Maddy wrote:

jafs wrote: That's also because that industry gives a lot of money to legislators, right?

No argument there.

+1

Finally, Dave the Music Catcomposer sent this update: "Kickstarter 18 The Album is Finished! Posted by David Teie (Creator) Fifty minutes of all-new music for cats is now in the pipeline Dear MusicforCats backers, This week the album will be mastered at Bias Studios and next week it will be del...

The central insight of Buddhism is that human desire invariably leads to suffering. If you substitute "sin" for "desire", you could almost say that Jesus was a Buddhist in many of his teachings. Buddhism teaches that as you begin to tame desire, you begin to open yourself up to ...

Thanks for the very insightful post, MT. As an early boomer, actually hit 65 in 2010, it reinforces the notion to be in a stock light portfolio because of my age whether I'd be following the PP or a BH approach. This demographic trend, though, would mean that younger investors should be far less bul...

I don't know if this helps but I recently upgraded my iMac to OSX El Capitan. I use Chrome and I always have stored tabs that I want to save. Now, upon logging off or shutting down there is a check box to save or restore all tabs- it appears automatically. Before the upgrade I used to have to go in ...

I've been enjoying reading this exchange on religion. The discussion topic can include other religions. Today, a friend sent a group email that resonated with me and felt like a breath of fresh air. Below is the gist of it: I recommend The Awakening of the West: the Encounter of Buddhism and Western...

I couldn't let this thread sink into obscurity. While I was on Christmas vacation I watched the Frontline documentary called “Escaping ISIS”. It was about ISIS and a group of people in Northern Iraq called the Yazidis who hold fast to an obscure ancient religion that those who belong to any of of t...

Maybe gold will come back sooner than we think, like Cortopassi suggested. Michael Burry, Real-Life Market Genius From The Big Short, Thinks Another Financial Crisis Is Looming http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/12/big-short-genius-says-another-crisis-is-coming.html (gold not mentioned, thou...

Dualstow, I'd like to know more about your experiences or expectations in the places you mention. Having fears/reservations does not make you a terrible person, just human. I think that much interfaith progress is made in the States. It certainly must dwarf the terror attacks but peaceful progress ...

Good point, lazyboy. You made me want to read the article, so I will. I don't normally read the National Review. Separately from the level-headedness above: When I "demonize" Muslims -- which I do from time to time, despite having an amicable relationship with plenty of them ( "Some ...

Have you seen the recent polls of Muslims that show that a rather large minority of them feel that violence against civilians is justified? "The situation is not much different among Muslims in Western countries. In Britain and Spain, one in four Muslims believes suicide bombings are sometimes...

I saw a bumper sticker today: "God is Pro Life"  implying that God is Anti Death. God is letting us know which side to be on. Maybe a more accurate bumper sticker: "God is 50-50 on Life vs. Death". Just looking at the facts, it's obvious that there is no life without death and no...

MG, I haven't a clue about what this means. How does this bash with Wellesley make up of 35% Large Value stocks and 65% Investment grade bonds? It means if you invest $25000 of your PP into Wellesley, then $22047.50 of it will be allocated to Prosperity, $2730 allocated to Treasuries and the remain...

I'm no savant but I think, along with gold, this issue is the fractional reserve system of lending and the hegemony of the dollar. This greedy system helps gives ballast to the religious and economic underpinnings of the jihad anger. The west can reform our current system to be less greedy, more jus...

Yikes! The next cued video: https://youtu.be/GRdQJ6jEXSk Islamic Gold Dinar will End Evil Paper Empire US NATO & Slavery of Mankind, gives a better explanation for their current rage: it's an economic war.

The very first versions of the calculators had Wellington and Wellesley as options, but I removed them to focus squarely on asset allocation where the holdings are more transparent.  I've considered adding some special calculators for certain well-established funds like that.  In any case, here's V...

MachineGhost wrote: Anyone that wants to integrate Wellesley (VWINX) into their PP, it is 88.19% Equity, 10.92% T-Bonds, .89% T-Bills.

MG, I haven't a clue about what this means. How does this bash with Wellesley make up of 35% Large Value stocks and 65% Investment grade bonds?

Thanks, Tyler. Is there a way to show VWINX: Vanguard Wellesley Income? It has done very well as conservative portfolio over its lifetime since 1970. I remember a post by Medium Tex a few years back about its stability and comparing it favorably as an option for those uncomfortable with the PP. I se...

The Challenge of Lone Wolf Terrorism:  http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-challenge-of-lone-wolf-terrorism/ -- Philip Jenkins in The American Conservative "If the biggest threat is leaderless resistance, it seems unlikely that military escalation in another part of the world wo...

http://news.yahoo.com/video/rand-paul-r ... 07057.html

Rand Paul reacts to President Obama's speech. He makes a lot of sense without being hyperbolic; a very nuanced and thoughtful response IMHO.

I bought Vanguard Health Care because profits seem baked in longterm by the business/government/medical system. And the products and services are considered essential by most people. Personally, I'd prefer and vote for, a different system. But since its rigged this way I'll try to profit from it cog...

Granted that the high cost of drugs and other medical costs in the US, are for all the above reasons: Big Pharma, lobbies, Medicare laws under Bush 2, insurance companies, lack of a single payer system that most or all of the developed world has, etc, etc. ...Getting back to the original post- does ...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-u-pays-more-other-031400462.html Norway and other state-run health systems drive hard bargains, and are willing to say no to costly therapy. Good article. The way the US health care system is designed prices are kept high. This system is likely to stay in place for ...

I agree with Reub on this and I would hope that Mj reconsiders maybe addressing and clarifying some of the issues raised by posts on other sites. I've gotten value from his posts. The attacks on Mj may seem to be justified to some but can also seem nasty and narrow minded from my perspective. Going ...

Kasich seems to be the least attacking, bombastic or defensive and has rational/sensible policy related things to say. Unfortunately, for these same reasons, he's doesn't seem likely to get nominated.   Struggling Sonetist 116: "Let me not in the marriage of glass, water and air   Admit sedimen...