Posts by Brock Talon

44

The Poor the Wealthy and the Middle Class

by Simon in

the poor spendthe middle-class savethe wealthy invest.

the unique circumstances of the lockdown and stimulus checks has highlighted these differences in stark ways.. on one hand, you have jumps in sales and valuation of companies like foot locker and nike, as people spend their "free" government money on sneakers.

they blow it on useless tat.

Brock Talon

Love it JeffT. Let's collect "Money can't buy happiness..." sayings:

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Money can't buy happiness, but it can rent it.

Money can't buy happiness, but it can make the down payment.

Money can't buy happiness, but neither does poverty.

Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes unhappiness a whole lot more tolerable.

Money can't buy happiness, unless you know a hooker named "Happiness."

Money can't buy happiness, said the broke guy eying the plain looking dude with the nice suit, fancy car and beautiful woman on his arm.

44

The Poor the Wealthy and the Middle Class

by Simon in

the poor spendthe middle-class savethe wealthy invest.

the unique circumstances of the lockdown and stimulus checks has highlighted these differences in stark ways.. on one hand, you have jumps in sales and valuation of companies like foot locker and nike, as people spend their "free" government money on sneakers.

they blow it on useless tat.

Brock Talon

I'm not so convinced about the "Money does not buy happiness" saying. I posted on this issue a number of years ago when I saw an article based on a study that seemed to indicate the opposite of that. It is certainly a complex issue. Check this out if you want more details:

See: https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/286523/does-money-buy-happiness-longer-life-you-decide

Bottom line: while money does not guarantee happiness, it can certainly help.

Maybe the saying should go like this: Money doesn't buy happiness, but it can rent it.

2

Journey to God's House - Spanish edition

by Brock Talon in

for those of you who might be interested, my book "journey to god's house" is now available in spanish.. https://www.amazon.com/dp/b09kny6qmc.

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Brock Talon

only Kindle?

Yes. I'll try to work out the paperback later if I can, but it's a lot of work. I get very few readers from the paperbacks for my other books, so it is not a priority for me right now. Sorry.

2

Journey to God's House - Spanish edition

by Brock Talon in

for those of you who might be interested, my book "journey to god's house" is now available in spanish.. https://www.amazon.com/dp/b09kny6qmc.

.

Brock Talon

For those of you who might be interested, my book "Journey to God's House" is now available in Spanish.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KNY6QMC

18

Tax on Unrealized Capital Gains!

by Simon in

so janet yellen, the us treasury secretary, thinks taxing unrealized capital gains would be a way for them to fund their runaway spending.. first, they claimed that the real cost of their nonsense spending was $0, so they were lying then or are lying now ("why not both?!").

second, they claimed that money printing doesn't affect inflation, so why not just print the money instead?.

third, the "for billionaires" is to get the feeble minded masses on board, those that live on benefits and vote democrat for more "free money", but the irs monitoring of $600 bank accounts is also apparently to target the ultra-wealthy as well.

Brock Talon

Simon, will "unrealized gains" also include brokerage accounts?

If so, can you imagine being taxed on that nice stock you picked 10 years ago that is now worth 10x of what you paid for it, but of course, have not yet sold it because you are waiting for a good time for you personally to do so?

With this "unrealized gains" nonsense, they could tax you on the 9x "gain" of up to 20% (both long term and short term capital gains will also go up if the Democrats have their way).

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/capital-gains-tax-rates

What happens if after they tax you and you pay your tax, then the stock goes down? Do you get a credit back?

Example: purchase stock for $10,000. It eventually is worth $100,000 (Market Value). Dems come in and tax you 10% on your so-called $90,000 "gain" and take $18,000 from you. How do you pay for that? You haven't even sold it yet, so where does the money come from to even pay it, that is, if you don't have a nice savings or other liquid account to tap into to pay the tax to begin with.

Anyway, while you are struggling to pay your tax, the stock goes down in Market value the next year to $50,000 and you sell you position, with a stop loss to stop the bleeding and to take your earnings. Your real, actual "gain" was only $40,000 and so you should owe only $9,000 in long term capital gains.

But, you have already paid (or are trying to pay) out $18,000 to the Dems the year before. So what now?

Same goes for Cryptocurrency? How does the IRS even KNOW what I have in my Bitcoin wallet?

This is not communism. This is total fiscal idiocy. Even the communists did not try to tax people on money they have not yet made because they were smart enough to know that having equity on paper does not always translate to actual earnings.

