George Bernard Shaw died today – 57 years ago

English writer George Bernard Shaw was born on July 26, 1856 in Dublin, Ireland. He said, “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." [Just don’t call it robbery... So let's think about it. What can we call it then?]... Mr. Shaw died in 1950 in Ayot St Lawrence, England.

Phony Official Inflation Rate

OK. Let’s just admit it at the start: the government’s official inflation rate is way too low. You feel it. You see it. So why don’t they just admit it? Well, it saves the government LOTS of money in higher Social Security payments, cost-of-living adjustments, and low borrowing costs. Look at the things they don’t include. I’ve read that food and energy prices are excluded or given a low rating. Hey, what do they want us to do? Eat grass and walk?

So, what is the “true” inflation rate? There isn’t one rate that applies to every person. Try to figure it out for yourself. Google the phrase “official inflation rate” for help. (Here’s a good one: http://www.isil.org/towards-liberty/inflation-gov-lies.html) Then contact Congress. A lot of good it will do, but you might be psychologically satisfied.

Insurance's Vicious Cycle

Insurance – especially on our homes – keeps going up. And why not? Insurance is basically a cartel, supported by the state. It’s a vicious cycle with the consumer left out except for paying the bills. Insurance people charge more saying that you’ll need the money for repairs: to rebuild that domicile the way it started out, all shiny and new. (Darn. I wish doctors could rebuild me the way I started out.) So therefore, the repair people can charge more to rebuild it that way. So therefore, the insurance people can charge more to rebuild it that way. So therefore, the repair people can charge more to rebuild it that way...

You see where this is going? Up, up, and a-way up. What’s the solution? Well, think about it. Everything – and I mean everything – that government people “regulate” ends up costing more and more. So get them out of it. Let that free market – to which they all like to give lip-service – work. Let the consumer decide what value they’d assign to their houses and other property. Otherwise, it’s just a victorious cycle, with no victors but the meddlers.

Daylight Shifting Time

Well, Daylight Shifting Time starts early this year, thanks to our omniscient Congress… Oh, excuse me, I was supposed to say Daylight Saving Time. (Admit it: you thought I was going to retract the “omniscient.”) But that might be a misnomer, since Americans don’t save much of anything anymore. It seems that everything is discardable, including lives… Perhaps we could call it Daylight Spending Time, since it’s supposed to provide more evening time to spend outdoors (who does that anymore with TVs, DVDs, TiVos, & laptops). Of course, you will be spending more time adjusting those clocks forth and back FOUR times this year. Perhaps the software on computers will be updated soon. But then, why didn’t they do it by now? Too much effort needed to work on all those OTHER malicious things, no doubt.

No, I think it should be called Daylight Shifting Time, since we’re just shifting the starting and ending times for the things we do. We could all start work an hour earlier. We’ll be doing that anyway, but just fooling ourselves by numbers. (Of course, we already let ourselves be fooled by the “official” numbers – but more on that later.) But I guess it’s better to let Congress think they’re finally doing something worthwhile and continue the control they love to have over our lives.

So don’t forget. Be a good follower. Don’t be out-of-sync.

Donna Shalala, You're Wrong

No, Donna, the situation at the Walter Reed Hospital complex is NOT an embarrassment to "the country." It is another failure of government. If you don't see that, you won't "solve" anything... And by the way, how much is this publicity stunt going to cost us? Wasn't there already an oversight committee or something? My belief is that people have decided to talk since President Bush removed his top general from Iraq, in effect saying he didn't know what he was doing. Let's see if more revelations are forthcoming.

Carnage on Government Roads

When will people have had enough of the deaths and destruction occurring on government roads. The cargo being shipped on the huge trucks (some several "trucks" long) could be on trains, if governments hadn't destroyed the trains by taxing money to continually build more and more roads. Trucks have been racing to make up time lost due to snow/ice storms. Just in on CNN was a fiery collision in N.C. Such waste.