truth be told, I capitulated largely to her every demand. The divorce too was actually something for which she pressed. She, like so many other people, wanted the standard of living at 23 that it took her parents 20 years to amass. The house and truck were both purchased at her insistence, plus all the charitable gifting she did (never to me unless at my expense like when she charged $400 in tools for me on a credit card for which I eventually had to pay the bill), etc.

Despite being lonely, anyone who knows me sees a change in my disposition and outlook with my divorce as compared to before. It may not be good for man to be alone, but it's better for me not to be with her.

And if I remarry, then I'll worry about those other things.

Pointless Random Stuff

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I sat in my chair last night putting off work on the books I'm writing and too tired to commit to the books I'm reading. Unfortunately, there was nothing on TV, and instead of sitting there mindlessly watching whatever was on, I folded my laundry and went to bed. When you consider the amount of time we squander in pointless activities, it's surprising so many people consider themselves overworked. Aside from spending money we don't have to buy things we don't want to impress people we don't like, we spend time we can't waste doing things we ought not often in the company of those with whom we ought not.

Someone wiser than I said that the measure of a man is how he spends his time when he doesn't have to do anything. There are so many things we could do, but so often what we ought to do isn't very fun or promising, and so we do other things equally boring and useless but which lack the displeasures that earmark our duties. In the end, I have some letters to write, some entries in my journal to make, and some books I ought read or write. At least if I start them I can feel I did something worth doing. Sure beats watching other people live their lives. Hurts less too.

Free to Move

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I've listened to the Southwest Airlines ads enough that they rubbed off on me. At the end of their jingle as presently constituted, they announce that "You are now free to move about the country." Although that concept doesn't belong to them necessarily, it reflects very much the values of the land as I will attempt to illustrate.

This morning on Yahoo I read that the Burmese death toll from the recent natural disaster may top 40,000 people. What the stories don't tell you is why so many people stood vulnerable to lose their lives in something which though serious rarely causes that high of a death toll in the civilized world.

The people in Burma and nations like that live under dictatorships that keep them shackled in poverty. Under the auspices spouted by liberals in this country, the powermongers in those countries centralized everything to the benefit of everyone except the general public. As they focus power, influence, pelf, oversight, control, etc., in the hands of an elite few, the rest are relegated to an existence that depends on their ability to eek out an existence by the sweat of their brow. Given that the lowlying coastal plain is the only place fertile enough for them to easily grow enough food to survive, they accumulate there, vulnerable to the unfettered bufferings of storms that inevitably sweep that section of the world.

Poor people in communist nations and dictatorships have no hope, no liberty. They remain at the mercy of demagogues, fearing the power they wield and the threats they levy, for only the elitists at their national helm can help them, and those same elitists can do them much damage. This type of government-populace relationship is not that far gone from our own hemisphere, said loss occassioned by the rise of democracies. Our free governments replaced regimes with concern for everything except people. Monarchies of Europe were equally oppressive, boasting that same attitude of the oppressors shown by Tim Curry's character Cardinal Richelieu in Disney's Three Musketeers (1998) when, after Rochefort kills a peasant caught stealing from his coach he announces with relish, "One less mouth to feed". The leaders of Burma, according to Rush Limbaugh's show yesterday, will probably see this as a windfall that will help their nation be more prosperous now that 40,000 of its impoverished, malnourished, and maladjusted citizens that otherwise drain their resources no longer constitute a draw.

At one point in this nation, our regime reflected similar values. The time of the gunslinger and the "wild, wild west" reflected the disinterested dissembling of our leaders for the welfare of the denizens. At least in America, given our gun laws for instance, you could defend yourself when the government abdicated its responsibility appertaining thereunto.



Even in the absence of strength, because Americans are not shackled by poverty, limited by nationalization of industry, and burdened with tax obligations, when threatened with extinction, they could pack up and move west. The west came to symbolize opportunity for everyone through his industry to not only subsist but thrive if only he had the gumption without interference by the legislature, without fear of confiscation, and without being relegated to the consistent drudgery of subsistence agriculture. Many of them just survived, but unlike in Burma nobody stood in their way.

