Things go awry when a pick-up truck driver neglects to read the height limit for his bank's drive-through ATM.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Warren Buffett
The following are interesting facts about Warren Buffett from an interview on CNBC. Warren Buffett is the world’s second richest man and has donated $31 billion to charity.
He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late! (Things were very cheap that time. Encourage your children to invest.)
He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.(One can buy many things with few savings. Encourage your children to start some kind of business.)
He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence. (Don't buy more than you "really need" and encourage your children to do and think the same.)
He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him. (You are what you are.)
He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company. (Always think how you can accomplish things economically.)
His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. (Assign the right people to the right jobs.)
He has given his CEO's only two rules: Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1. (Set goals and make sure people focus on them.)
He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television. (Don't try to show off, just be yourself and do what you enjoy doing
Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.
Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.
His advice to young people:
"Stay away from credit cards & bank loans and invest in yourself and remember:
Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.
Live your life as simply as possible.
Don't do what others say - listen to them, but do what you feel good doing.
Don't follow brand names; just wear those things in which you feel comfortable.
Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; rather just spend on those things you really need. After all, it's your life so why allow others to rule your life?"
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving
On this Thanksgiving day, I'd like to quote from Fr. Brian Joyce when he spoke on Thanksgiving in 2003:
"And the last thing that Thanksgiving helps us to do is simply to give thanks. Here is a reminder of giving thanks for the simple everyday things that we don’t notice:
"And the last thing that Thanksgiving helps us to do is simply to give thanks. Here is a reminder of giving thanks for the simple everyday things that we don’t notice:
- I am thankful for the mess to clean up after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.
- I am thankful for the taxes I have to pay because it means I have a job and I am employed.
- I am thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have had enough to eat.
- I am thankful for the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.
- I am thankful for all the complaining I do about the government because it means we have freedom of speech.
- I am thankful for the parking spot I find at the far end of the lot because it means I am capable of walking.
- I am thankful for my big heating bill because it means I am warm.
- (I love this one. Don’t look around. Don’t turn. Just listen.) I am thankful for the lady behind me in Church who sings off-key because it means I can hear.
- I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.
- I am thankful for weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.
- And finally, I am thankful for the alarm that goes off early in the morning because it means that I am still alive.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Amazing Adam Bender: A Baseball Video
Watch a short video about a brave kid who plays baseball with one leg. Doesn't give you much space to complain about minor inconviences.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Can We Believe Today's Journalists?
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." Mark Twain
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
The 545 People Responsible For All Of America’s Woes
This column was written by Charley Reese for the Orlando Sentinel Star years ago. (See www.apfn.org/APFN/woes.htm.) The column was probably first published in the late 1970s or early to mid-1980s, since it refers to Tip O’Neill as being Speaker of the House. However, his points are even more applicable today than they were when the column was written.
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices—545 human beings out of the 235 million—are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.
A Confidence Conspiracy
Don't you see how the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of Tip O'Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating appropriations and taxes.
O'Neill is the Speaker of the House. He is the leader of the majority party. He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.
Replace Scoundrels
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted—by present facts—of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.
When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in Lebanon, it's because they want them in Lebanon.
There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take it.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. They and they alone have the power. They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses—provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees.
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices—545 human beings out of the 235 million—are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.
A Confidence Conspiracy
Don't you see how the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of Tip O'Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating appropriations and taxes.
O'Neill is the Speaker of the House. He is the leader of the majority party. He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.
Replace Scoundrels
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted—by present facts—of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.
When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in Lebanon, it's because they want them in Lebanon.
There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take it.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. They and they alone have the power. They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses—provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Converting to Digital TV
Watch this video for simple instructions on converting to digital TV by February 2009.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)