Merry Ba Humbug!

I got a good laugh from this, mostly because I really identified with it.

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2009/12/jimmys-christmas-song/

I must confess I've listened to it several times, and have been singing it around the house and the office.

Now TARP can really go to waste....

Now that Wall Street banks are repaying bailout money, taxpayers should be even more concerned. The money is being returned to Congress.

The More Things Change... The More Obama Calls Them "Fat Cats"...

“The banks also received their share of Hoover’s ire for their unwillingness to expand in those troubled times. The New York Times reported on May 20 that Hoover was ‘disturbed at the apparent lack of cooperation of the commercial banks of the country in the credit expansion drive.’ In short the ‘banks have not passed the benefits of these relief measures on to their customers.’ The anger of the inflationist authorities at the caution of the banks was typified by the arrogant statement of RFC chairman, Atlee Pomerene: ‘Now… and I measure my words, the bank that is 75 percent liquid or more and refuses to make loans when proper security is offered, under present circumstances, is a parasite on the community.’" –Murray Rothbard, America’s Great Depression, Ch. 11

Hat tip to my good friend Rob VH.

For the First Time, I Voted Against Smokers' Rights.

Today is election day. In my municipality we had an issue on the ballot to ban smoking in most public buildings. For the record, I don't smoke. I can't stand it. It is a slow suicide. It's also an individual right.

I have always voted against: tax increases on tobacco, age limits on smoking, raising tax revenue for non-smoking programs. The whole bit. Always against it, always for the smokers. I'm opposed to raising taxes on tobacco, because if we keep doing it then at some point they will be so expensive the product will be driven underground. Underground activity, by definition, is criminal activity. Limitless taxation on tobacco is a slippery slope to more crime.

I oppose government funded non-smoking programs because it's the smokers' responsibility quit, or even not to start in the first place. Let the free market penalize smokers: increased insurance premiums, lower quality of life, premature death, a slow slide to an unbecoming physical appearance, burns in the seats of their cars.

I oppose government funded non-smoking program because I do not trust politicians will do what they say they will with the money.

But I could never get around one thing.

It's accepted medical science that smoking is detrimental to my health. In fact, I can sue over it and win. So, if I could quantify the damage of second hand smoke, I could sue over that. Most likely in small claims court, but compensation none the less. My point here is second hand smoke is an assault on my health.

So, after years of a non-smoker supporting smokers' freedoms, I have come to the conclusion they need to do it in designated places. Preferably in the privacy of their own homes. At the very least, away from people who choose not to smoke. After all, second hand smoke is assault.

About the blog...

This blog is therapy.  By writing about my turmoils I hope to find greater happiness than I currently have and come to terms with the world around me without substituting reality for an illusion.

I am an uncompromising, unforgiving realist.  As such, I have a very hard, punitive, desperate, dog eat dog view of the world and humanity.  I can be and typically am brutally honest.

I also recognize this is a terrible way to go through life.  You don't have to imagine that I don't fall asleep too easily.  I want to change that.

However, to adopt a position of denying the world around you is ignorant and rife with misleading yourself.  As such, my goal is to remain a realist, but also come to terms with the world around me in a way that does not keep me up at night.

My turmoils are usually masked by and revealed in current events.  I expect I will post about human behavior when faced with various choices like: culture, logic, critical thought, fitness and health, current events, public policy, economics, markets, investing, personal finance, time management, baseball, music, individual freedom, and everyday "about nothing" Seinfeld life.

Hopefully I will have the courage and insight to ask questions about things I do not have a solid position or do not understand.  And if my posts are not intelligent, I sure hope they are funny.  Maybe even both....