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Learn for Free--Khan Academy

More and more, the world's knowledge is becoming available to anyone via the internet.

This is Khan Academy, one of its biggest fans is Microsoft's Bill Gates.

Da Bugsters Tells Me To Run Red Light

Freedom-Berlin Wall

Harbor Fish Grill in Brea, CA

If you live in Brea, and you want good seafood at a reasonable price, go to Harbor Fresh Fish Grill. I don't know if there's a dish over $10. My plate you see in the picture is trout (with a choice of toppings), brown rice, broccoli, and salad for $8.95.

I'm a big fan, needless to say. I like this restaurant. You can bring your pooch if you eat outside.

(Just make sure you're not a penny short. I went to this restaurant yesterday after returning from vacation and I asked if they saw this blog post. She said "yes", and as I paid I was 1 penny short. She did not cut me any slack. Funny)

On Frugality

My wife will be able to retire at a young age. While she makes a decent income, she knows how to save. It is nice that my wife and I think the same when it comes to money. She does not care to purchase status. She is more happy and comfortable obtaining frugality.

It's a lot easier to save a $1000 than to pay off a $1000 debt. Since we have no debt, live well below our means, savings almost can't help but be done. And with investments, hopefully the money grows.

I enjoy reading personal finance, minimalist, and frugality blogs. There's so much great information on the web.

If you're like me, you like reading stories of how others struggle financially, and end up prospering. As a kid I heard stories of my dad working full time, working at the movie theater at night and then walking around collecting bottles. He retired at 47. While he didn't have a lot of money, he lived a wonderful life. Lots of golf, time with friends, and a through enjoyment of life.

We all know such stories. They're inspiring. On the flip side, I like stories about Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, men who've achieved incredible wealth.

This great country allows this to happen. Thank God, I won the lottery being born in the United States.

The Mosque In New York City

Here are some comments from a very good website.

Using Google To Search In Real Time

This seems exciting. Let's say an earthquake just happened. Google will search places like Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates. This could prove to be a valuable tool.

What if there is a car crash on a freeway next to your house? It will be quite possible to go to Google and not only read what others are saying about the crash, but likely to see video of the accident.

So not only is the internet democratizing knowledge but it's going to happen in real time.

Just think, in a few short years, this post will be thought quaint. And by then, not only will we expect to see video of the accident, we'll be able to see the accident as it happens.

Fanny and Freddy-Warnings By Bush

This video clearly shows that George Bush warned congress starting in 2001, that an economic crisis was coming if something was not done. But congress refused to listen. Please note the comments of the arrogant congressman Barney Frank and the ever moronic Senator Chuck Schumer.

Excellent 8 minute video on Islam

This is from the Qur'an itself. Not separately pieced together to tell a story. An Imam would not quibble with this video, and would tell you "Yes, this is definitely what the Qur'an states".

I beg you to watch this video. The creator touches on key precepts of Islam.

Islam is in direct opposition to Western Civilization--this must be realized and there can be no doubt. To deny this is only to deceive oneself.

Immigration--2005-Predicting the Future

Subject: immigration

Dick Lamm is the former Governor of Colorado. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. In Jan, 2005 there was an immigration overpopulation conference in Washington , DC , filled to capacity by many of America 's finest minds and leaders.



A brilliant college professor by the name of Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, "Mexifornia," explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal was destroying the entire state of California . He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream.



Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America . The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States .



He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America . It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.'"

"Here is how they do it," Lamm said: "FIRST, to destroy America , turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country." History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: "The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy." Canada , Belgium , Malaysia , and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans.".



Lamm went on: SECOND, to destroy America , "Invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. Make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. Make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.



THIRD, "We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together."

Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities.."

"FOURTH, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."

"My FIFTH point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population."

"My SIXTH plan for America 's downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common Language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia , threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" --From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of the 'Unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."

"Next to last, SEVENTH,I would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America , it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."

In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed.



Finally he said,. "Lastly, EIGHTH, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's book "Mexifornia." His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America . If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."

There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America - take note of California and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."

Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path especially The American Dream.

From Early Retirement Extreme

This post is from Jacob at Early Retirement Extreme. I really enjoy Jacob's blog. His ideas are fresh and inspiring. His field is not finance, but physics. He retired in his early 30s, not from making a lot of money, but through prudence.

