Search found 284 matches

by farjean2
Wed Dec 20, 2017 3:34 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: New Tax Plan Deductions
Replies: 33
Views: 16892

Re: New Tax Plan Deductions

Looks like I was wrong about employers immediately passing the tax cut benefits on to their employees. At least some of them are....

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/45 ... investment
by farjean2
Mon Dec 18, 2017 1:13 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: Out of balance
Replies: 55
Views: 29801

Re: Out of balance

This is like when my kids ask me for advice about a situation they have gotten themselves into and I can tell them how they got themselves into it but not necessarily how to get out. If you really think you'll be leaving the company soon maybe you don't want to do anything right now. Assuming you wi...
by farjean2
Sat Dec 16, 2017 3:38 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: New Tax Plan Deductions
Replies: 33
Views: 16892

Re: New Tax Plan Deductions

It's simplified in some ways, by getting rid of a stack of deductions, but new tweak-worthy elements were introduced. I bet the tax forms & schedules won't change much. Don't see postcards in anyone's tax future. So here's a question: does anyone think that the businesses that you buy most of your ...
by farjean2
Sat Dec 16, 2017 2:26 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: How much is "enough" in the Permanent Portfolio?
Replies: 33
Views: 20531

Re: How much is "enough" in the Permanent Portfolio?

I retired last year (involuntarily) at the age of 67 and after I got my last paycheck I had almost exactly 1 million dollars in the PP. Fortunately I'm not having to draw from it yet because my wife is still working and also this year turned out to be a very nice start as far as sequence of returns ...
by farjean2
Fri Dec 15, 2017 8:48 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Trump as tragicomedy
Replies: 958
Views: 380189

Re: Trump as tragicomedy

Donald Trump is NOT Ron Paul. He's a war-monger police-statist who could care less for due-process, human rights, the 1st/4th Amendments, limited war-making powers, or limiting the scope of the nefarious powers of the CIA or the NSA (he thinks Snowden should be executed, remember?). He might disagr...
by farjean2
Tue Dec 12, 2017 6:51 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: When the cops are the criminals
Replies: 293
Views: 113462

Re: When the cops are the criminals

I'm not sure what you guys think is the problem here. The cop thought the perp was armed, told the guy not to move his hands or he would shoot him, and the idiot disobeyed and got what was promised. If I was the cop, I would have shot him, too. You think the cop should have let the guy potentially ...
by farjean2
Sun Dec 10, 2017 9:33 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: When the cops are the criminals
Replies: 293
Views: 113462

Re: When the cops are the criminals

Caution. If you're like me this might be the most sickening thing you've ever seen and it might leave you disliking cops.... https://youtu.be/VBUUx0jUKxc The background is simple. Shaver was a traveling pest control worker. He was in his hotel room (a La Quinta Inn) showing off to guests a pellet gu...
by farjean2
Tue Nov 21, 2017 4:06 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Is Trump Restoring Separation of Powers?
Replies: 24
Views: 15412

Re: Is Trump Restoring Separation of Powers?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/a-second-judge-blocks-trump-administrations-proposed-transgender-military-ban/2017/11/21/d91f65e4-cee1-11e7-81bc-c55a220c8cbe_story.html?utm_term=.112bd1e98682 So the commander in chief apparently does not have the authority to stop the military fr...
by farjean2
Sun Nov 19, 2017 1:23 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Teaching gender stereotypes
Replies: 19
Views: 12319

Re: Teaching gender stereotypes

I love how you put Ehrman in the same paragraph with "unbiased scholarship." Surely you can see he's a very angry, reactive sort, no? Not that there is anything wrong with that, but please disabuse yourself of the "unbiased" myth. I take it you don't like him very much but I've never actually seen ...
by farjean2
Sat Nov 18, 2017 10:46 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Teaching gender stereotypes
Replies: 19
Views: 12319

Re: Teaching gender stereotypes

Re female ordination... I grew up Catholic before converting to Orthodoxy so I am going to take a swing at this. The Pope can change the discipline of the church but not its doctrine. Discipline are the man made rules set up by the church for (presumably) good and practical reasons. This might cove...
by farjean2
Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:51 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Teaching gender stereotypes
Replies: 19
Views: 12319

Re: Teaching gender stereotypes

Re female ordination... I grew up Catholic before converting to Orthodoxy so I am going to take a swing at this. The Pope can change the discipline of the church but not its doctrine. Discipline are the man made rules set up by the church for (presumably) good and practical reasons. This might cove...
by farjean2
Thu Nov 09, 2017 2:16 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Screaming helplessly at the sky
Replies: 32
Views: 20264