Fortunately, this type of idealism still permeates at least the messages presented by Walt Disney Pictures. Their movies celebrate the opportunity made possible by the Americas by which any man may make a better future for their children. In his soliloquoy on his ship, Jack Sparrow offers this rationale for why he seeks to regain it, "What the Black Pearl is is freedom." It enabled them to go and do what they wished, no man to call master, no obligations to an oppressor.

We continue to see horrific disasters because government keeps people in poverty. Kept low by the liberal government of New Orleans, the poor people there continue to live largely bereft of their previous comforts after Katrina. However, even the poor in America have it better than the poor in other countries. For one thing, they are still alive.

An Odd but Effective Way...

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...to get a girl's number.

Last night I attended an activity with youth approximately my age demographic. In the course of conversation following the evening's festivities, I extended an invite to another activity, but the individuals with whom I spoke didn't know how to get there. So, I offered to call and give them directions. I first handed my phone, there being no writing implement available, to the cute girl in the group so she could enter her number in my phone. The beauty of it was that I got EVERYONE'S phone number in the group, so it was a no pressure deal.

Now I have my foot in the door...and possibly in my mouth.

I can scarce believe it took me 29 years to figure out I could do this to get girl's numbers without coming across as too fresh.

Part of the Precipitate

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I really like this particular webcomic, in particular the following image:

toothpastefordinner.com

I first came across this site as a graduate student teaching undergraduate biochemistry labs, and I've never been able to forget this comic because it's so true.

What does the precipitate do? It sinks to the bottom. It drops out. A precipitate is that residue crud that sticks to the bottom of everything and is as dross, good for nothing but to be cast out.

What we want are people who stay in solution, who do things and have the characteristics such that they remain involved, remain engaged, remain a part of the working model. However, most of what we get are whiners who drop out when the going gets tough and draw attention to themselves. They are not inculcated in society but seek by separating themselves from it to reform it after their own properties.

In recent days, I've heard scores and scores of people whining about their plight, from rise in gas prices to loss of homes to concerns about healthcare. None of them offer substantive ideas and alternatives to alleviate the situation but all of them clamour for someone else to so do. They want to reap without sowing. They want wealth without work, success without sacrifice, politics without principle, etc. If you're not part of the solution, don't vote.

Food in Shortages

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I spoke with a coworker yesterday about ways to mitigate the impact of rising food prices in your weekly budget. Aside from the tips I provide here, I remind you that if you already have food storage, of any kind, you can in some ways escape the problems at the market due to the fact that you possess exactly the type of staples the lack of which in the market causes excess strain on your wallet. At some point, although not now and not hitherto, the cost of making your own bread will approximate the cost at which you can currently buy it, and if you have flour (or wheat with which to make it), the grain shortage doesn't matter to you one whit.

Part of the problem we see in commodity prices arises from the question of how grain affects other foods. Aside from the obvious impact of biofuels on corn, cornmeal, corn tortillas, corn chips, etc., the reallocation of corn from a food staple into a dubiously effective means of abrogating the energy crisis places strain on other grain crops as feed. Resultant therefrom, dairy and livestock, which depend upon the cost and supply of grain, rise as well, alongside every other commodity made from grain ranging from baked goods to ready to eat cereal.

Unlike the shopping centers I patronage in Europe, shortages in America constitute less a lack of goods instead reflecting lack of profit to bring goods to market. For example, Thursday I really wanted some donuts, so I went to a Wal-mart neighborhood market near my place of employ in search thereof only to discover first that the price had risen from $2/package to $2.50 but also that the shelf offered only three packages, none of which were chocolate. At some point, given Wal-mart's margin, it will not be worth the time and effort to procure, transport, store, prepare, display, tag, sell, etc., this particular good, and they will remove it from the offered wares. It doesn't make good business sense to sell commodities at a loss.

