Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Our days begin with trouble here.
Our life is but a span.
And cruel death is always near.
So frail a thing is man.

For the record.

I do not now, nor have I ever wanted the United States government to pay reparations to African-Americans for slavery. Such a payment would be nothing more than another Mobius knot in the reciprocal, never-ending taffy-pull game that we call our economy.

What I mean with those metaphors is that such a payment to a segment of the US population would necessitate the creation of a sum of money by yet another bookkeeping entry which the government would borrow from the Federal Reserve with interest.

Now maybe there is someone out there who thinks I am being too negative and that reparations could be a positive thing, with the national repentance and show of remorse for past wrongs…blah blah blah. It’s time to pop that bubble...

The primary definition of a central bank is a banking system in which a single bank has either a complete or residuary monopoly in the note issue. A central bank is not a natural product of banking development. It is imposed from outside or comes into being as a result of government favors.
Vera C. Smith (Committee for Monetary Research and Education, June 1981)

A while back I explained what I know about fractional reserve banking to my mother and I told her that my grandmother, who was the best person I have ever known at saving money, would never have believed it. If she were here today she’d tell me I was crazy. Whenever she talked with someone who was not a saver she’d tell them “put your money to work for you.” How the banker puts our money to work for himself was not something that was discussed outside drawing rooms 40 years ago. Despite that it was still a different and more hororable time. I don’t know how she would take the daily flood of fraud and skulduggery that goes on in the business world now.

This was originally posted 15 Mar. 2009. Retrieved from the Internet Wayback Site.

This is a paper with calculations to show that it is IMPOSSIBLE for a plane to VAPORIZE on impact or from burning fuel.

This isn’t about conspiracy theories about 911. It’s about PHYSICS.

Everyone heard this unspeakably stupid notion that Flights 93 and 77 vaporized on impact and due to burning jet fuel. The first few weeks following 9/11 were really hectic at the paper and I just let it ride when I first heard it even though something about it didn’t sound right. I didn’t have time to process in the immediate aftermath. I think I actually screamed “NO!” when I realized what we were being asked to accept…if not aloud, then in my mind. I wanted to hit the person who said that. If the person meant “disintegrated” they still needed to be smacked for their sloppy, crap choice of words.

I took ...

For what I am going to say here I’ll probably get some push-back from, well, everyone. I am a libertarian. I support the idea of marriage equality. However I do not support legislation of any kind regarding marriages, domestic partnerships or other unions between people. I believe that people should be able to live their lives free from molestation from all quarters, including government and religion. Whomever you’re with, you’re consenting adults. It’s not my right nor my business to say yea or nay to your choice. I’d have no trouble hiring or working with you. If mainstream religion won’t accept your union, you have to decide how you feel about that. But why do you seek validation from government? Validation, just like motivation, has to come from within...

Working graveyard shift again. This is something I have not done in over 20 years. I’m finding that data entry is not an easy job to do, not at the pace required for this assignment or the one I worked three weeks ago. I believe I can get up to the pace they require. But I don’t know how long I want to work 3rd shift.