Re: Screaming helplessly at the sky

If we're going with personal anecdotes, I've seen modestly more ridiculous reactions to Obama than Trump. I could go into detail, but most of them involve the n-word, accusations of being a Muslim, or just wild predictions of economic collapse that are his fault because he's a communist or close-to...
by farjean2
Thu Nov 09, 2017 1:24 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Screaming helplessly at the sky
Replies: 32
Views: 20264

Re: Screaming helplessly at the sky

Then your memory is better than mine, because I don't. :) I don't remember ever seeing such silliness as nowadays. Agreed. On the positive side, the epidemic of Trump Derangement Syndrome has exposed a lot of insane people whose mental illness wasn't obvious before, so we can avoid dealing with the...
by farjean2
Sun Nov 05, 2017 12:50 pm
Forum: Permanent Portfolio Discussion
Topic: How to convince someone to use HB-PP
Replies: 18
Views: 12881

Re: How to convince someone to use HB-PP

I would never try to convince anyone to use the HB-PP or any other portfolio. If things go wrong, I don't want to be responsible. I will tell people about the success I've had with it but I always give the warning that past performance does not predict future results if they are thinking about using...
by farjean2
Fri Nov 03, 2017 1:10 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1386478

Re: Figuring Out Religion

As for Paul, sometimes I have a hard time getting my head around the idea that Paul got his theology from the same Jesus that we see in the gospels. You can say that again. By the way, he didn't (get his theology from Jesus). Paul never met the historic Jesus and went on record as stating that he h...
by farjean2
Fri Nov 03, 2017 10:43 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1386478

Re: Figuring Out Religion

I never noticed any anti-semitism either. Really I'd say there was the opposite message - No Jew or gentile, just everyone in Christ, right? according to the writings of Paul I just added a note to my previous post about how it is interesting that the gospel of John depicts not only a different pic...
by farjean2
Fri Nov 03, 2017 10:29 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1386478

Re: Figuring Out Religion

I just read through John again, and I don't see anything that even resembles anti semitism. I do see a lot of negativity directed at the self-righteous, the decent right wing religious folks of their time, the pharisees. But it's hard to twist anti-semitism into the NT, particularly given the fact ...
by farjean2
Thu Nov 02, 2017 12:10 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1386478

Re: Figuring Out Religion

Libertarian666 wrote:I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed if you just cease to exist. :D
Exactly my point.
by farjean2
Wed Nov 01, 2017 9:22 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1386478

Re: Figuring Out Religion

I also remember reading an analogy comparing our physical bodies to a television. Say the television starts to malfunction and the screen does not show the image as well. Does that mean that the show has fundamentally changed? When the television completely breaks, does that mean there is nothing t...
by farjean2
Wed Nov 01, 2017 8:45 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1386478

Re: Figuring Out Religion

Here's an article on Luther that I read recently, and seems appropriate to put here on this day, and in this current period in our country: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/luthers-jewish-problem Glad to see a Christian acknowledge the dark side of Luther. I don't believe it's a stretch t...
by farjean2
Wed Nov 01, 2017 8:17 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: White Pride / Racism
Replies: 61
Views: 30424

Re: White Pride / Racism

Speaking of the Asian experience in America I sometimes have to point out to my wife that if she thinks her race makes her stand out she should get to feel what I do when I visit her country (Philippines). In America nobody gives a second thought about seeing an Asian in public but when I'm walking ...
by farjean2
Wed Nov 01, 2017 12:58 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: White Pride / Racism
Replies: 61
Views: 30424

Re: White Pride / Racism

Another thought exercise...how many people upon visiting Japan would be disappointed to find out that instead of being a unique country full of Japanese people and Japanese tradition was instead overrun by pasty white people blasting beach boy music from their Cadillacs. That when asking natives to...
by farjean2
Wed Nov 01, 2017 12:29 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Figuring Out Religion
Replies: 4052
Views: 1386478

Re: Figuring Out Religion

Here's an article on Luther that I read recently, and seems appropriate to put here on this day, and in this current period in our country: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/luthers-jewish-problem Glad to see a Christian acknowledge the dark side of Luther. I don't believe it's a stretch t...
by farjean2
Thu Oct 26, 2017 5:42 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Urgent! Heading to ER, surprise bills
Replies: 36
Views: 20049

Re: Urgent! Heading to ER, surprise bills

The old shingles vaccine produced by Merck used a "weakened" live virus. I'm sure that many contracted the disease because of this fact. I'm not certain if the new vaccine is available yet. Something tells me that MachineGhost would be adamantly against using this vaccine. Would it matter if you'd ...