Is it possible to draw a line between happiness and saving money? It certainly is. The line is drawn according to a parameter called the discount rate which is the interest rate which separates one’s desire to lend vis-a-vis borrow money.

In other words, the discount rate is the minimum interest rate one would demand to lend money out. If my discount rate is 5% or lower, then this means that

I would rather have $105 in a year, than
I would want to have $100 now.

Conversely, if your discount rate is 5% or higher, then this means that

You would rather have $100 now, than
You would want to have $105 in a year.

If so, we can do business; I will lend you $100, and you will pay me back $105 in a year and everybody is happy.

People differ in their discount rate. If you have a very high discount rate, it means you value the present more. If your discount rate is 20% or higher, you would have no problem carrying consumer credit.

My discount rate is very low, because I figure that I am [genetically] as capable of being happy in the future as I am today given the same amount of money. Thus, by lending out money at 5% I expect to be 5% happier in the future; namely, I will get to spend $5 more in the future.

Conversely, by borrowing money, I would expect to be 5% less happy in the future than now.
Before you start arguing that money doesn’t buy happiness, etc. keep in mind that the discount rate is set by the marginal dollar. If you have very little money, you value it highly in the present—every dollar buys a lot of happiness including the last one you spend. If you have a lot, you have more than you need, and you can easily postpone its use into the future—the last dollar you’d spend would create little happiness.

There are two effects which come into play now.

First, while there is no mathematical difference, consider whether your discount rate would be identical if

You would rather have $100,000 now, than
You would want to have $105,000 in a year.

Now, we’re talking $5,000 instead of $5. $5 is trivial, but $5,000 is not even though as a fraction is the same.

Second, compound interest will change the amount into the farther future.

Would you rather have $100,000 now, than
You would want to have $127,628 in five years.

Here is more on how to do a discounted cash flow analysis on student loans.

Given our high savings rates, people on the road to extreme early retirement have a much lower discount rate than most other people.

As a result, they can accumulate $100,000 and lend it out at 5%. After 5 years, they will have $127k. Now, live off the 27k for the next five years while lending out the $100k again.

The preference or psychological ability to have a lower discount rate is what allows the freedom. Another word for a low discount rate is delayed gratification. It is an extremely powerful financial weapon if used in an environment of higher rates. Consequently, no matter what happens, as long as your discount rate is lower than most other people’s discount rates, they will be giving you money, but seeing that you will both have your own optimally chosen discount rate, e.g. 6% vs 5%, you will be better off. To wit, at the very bottom, that is, those who work the most for the least are those with 20% or 30% discount rates who pay that much extra for everything they buy. Conversely, at the top are those with 2-3% discount rates who are typically paid by others.

For example, my savings will pay/has paid [virtually] for the home for one upper middle class family who don’t/didn’t have the money but is willing to carry the mortgage. It is thus as if they are working to pay me because they want to live in a house they can’t afford for the next 30 years. This, then, effectively, is why I don’t have to work—they do it for me. Their discount rate is higher than mine.
Maybe it is better explained with an example.

Suppose A has $150,000 in assets and B has $150,000 in debt. Both draw 6%. Both earn $40,000 per year.

Then each year, A will have $49,000 to spend, while B will have $31,000 to spend. You could also have a person with a net worth of zero, C, who’d then have $40,000 to spend. This is not just one year, this is every year.

If the debt has to be paid off as well, then B may be paying $1250 extra per month to get rid of it in 10 years. This will cut B’s spending to $16000 per year. That’s less than 1/3 of A. Huge difference!
Overall, A will have substantially more financial freedom than B.

Any kind of substantial debt, which can not be paid off within a year, will act as a huge drag on one’s finances, simply because interests will be quite high compared to the principal to paid off—you will mainly be paying interest, while the principal debt remaisn the same. It’s like riding a bicycle uphill (principal) in headwind (interest).

This will be even more apparent if interest rates are higher, earnings are lower, or asset/liabilities are higher. Indeed, because of the interest bias, it is much easier to save $100,000 than it is to pay off $100,000.

