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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

This really happened. When you got the drop on somebody, well, the following script can play out.



AN ACTUAL CRAIG'S LIST PERSONALS AD
To the Guy Who Tried to Mug Me in Downtown Savannah night before last.
Date: 2011-11-27, 1:43 am. E.S.T.
I was the guy wearing the black Burberry jacket that you demanded that I hand over, shortly after you pulled
the knife on me and my girlfriend, threatening our lives. You also asked for my girlfriend's purse and earrings. I can only hope that you somehow come across this rather important message.
First, I'd like to apologize for your embarrassment; I didn't expect you to actually crap in your pants when
I drew my pistol after you took my jacket.. The evening was not that cold, and I was wearing the jacket for a reason.. my girlfriend was happy that I just returned safely from my 2nd tour as a Combat Marinein Afghanistan .. She had just bought me that Kimber
Custom Model 1911 .45 ACP pistol for my birthday, and we had picked up a shoulder holster for it that very evening. Obviously you agree that it is a very intimidating weapon when pointed at your head ... isn't it?!
I know it probably wasn't fun walking back to wherever you'd come from with crap in your pants. I'm sure it
was even worse walking bare-footed since I made you leave your shoes, cell phone, and wallet with me. (That prevented you from calling or running to your buddies to come help mug us again).
After I called your mother or "Momma" as you had her listed in your cell, I explained the entire episode of
what you'd done. Then I went and filled up my gas tank as well as those of four other people in the gas station, -- on your credit card. The guy with the big motor home took 153 gallons and was extremely grateful!
I gave your shoes to a homeless guy outside Vinnie Van Go Go's, along with all the cash in your wallet. [That
made his day!]
I then threw your wallet into the big pink "pimp mobile" that was parked at the curb ..... after I broke the
windshield and side window and keyed the entire driver's side of the car.
Earlier, I managed to get in two threatening phone calls to the DA's office and one to the FBI, while mentioning
President Obama as my possible target.
The FBI guy seemed really intense and we had a nice long chat (I guess while he traced your number etc.).
 In a way, perhaps I should apologize for not killing you ... but I feel this type of retribution
is a far more appropriate punishment for your threatened crime. I wish you well as you try to sort through some of these rather immediate pressing issues, and can only hope that you have the opportunity to reflect upon, and perhaps reconsider, the career path
you've chosen to pursue in life.. Remember, next time you might not be so lucky. Have a good day!
Thoughtfully yours, Semper fi,
Alex

Thursday, February 13, 2014

This is taken from a paper by Brad DeLong. And what is the number one issue of our time? Income distribution. Enjoy the beach because you ain't gonna be working in the future.

The urgency of a growth agenda is strengthened by the recognition that the United States' social insurance system was designed for the pre-1973 rapid rather than the post-1973 slow pace of growth.Without faster long-term economic growth America's social insurance system as we know it is unlikely to survive the next generation. Thus there is a sense in which the stakes at risk in the task of finding policies to spur American economic growth are larger for the left than for the right half of the political spectrum. All have an interest in faster economic growth: faster growth empowers the American people to better achieve their ends whether their ends are sitting on beaches sunning themselves, raising their children, protecting endangered species, or increasing their level of education.

But in the absence of faster economic growth than has been seen in the past two decades, the future of the social insurance state is easy to read: Medicare and Social Security devour the rest of the Great Society and the New Deal over the course of the next generation. Two generations hence Medicare and Social Security run up against their own budget constraints, and destroy themselves.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Here is why the debt-to-GDP argument is so tough to maintain.


It worked after WWII. But that was a different world all together.And the green part today is ready for a break out.

Who is the forgotten man in the US today? The working man that's who!



If person A and person B get together to help out person C and take the resources of person D to do it then person D is "the forgotten man." And now that the government is making leisure more lucrative with every new policy and statement they make (see yesterday's take of the NY Times to the employment effects of Obama Care), soon the only suckers left will be the working stiff who keeps paying the tax bill.

What is not discussed enough for me is the enormous implied future taxes that are positively the consequence of debt accumulation and permanent increases in government spending. Who is going to pay them? You and especially your children with higher marginal tax rates and other confiscatory policies to take your resources from you to fund the common good.

However, you baby boomers don't despair. Your children will have much more leisure than you did in your working life. So they will be able to be with you, and to spend all that time you feel guilty about not being with them when you worked. They will be with you in your retirement. And you'll have your son's girlfriend and child along for the company too since they neither can find a career nor have any desire for matrimony, nor feel as if working is "worth it."

You may want to ask you financial adviser if you can put an additional on the old ranch so junior has a place to stay.