24

The looney left is at it again

by mickbobcat in

so we all know california is one shit hole idiot state.

now gov.

asshat has banned gas lawn mowers and leaf blowers.

Brock Talon

Just because a new law is introduced that you don't like or agree with it automatically gets labeled fascism.
Funny

No, this is not funny at all and I am not just referring to this one law , I am referring to the entire Leftist-driven movement of which this one law is a part.

Let's look at Websters definition of Fascism:

a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

Now consider recent events like COVID vaccine mandates that punish offenders by making those their jobs. Others from the Left have offered even more punitive suggestions like not allowing people without a vaccine passport to even shop for food. This control over your own body is defended by the likes of Anthony Fauci who said we need to put aside our own Liberty over the benefit of the country. This coming from people for years who have cried my body my choice for Abortion.

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/567930-fauci-asks-people-to-put-aside-concerns-of-personal-liberty-and

Consider the universities today: they used to be bastions of free speech and free thought. Now they are bastions of Leftist ideology where dissenting opinions are literally screamed down and cancelled.

Consider the whole of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. They edit/delete out conservative speech or anything that does not toe the line of Leftist ideology, but in the meantime allow a platform for the Taliban and the Red Communist Chinese government.

It is the Leftists who want to literally cancel (defund) the police and cheered at riots and burning buildings and cars, and run out any attempt to get it under control.

Leftists even want to control your own behavior that does no one buy yourself any harm or goo, like banning Big Gulps in New York City.

Not content with limiting our first amendment rights, the Left is constantly attacking our second amendment rights as well.

I could go on and on. If you don't see this as alarming (and not funny) then you are part of the problem.

10

MIDNIGHT MASS on Netflix is extraordinary (horror)

by Terry in

jw
friends

i will post a **spoiler** in a few minutes.a 7 part horror movie on netflix titled midnight mass blew me away and i thought i mightrecommend this limited series (only seven parts.first of all, there is a word never ever mentioned by anybody in this horror drama.that is for a good reason.

a very good reason.

i won't mention it either or i'd ruin part of the build-up inside the plot.suffice to say, this horror story is a very fresh take on a well-trodden path we've all been down many times (if we are fans.

Brock Talon

I saw the twist as the V's being the ACTUAL intent of Scripture!

Yeah, I recognized that premise as well. It was too obvious to miss. My logical mind rejected it out of hand as being plausible only in this movie's alternate world written by an author who likes to apply random, out of context scripture to a fantastic premise. Conflicts?

As you noted, the V held a cross and... well, nothing.

Catholics regularly use Holy water; not an advisable practice for a V.

Jesus and the rest regularly traveled by day.

Jews ate garlic regularly as part of their diet.

Jesus was crucified along side the other two in the normal way, not by sunlight or driving a stake through his heart.

Saul was converted on the road to Damascus by a blinding light from heaven, not glowing eyes in a cave.

Judas hung himself, not burned himself up in the sun, gobble up garlic, or drive a stake through his own heart.

Jesus and his apostles constantly talked bout being sons of light or the light of the word. Darkness was described by them as from the evil one. This would be the exact opposite of the world of a V.

and on and on...

... I could go on absolutely forever on this line of logic, but no, let's just run with the silly premise... what if Jesus was a V? Sure, I can go with this for fun, but I can't take it seriously. Any more than I went with those movies where Jesus had a wife and child or Jesus was gay and in love with John.

You don't have to be a Christian to reject these premises outright; you just have to know scripture as most of us on this board already do, willingly or not, believer or not.

24

The looney left is at it again

by mickbobcat in

so we all know california is one shit hole idiot state.

now gov.

asshat has banned gas lawn mowers and leaf blowers.

Brock Talon

These tools are now being made electric battery operated which work just fine for small to averaged sized lots.

Says who?

Using a battery powered lawn mower or leaf blower for any extended period of time, even for small or average sized lots is a pain. You often have to purchase multiple batteries if one fails, gets old and does not hold a charge, or you forget to charge it or you incorrectly charge it, etc. These sets of backup batteries often cost nearly as much as the machine itself and their life span is relatively short compared to a combustible engine. My gas powered lawn mower lasted 20 years before I bought a new one. I used two gallons of gas per season maximum for my yard and one quart of oil every 5 years. Compare that to the poor soul who has to purchase dozens of batteries for his "green" lawn mower; he is causing more pollution by using up and throwing out many batteries over the life of his mower. Never mind the fact that these batteries are built in production plants powered by oil and/or natural gas.