Something to think About

Kimberly O. Dennis -- WSJ

Successful entrepreneurs-turned-philanthropists typically say they feel a responsibility to "give back" to society. But "giving back" implies they have taken something. What, exactly, have they taken? Yes, they have amassed great sums of wealth. But that wealth is the reward they have earned for investing their time and talent in creating products and services that others value. They haven't taken from society, but rather enriched us in ways that were previously unimaginable.
Even if Mr. Gates makes progress in achieving his ambitious philanthropic objectives--eradicating disease, reducing global poverty, and improving educational quality--these accomplishments are unlikely to match what he achieved by giving us the amazing capability we literally have at our fingertips to access and spread information. The very doctors and scientists who may develop cures for diseases like malaria will rely on the tools Microsoft supplies to conduct their research. Had Mr. Gates decided to step down from his company and turn to philanthropy sooner than he did, they might have fewer such tools.

While businesses may do more for the public good than they're given credit for, philanthropies may do less. Think about it for a moment: Can you point to a single charitable accomplishment that has been as transformative as, say, the cell phone or the birth-control pill? To the contrary, the literature on philanthropy is riddled with examples of failure, including examples where philanthropic efforts have actually left intended beneficiaries worse off. The Gates Foundation has itself acknowledged that one of its premier initiatives--a 10-year, $2 billion project to reorganize high schools around the country into schools with fewer than 400 students--was a complete bust. Good for them for admitting it. In that, they are unusual. In the failure, they are not.

Obama. Muslim? Read this

Franklin Graham on Obama’s Muslim heritage:

“Well, first of all I think the president’s problem is that he was born a Muslim. His father was a Muslim. The seed of Islam is passed through the father like the seed of Judaism is passed through the mother. He was born a Muslim. His father gave him an Islamic name.”

Crooks and Liars has the full clip where Graham also states that Obama says he became a Christian later in life.

Of course, The New York Times reported the same thing back in 2008:

Senator Obama is half African by birth and Africans can understandably identify with him. In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith.

As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant.

Taking Chances

As an eight year old child, I crawled through a sewer pipe barely bigger than my young thin body could squeeze. I must of had a flashlight too, I'm sure it was that modern piece of technology that intrigued me to find out what was lurking in the nether world.

The distance I crawled was far. My shoulders and hips had just enough room to squiggle. Even today I remembered thinking back then, "don't panic, just keep going". And I was never scared.

I'm sure if my mom was home, or if she asked "where's Mike", she would have freaked. And her freaking might have caused me to freak. But she never did know where I was. To this day, I wonder if she ever knew what I did. Of course there were a lot of things I did as a kid that she never knew about. That was one of the great things being raised as a kid in the 60s--I got a chance to explore. And we kids explored.

So yes it was impulsive. What if I got stuck? What if a rat bit me. Or my greatest fear, becoming surrounded by snakes. When I look back, I remember finishing my crawl through the sewer, getting out and just going on with my play. It was no big deal. No fanfare.

I look at stories today that make national or even world headlines. Big deal. I made bigger headlines than that many days of my life. And I thought nothing of it. Today we live through other people's lives via the news. I especially do with Tiger Woods. It's pathetic really.

And we've become so afraid to take chances. We want to be safe. The Government's main job is to keep us safe. I remember years ago listening to Pres. Clinton give a State of the Union address and I marveled how many times he used the word "safe" in his speech.

My wife's nephew and niece have never in their lives spent the night with their aunt. News of kidnappings of children taken from their front yards has been news well received. When I am around children, my radar is definitely on. I know the parents have their radar on too, wondering if I'm a pervert that's going to steal their children. Hyper sensitivity rules the day. Common sense does not.

Children are taught never to talk to strangers. How sad. Children should talk to strangers. I remember as a 15 year old hitch hiking to my job. I worked in a fast food chicken joint. I got picked up by a queer. When I got in his car, he started to rub my leg. I didn't know what that was all about. To be honest, I'm not sure I even knew what a homosexual was. Look at the way we're going, in a few years we'll all be fudgepackers. Anyway, I remember being uncomfortable with this man's advances and told him to let me out of his car.

Watching the PGA tournament last week, which is one of the most important tournaments in golf, a mistake happened by a golfer leading the tournament on the final hole. He subsequently was penalized two strokes and came in fourth or fifth place. Now everyone's bemoaning what could have been done. The Golf Channel has been talking about it nonstop. Polls have been conducted. Numerous commentators have weighed in. Who's to blame, how can we prevent this, etc. You know what, SHIT HAPPENS. It does. We can try to minimize it, but shit happens. Do we not want to live our life out of fear that something bad may happen?

I like being careful. Don't get me wrong. But government has become our nanny. Things have gone too far.