http://youtu.be/5sZ-xlEu9Dc

Corporations Are Human

I co owned a 2003 Subaru Baja for 5 years. It was small 4 seater truck like vehicle on an Outback frame. It's still running strong. They only made it for a couple of years. I guess they dropped making them for marketing reasons. The steering and handling were superb. The center of gravity with the b...

Gosso wrote: I'm not sure why but I have been listening to a lot of jazz lately, it's good working music.  Here's some Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (55:26):

http://youtu.be/hB669XXjnUg

Thanks, Gosso. Miles and Co. are kind of perfect!

http://youtu.be/WninWFtO0Gg

Still seems timely enough. Grateful Dead: Throwing Stones 1987

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals. Martin Luther King, Jr. I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. Martin Luther King, Jr. Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/...

What do you guys and gals think of a "gratitude journal"?  I made my first entry this morning, and it had a pretty powerful impact on my day.  One of the more productive days I've had in a long time...feeling the flow. :) It seems there is some science behind it: Gratitude journals may be...

Reub wrote: I used to use the word "Romneeee" as my mantra however it suddenly stopped working this past November.

Ha! Thanks, Reub, I think it worked.

There are many good books on the subject. Someone mentioned A Path With a Heart, by Jack Kornfield, which I really like. For me, I think it's important to look beyond the "getting peaceful" aspect of meditation, which is just fine, really,  to a more investigative, curious approach where y...

From an article:http://www.nationofchange.org/john-brennan-vs-sixteen-year-old-1357827819 In October 2011, 16-year-old Tariq Aziz attended a gathering in Islamabad where he was taught how to use a video camera so he could document the drones that were constantly circling over his Pakistani village, ...

I was looking up duration for TLH and found this article: http://etfdailynews.com/2011/07/14/know-your-duration-before-investing-in-these-bond-etfs-shv-shy-iei-ief-tlh-tlt-edv/ the article has a nice duration chart. THL seems to be right in the middle of the curve for all treasury funds. Yeah I rea...

Every now and then there's a story that cuts through our minds and goes straight to our hearts. Personally, I need to see more of these. Be sure to watch the documentary video, about 12 min, within the article. Jeffrey Wright is well known around his high school in Louisville, Ky., for his antics as...

I would take a look at using an intermediate fund such as TLH. He could do: 25% VTI 25% GLD 50% TLH It seems less crazy than the 4 way split while economically being almost identical  :) Edit: Ah MangoMan already mentioned this. But it's worth a look! I am not sure if it was mentioned elsewhere, bu...

If you prefer, you can call the supreme psychic gestalt God, but you should not attempt to objectify him. What you call God is the sum of all consciousness, and yet the whole is more than the sum of Its parts. [It] is not one individual, but an energy gestalt. [It] is a psychic pyramid of interrela...

Thanks, Storm. Looking at the questions MT raises about simulation scenarios leads me to think about the question of who and what we really are. According to some teachings, if we were to directly experience our true nature we would experience ourselves as non physical beings, which many or most spi...

So let me make sure I understand the simulation hypothesis: There is some intelligent life form somewhere that may or may not be human, but which has decided that it would like to re-create an earlier period in human evolution for the purpose of studying it or observing it. To accomplish this feat,...

Doodle, my psychedelic days are well behind me now. Not that it wasn't fun. I've moved on to the hard stuff: self inquiry, meditation and dharma practice. Actually I became interested in self inquiry when I was 25 and had some direct experiences at that time. The scientific research and theoretical ...

Hey lazyboy, good to see you back around these here parts. I like the idea of the computer simulation.  In some ways I can imagine it as a training program to prepare us for the "real" world. Out of all the billions of years the Universe has been around it seems strangely convenient that ...

How ironic that you started this thread. I emailed myself this today from work to read tonight before bed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_hypothesis The Simulation Hypothesis (simulation argument or simulism) proposes that reality is a simulation and those affected are generally unaware of...

So, if we exist in a computer simulation, do we have a free will?  Can we truly act independently or are we constrained in certain ways by our programmer?  Is "fate" just another way of saying we live in a rigidly controlled simulation? Let those ideas slosh around in your head for a coup...

If so, maybe we can just relax and enjoy the ride.  ;)  This is a stimulating article with nice visuals: http://news.discovery.com/space/are-we-living-in-a-computer-simulation-2-121216.html In 2003, British philosopher Nick Bostrom published a paper that proposed the universe we live in might in fac...

It's well documented that there have been successful movements and political revolutions based mostly on non-violence involving the moral suasion of an awakened populace. That does not mean that non-violent strategies haven't been costly in terms of lives lost.  Consider India in 1947, the civil rig...

Here's another take on the societal implications of an armed society: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/the-freedom-of-an-armed-society/?src=me&ref=general As our Constitution provides, however, liberty entails precisely the freedom to be reckless, within limits, also the freedom t...

Thanks for the replies and information, everyone. The responses, so far, show that there doesn't seem to be any strong argument for or against using a short term inflation protected bond fund like VTIPX for cash. I'm inclined to give it a try for part of my cash position.

Thanks melveyr, for a thoughtful reply, even though it's a bit beyond my econ. 1 level of understanding. I see the need for cash as portfolio balast and since I'm in withdrawal mode, I need to have it ready and stable. My cash tends to hover nearer the 15% rebalancing levels because of how the portf...

Since there such a low return using the Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund, VFISX, or similar, why not use the new Vanguard Short Term Inflation Protected Securities Fund= VTIPX or the ETF version= VTIP for at least part of the cash holdings? The durations are similar to the Short Term Treasury Fund,...