Google says many retailers pay 1/3 to 1/2 more to American Express than to Visa. That is also true. We only accept V,MC,Discover at 2%. If we want to add Amex, the fee for Amex would be around 3% as of my last quote IIRC. With my Fidelity Amex I get 2% back so at 3% Amex would be pocketing 1%. At ....

my GF and ex-wife both drink a 2L bottle of diet pepsi about every 3 days. I keep telling them how unhealthy it is, but neither will listen. Off topic, but it turns out Pepsi is removing aspartame from Diet Pepsi and replacing it with sucralose and ace-k. Idk why they don't just use stevia? http://...

Agree with GT. My mom and dad both lived through The Great Depression and both sacrificed a lot in WWII (my dad four years of service and my mom lost her first husband). After that to be able to live in a simple home on a half-acre lot in the suburbs with a company car, and to be able to do all thi...

I know of at least one group that is still doing well and achieving the American dream - Asian immigrants. I was at a banquet the other day where a Filipino immigrant gave a speech and he bragged about the fact that Filipinos had the second highest median family income of any immigrant group, behind...

Second, I learned to always make sure to check to see if you need a Visa to get into any foreign country. Me, being young and ignorant, didn't realize I needed one for going to China for 5 days. No one else on the trip told me I'd have to worry about it. I ended up stranded at the Los Angeles airpo...

Yeah, one thought is that something like a 40/20/20/20 portfolio with the 40% being in stocks is still probably a great asset mix in the long run. It will be more volatile than a 4X25 PP, but if that 40% in stocks also makes one comfortable with large gold, LTT and cash allocations, then it's a goo...

Good 12 minute sermon on the resurrection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiBkgMly9j4 ... Mountaineer I didn't listen listen to the sermon but I did click on the link and the picture that accompanied it was thought provoking. Are you aware that this is generally agreed to be the the last authentic...

Some interesting information on Dr. Oz from Cracked.com....

#6. Dr. Oz: One of the Most Brilliant Doctors of his Generation
http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-dumb-cele ... you-think/

I think the "it takes a village to raise a child" comment of years past by Hillary is just symbolic to me of the pending downfall of America, at least the America that I knew and treasured. ... Mountaineer That's just a part of getting old, I think. I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who h...

Here's a piece that I believe perfectly nails Hillary's platform and I don't expect it to change much. Probably will work too.

http://takimag.com/article/all_you_need ... in_mcinnes

And on a somewhat related note, here is a story claiming that the first person to live to the age of 1,000 may very well be alive today (Methusaleh in the Bible was only 969, BTW). http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/researchers-believe-a-biological-revolution-enabling-humans-to-experience-eve...

I just know heart disease and diabetes are bad for quality of life and longevity. Elevated blood pressure is a contributing factor to heart disease and elevated blood sugar is more or less the definition of diabetes. Taking your blood pressure at home takes seconds. Testing blood sugar takes second...

I'm sitting at 19% gold after doing my yearly checkup in February and this post confirms my instincts to stay lazy and not tinker too much. Will probably buy a little gold mid-year.

But if we were in another period of gold doing well would we be having this conversation? I suspect not.

At home, blood pressure and blood sugar are no-brainers. Take your blood pressure morning and night. Test your fasting and 2-hr post meal (your highest carb meal) blood sugar once per week. Do it every day if you want, but the test strips aren't necessarily cheap. Obviously watch for trends and don...

Hillary will resist as long as possible having anything resembling a "platform" wherein she actually has to express what she actually believes about any thing. Better to just spend the time with photo opportunities showing how she relates to "every day people" like you and me. An...

I worked hard.  I should eat filet mignon and drink premiere cru wine.  You?  You can do the same if you work hard like me.  If you don't, it's only natural that you should eat shit and die. Sounds like a psychopath to me. I'm not saying that all libertarians are psychopaths, but I'd guess that mor...

Honestly, I feel like this whole thing is simply a religiously-themed cover-up for people who feel like gays are icky and don't want to be near them, not any kind of actual genuinely religious reason. Show me where in the Bible that it tells us to avoid and shun homosexuals. Where's that passage? A...

Perhaps the underlying issue is people do not like being forced to do something they do not want to do for whatever reason.  Would we have a better "society" if, instead of a homosexual wanting laws that force someone to bake a cake for their same-sex wedding, they instead just came up wi...

My dad died at the age of 94 last year so perhaps he can shed some anecdotal evidence on what foods are "super" based on his longevity. His favorite dinner was fried chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy. For breakfast he liked fried eggs, bacon, and toast which he had nearly every mornin...

It makes sense to me. The entity doing the punishing is their employer. William Calley did his job, maybe just a little too well. Bergdahl didn't do his job. :P Bergdahl may well serve as the private Eddie Slovak of the war on terror. The latter was the only soldier executed for desertion during WW...

Been hearing extremely negative opinions all day about Mr. Berghdal, from co-workers, talking heads and interviewees on Fox News. The mildest sentiment seems to be that he ought to at least spend the rest of his life in prison. Some, including a co-worker and whoever was filling in for Bill O'Reilly...

MachineGhost wrote: That has to be a joke.

Given that none of the links to examples actually work I'd have to agree it's probably a joke. If not, it doesn't speak well of feminist programming.

At one time Fox News was like a breath of fresh when all you had was CNN and the rest of the liberal media marching in lockstep. They've grown just as stale to me over the years however. No need to tune in any more because what the talking heads have to say about any issue has become absolutely pred...

McKittrick Canyon is really nice!  I liked Guadalupe Peak a lot also.  I hiked up there on three different occasions, and I'd like to get back there one day.  Did you ever make it to Marfa? Don't recall driving through Marfa but I did hike to the top of Guadalupe Peak and spent a windy night in a t...

I love Big Bend.  In our pre-children days, the wife and I camped up in Chisos Basin for a few days.  I love the wide open spaces. Almost burnt the place down once while camping on top of the Chisos. Dug a hole to burn some used toilet paper instead of packing it and carrying it out like you were s...