For those who didn't stockpile foodstuffs during our seven years of plenty, I offer some alternative ways to get the things you want. They combine both nontraditional markets and nontraditional foods, though nothing you wouldn't possibly consider in times of affluence.

First of all, with meat on the rise, it might behoove Americans who do not avail themselves of the opportunity to seek alternative game. I spoke with my boss who told me that in Wyoming one can, assuming the lot falls to one, purchase a hunting tag for $50 and then have the meat prepared for $100. Assuming a measly yield of 100lbs of meat, for $1.50 per pound, you bring home a freezer full. Show me where in today's market or even last year you can buy meat for $1.50/lb. Even if prices on those venues rise to double that cost, you still pay less for similar cuts of a game animal than for livestock. Why is that? Because livestock meat includes the cost of feed, licensing, transport, inoculations, etc., and we don't feed wild game. In fact, you can't get anything more organic than a nice Elk.

Secondly, consider alternative sources of foodstuffs. While I don't recommend second-hand perishables, you can mitigate some costs by purchasing foods that are near their date of expiry. For most food items, at expiry they are not "bad" to eat, they simply do not meet the store standards or guarantees. In order to prevent loss, stores remove these items from their shelves by a "sell-by date" which is non synonymous with its date of expiry, even though we assume they are one in the same. Stores don't want to stand behind products that reach a certain age, but they are probably still good (don't ignore mold, but most foods are just fine, they just may not be as crunchy).

At a Big Lots outlet on the way home, I routinely stop and check for baked goods. Around 18:00, the truck pulls up, unloads all the "expired" breadstuffs which sell for about 50% off in Big Lots. I buy Kashi cereal there for $1.50 per box, which isn't a bad price for ANY brand of cereal. Also they sell many common staples such as spaghetti sauce for the equivalent of the "sale" price at stores like Albertson's- $0.97/can. Now, not to discount the discounters like Wal-mart. I used to buy Lean Cuisine there for $2.12/meal when Albertson's/Smith's advertised it on sale 4/$10. Wal-Mart's every-day price is at or near the sale price of many items in competitor stores. Trust me; I know how their company works.

Consider also dented cans or discount racks in other stores. Especially if you intend to use the items right away or same week, you can save considerably on these bargain racks where the food is still just fine.

For those who worry about getting sick from their food, consider how rhobust your immune system really is. Think of all the crap we force-feed our intestines and live to tell about. You do not statistically have a lower chance of catching something from fresh food than you do from "sell-by" date food presuming you prepare it correctly. I cite your minds back to the Spinach scare of 2007.

I admonish you, as you experience what Americans have skirted since the rationing of World War II, to consider bulking up food storage as possible now and earnestly once this crisis abates. If you store up today what others won't, tomorrow you'll be able to eat what others can't. Take a lesson from one of my ancestors- Joseph who was sold into Egypt by Reuben and Judah and thereby spared Egypt from famine while she sold her wares to feed the ravaged world. We may not get a second chance to learn this lesson.



Disclaimer: The author holds approximately $2000 in Wal-Mart stock at current market prices. The author is not a physician, but he holds an MS in Biochemistry with an emphasis on metabolism.

Ignorance Threatens the Republic

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I spoke to a friend of mine this morning about why her political views were described online as "other". She admitted that she wasn't really "into politics". The problem i have with this posture is that so many people who are not "into politics" go "into the poling booth" and cast uneducated votes.

May I recommend, as a basic basic basic introduction to the American Republic the following reading:
Declaration of Independence
Patrick Henry's Speech
University of Virginia's Compendium of Thomas Jefferson (searchable by topic)
Abraham Lincoln quotes
Red Skelton on The Pledge of Allegiance (includes original audio)
Foundations of the Constitution

For Advanced Readers consider:
The Federalist Papers
Men in Black
Almost a Miracle
An Enemy Hath Done This

When they are published, I will also place my own books here.

Please don't take your franchise lightly. Every time you cast an uneducated vote, we risk ending up with politicians who despise our freedom and prefer an establishment of tyranny.

