![[The Brazil Times nameplate]](http://www.thebraziltimes.com/images/nameplate.png)
|
|
Overcast ~ High: 44°F ~ Low: 41°F Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 |
|
|
Spring Will Arrive On . . .
Posted Thursday, February 2, at 2:47 PM In another month or so, between Marti Gras, The Final Four, the Daytona 500, etc., the annual pass time of guessing when the arrival of Spring weather will begin. Conversations will be filled with lambs and lions. I have a prediction...
Crony Capitalism In a perfect world, everyone would provide to their neighbors, or for the common good, what they are able to spare and everyone in need would be able to receive whatever they need. Or would that be a perfect world? What I just described is the driving philosophy behind communism. While it may sound good in theory, there is not a single example in all of human history where this philosophy did not lead to tyranny, collapse, or both...
Political Crises Apparently, there is a "new normal" when it comes to presidential politics. It seems that the campaign is now two-and-a-half to three years. I don't know if most people manage to tune it out until the end or if they are fatigued by the end. The only good thing about this interminable process I can think of is we get to see how the candidates react to crisis...
Snow 'Emergency' The older I get, the less I understand. We live in West central Indiana, it is officially the middle of January, and it snowed. As the snow clouds were moving in, the weather people were warning us about the coming calamity. The panicked masses looted grocery stores...
Defending Ron Paul Having watched the most recent rounds of never-ending Republican debates, I have concluded that I can be comfortable with any of the current crop of Republican candidates in the White House. My guy, Herman Cain, is out. The only good thing about that is that by the time the primaries get to Indiana, my vote will probably be meaningless...
The Defense budget How many of us would like to see a meat clever taken to the national budget? What about the defense budget? This week, Barack Obama announced cuts to the defense budget of around $450 billion. The United States has the largest defense budget in the world. It is larger than any two other national combined...
Silver and Gold 2012 I have been looking at the precious metals tea leaves in the bottom of my cup. All I can see is a mess of chopped up leaves. That said, there are some points for considerations for the year ahead. Precious metals are not an investment the way that stocks are. We hope that stocks give us a return on our capital investment. Precious metals should preserve our capital...
Voodoo and Black Magic For Heaven's sake, who ever you are, put away your Voodoo doll and give up the black magic. Normally, at this time of year, we review our successes and make resolutions. Last year, I resolved, for the first time ever, to relax and have fun. Ha! What a joke!...
Are you prepared? As near as I can tell, winter is nearly upon us. A month or so ago, as I recall, weathermen everywhere were predicting that this would be a harsh winter. In my humble opinion, long-range weather predictions are good contra indicators of future weather. If the wooly worm says it will be mild and NOAA says that it will be harsh, I'll go with the wooly worm every time...
Rush To Judgment In 1980, Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill said something similar to "it is not the evidence, but the seriousness of the charges," when referring to why Congress needed to investigate the totally factitious original "October Surprise." The original October Surprise allegation was that while Ronald Reagan was campaigning for President, Vice President nominee George H.W. Bush flew on an SR-71 to Iran to negotiate the release of our embassy personnel being held hostage...
Black Friday The Friday after Thanksgiving is typically the busiest shopping day of the year. It has picked up the moniker, "Black Friday," as it is the day that many retailers, who operate in the financial red for 10 months, finally become profitable, or get into the black...
Leftovers Leftovers are one of the best parts of Thanksgiving. Is there anything better than the turkey sandwich made from leftover turkey breast, lots of mayo, and a Velveeta-like cheese? In Thanksgiving terms, this was an unusual year. I like to gather up the widows and orphans. My beloved wants to have a special time for family...
Super Dud Is anyone surprised that the Congressional deficit cutting, so-called "Super Committee," turned into a super dud? I'm not. It was as predictable as the changing of the seasons. There are several systemic flaws with Congress. Our founders knew this and built in several limiting characteristics...
Sleep Is there any better day in the whole year than the Sunday morning after daylight savings time ends? Is there anything better than being nestled in a comfortable bed, at just the right temperature, being gently roused by the morning sunlight caressing your face?...
Political Horse Race It is starting to look like the Republican primary fight is going to come down to Mitt Romney and Herman Cain. In a way, that makes sense. The Republican Party is fundamentally divided into two camps: The "blue bloods" and the conservatives. Both factions have their place, particularly in national elections where the candidates are evaluated by the widest spectrum of voters, beliefs, and experiences...
Puppy Tales -- Haunted House As most of my readers probably know, my law office is in my home. Until recently, our security system consisted of two basic components. First is a very lovable Labrador retriever who barks very loudly at strangers. Second are my frequent discussions with clients about my favorite hobby, target shooting, allowing an occasional glimpse at the .45 I keep in my desk drawer...
Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Tax Plan Why Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan? What is the purpose of taxation? The obvious answer is to put money in the treasury so that the government can fulfill its obligations. But is that the purpose of our current tax code? When I was in law school, (1989-92) our textbook for tax class was an abridged edition of the tax code from the Government Printing Office. ...
Greed Greed is one of those timeless evils. It is one of the seven deadly sins; wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony. Greed is defined as, "an excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth."...
Pumpkin Hunting (A 'Best Of' from 2009) For the majority of my adult life, the past 20 years or so, I have been an avid hunter. For many more years than that, I have enjoyed cooking. Bringing home wild game has meshed nicely with my love for preparing out-of-the-ordinary meals...
Intrinsic value Why have investments fallen so far so fast? No doubt there are more reasons than any blow hard commentator like me can possibly give. However, I would like to offer a thought that kind of cuts to the heart of things. As I previously mentioned, I am the kind of person who believes that objective reality is more important than people's perceptions or beliefs of reality. ...
|
Hot topics Spring Will Arrive On . . .(0 ~ 1:48 PM, Feb 2)
Crony Capitalism
Political Crises
Snow 'Emergency'
Defending Ron Paul
|
Read more
Post comment
Browse comments
![[Feed icon]](http://www.thebraziltimes.com/images/icons/feed-icon-14x14.png){kind=icon}