And just how many lots will be above "average size where this will be impractical and extremely expensive? What if you have an above average lot? What if you run a landscaping business?

The thing that cracks me up about all this is that the Left completely ignores the current state of "battery" viability. we just are not there yet to totally go oil free on anything. Consider a Tesla battery which is the world’s best-known battery maker: $200,000 worth of Tesla batteries (collectively weighing over 20,000 pounds) are needed to store the energy equivalent of one barrel of oil. A barrel of oil, meanwhile, weighs 300 pounds and can be stored in a $20 tank.

This is the reality of today’s lithium batteries. Even a 200% improvement in under lying battery economics and technology does not close that gap.

Look, eventually, someday, we will get there. But that time is not now. It is especially not the time for such mandates. But then again, this new fascism comes from the Left, who always throw away science, facts and logic when it comes to their progressive "religion" based on emotion and hyperbole.

10

MIDNIGHT MASS on Netflix is extraordinary (horror)

by Terry in

jw
friends

i will post a **spoiler** in a few minutes.a 7 part horror movie on netflix titled midnight mass blew me away and i thought i mightrecommend this limited series (only seven parts.first of all, there is a word never ever mentioned by anybody in this horror drama.that is for a good reason.

a very good reason.

i won't mention it either or i'd ruin part of the build-up inside the plot.suffice to say, this horror story is a very fresh take on a well-trodden path we've all been down many times (if we are fans.

Brock Talon

I just finished this series and left conflicted. Overall, I enjoyed it, but had nagging negatives about it too that I did not want to have. These things have just sat there, eating at my enjoyment of the experience and the more I think about them, the more they bother me.

On the positives: The series is beautifully written, acted and filmed. I loved the setting, the slow burns and depth and richness of the characters. I love watching movies and shows that surprise me... I don't want to see the obvious Hollywood cliches and signaling. This series had none of that. It entertained me and kept me wanting to see what happened next with each episode. This is not the case with some shows at all; I will leave them abandoned as I am want to do with a meal I am not enjoying - just not worth the time and calories to finish. This show: I gobbled up.

But as time the episode came on that told me what genre this movie was based on, I was a little disappointed. No, this is not a traditional show of that genre because it has a scientific twist to it, but still, in the end it was a show about "V-------s". Just accept it, that is the basis of the show. I had to.

But the thing is, the Vs in this show are depicted as the "bad" and the rest of the town (except the crazy religious nut lady who takes over) are the good. At least that is how the show portrays them. But why are the Vs bad? Are they not also just part of "nature," "evolution," "the universe?" Are they not part of "God," the "I am who I am" that the "good" character (who was a drug addicted, rock and roll wannabe who ended up pregnant and in an abusive relationship) quoted in the end, thus putting an exclamation point of what most non-believer/athiests adhere to? If there is no "god" then why are the Vs bad? Wouldn't the world be better off with everyone being a V? If not, why not? It's all survival of the fittest, no? Why is there a moral judgement being made against Vs? Who's to say that they don't deserve to survive and the rest of mankind be replaced?

These were the questions I had once everything ended and I watched the closing credits. They are things I had not really thought of in that way at all. It had me asking myself that even an obvious non-believer/atheist writer who created this world believes that mankind is better off without Vs, better off with "love" for each other (a real abstract thing when looked at from an evolutionary standpoint) and sacrificing themselves for the better of humanity while quoting from scripture "there is no love greater than one who would die for others."

The thing is, why do all the Christians have to either be A) Crazy, B) Controlling, C) Naive sheep to the slaughter, D) Weak or perhaps all the above? Are there no strong, decent, compassionate, intelligent, insightful, balanced religious people in the world?

Why are all the heroes of this series either Gay, or drunken manslaughterers, or ex-addicts, or Muslim? The Christians were pretty much just a bunch of weak dummies, with the exception of the one psycho, power-hungry clergy-woman.

In the end, this show was to me a walking contradiction, trying to have it both ways: depicting inherent weakness and futility in religion, yet referencing it repeatedly as the basis of the best in the human experience.

6

Will your wife let you......

by mickbobcat in

i grew up in the 70s and had a few of the posters young guys have.

farrah fawcett and bo derek in 10. i just bought a vintage copy of both for my work shop.

my wife says she does not care but you never know.

Brock Talon

I married a partner not a mother.

Here here!