Primer on Gas Prices

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I changed my mind on being lazy when I ran a google search on "production cost gasoline". I could not believe when I read an article put out by the Department of Energy that the government actually honestly explained how and why gas prices ascend to their high levels. The article makes several good points to which I wish to draw attention.

First, gasoline prices volatilize with demand, the article focusing primarily changes in seasonal demand while omitting changes in seasonal formulation. Every season, refineries shut down for a few weeks to change their formulation in order to comply with federal regulation. This creates temporary shortages, but the resultant price hikes follow the ratchet effect, rarely falling back to the original price prior to the artificially induced shortage. Oxygenated fuels ostensibly help the environment yet cost the same or more than traditional fuel. Even when you pay the same per gallon, your per mile cost for an oxygenated fuel rises. I tried in winter NOT to buy oxygenated fuel as it reduces your fuel economy by chemically lowering the flash point of 2,2,4-trimethyl pentane through oxygenation into a tert-butyl ether thereby reducing its effective energy value

On the subject of oxygenated fuel, we cannot ignore the use of ethanol in gasoline as already constituted. With higher demand for ethanol as an exclusive or blended fuel, government raises the cost of regular unleaded as an indirect and unintended consequence

The article even deals with why California's gas costs so much- all the regulations and requirements necessary to bring a gallon of gas to market for you. In addition to federal and state taxes, they typically have municipal tax meaning that if you buy gas in california on vacation, you put money into their coffers for their programs. Nevada suffers aftershocks of the California policy, being largely dependent on California refineries for gas, meaning that Nevada residents must pay for California standard gas despite the absence of statutes in Nevada demanding those blends.

A particularly stunning graphic in the article attributes correctly approximately half (or perhaps more now) of the cost per gallon to straightforward acquisition from OPEC members or other trading partners. I love how they lump "refining costs and profits" together at 19% without mentioning that profit constitutes a minute fraction even of that 19% figure.

Accurately downplaying the role of hurricane Katrina on gas prices, the DoE doesn't address the fact that the reason why the impact on price was as great as it was revolves around the diminished refining capacity. Many refineries are on the TX coast, not because other places aren't good, but because they existed at the time of the Clean Air Act which basically made refinery construction so astronomically expensive so as to remove all incentive for profit (see my previous entry on incentive).

The article leaves out the fact however that hidden among the costs of acquisition there are more fees that GO TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Of the money you pay at the pump, the two biggest beneficiaries are the originating source/nation and our own government. Consider: import fees, transport fees, environmental compliance fees, paperwork fees, licensing, reformulation expense (mandated by the Clean Air Act), disposal fees, environmental hazard compliance costs, ad infinitum. All of these figure into the price it costs once Chevron buys the gas in order to sell it to you. Plus, on top of all that, consider how often gas is taxed: at acquisition when Chevron obtains it, at disposition when Chevron sells it, at distribution when stations obtain it, and at consumption when we burn it. The same commodity is taxed multiple times. Chevron pays taxes before they can even sell it, then they pay a confiscatory 40+% in income tax on their "profits".

Calculate together federal tax ($0.19/gal) and state/local taxes (on average $0.31/gal, but up to $0.50/gal) together with costs of acquisition, compliance, and taxes on chevron profits, and the government earns over $1 per gallon compared to Chevron which keeps about $0.09/gal. Some people argue that Chevron revenues last year topped $100 billion, but they ignore the fact that Chevron, after all the other taxes they pay along the way, paid over 40% in corporate income tax. How much more does Senator Clinton think she can take from Chevron without driving them out of the business?

Ask Mark Levin, and he'll tell you that government is the biggest strain on your wallet. For all their rhetoric about windfall profits for Big Oil, government rakes in far more revenue for costs of production than Chevron ever will.

Call for Questions

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I'm feeling a bit lazy today, but if there's something you'd like to see addressed in this blog, feel free to contact me and request that I address a particular issue. Also, if you'd like me to review something, send me a link, an exemplar, etc., and I will be happy to consider it.