Archive for August, 2019
August 26, 2019
Keep that in mind during the escalating tariff war … there’s a higher purpose.
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One of my summer reads has been The Hundred Year Marathon: China’s Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower by Michael Pillsbury.
Pillsbury is a bona fide China expert, having served 8 administrations in a variety of high-level positions in the state and defense departments and having worked for heralded think tanks, including RAND and the Hudson Institute.
Note: To me, the guy seems very credible since (a) he footnotes every major point with compelling source documentation, and (b) he is very self-effacing – often pointing out the mistakes that he had made in his China analyses.
As the title indicates, Pillsbury concludes that China is about midway through a 100-year strategy to replace the U.S. as the global superpower…
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August 21, 2019
Several years ago I asked a colleague “What do you need to retire?”
His answer: “$5 million and playmates.”
Playmates?
What he meant was having enough leisure-time folks to hang out with during the day.
So, about the “magic number” …
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August 20, 2019
Recent reports are that Trump is mulling the idea of the U.S. buying Greenland from Denmark.
Rationale: Strategic military locale, rich resources, historical legacy.
True or illusory, got me wondering whether Trump has his eye on the wrong target.
Some friends & family recently tripped to Iceland.
They loved it, but remarked “it was pretty cold”.
I asserted that you waive you right to carp about chilliness when you choose to go to a place called “Iceland”.
After chuckling, I said “sounds to me like a branding issue” … and, my friends said “that’s right … and there’s a story about the naming of Iceland and Greenland.”
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Digging a bit, here’s the story that I’ve been able to piece together …
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Posted in Branding - logos | 1 Comment »
August 19, 2019
Recent studies indicate benefits from fasting … and, breakfast may be on the chopping block.
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From the WSJ
For years, conventional wisdom has been “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and supper like a pauper.”
But, recent research suggests that intermittent fasting (aka. time-restricted eating) may be a better route to weight loss and improved health .
Specifically, some doctors are advising patients to omit either dinner or breakfast, so that they don’t ingest any food for at least 14 hours at a stretch.
Here’s why…
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Posted in Diet & nutrition, Fasting - Intermitent eating, Health & Nutrition | 2 Comments »
August 16, 2019
For years, my wife has been justifiably complaining about how dishwasher performance has gotten way worse because of goofy environmental rules enacted by the Feds.
Ostensibly, DOE rules were put in place to reduce energy and water consumption.
While well-intended (maybe) , from the get-go, consumers started complaining that dishwashers made under the new rules don’t clean very well — dishes come out dirty and smelly … and take forever to run … often requiring follow-on runs to finish the job.
DOE itself has acknowledged this is caused by its regulations, saying: “To help compensate for the negative impact on cleaning performance associated with decreasing water use and water temperature, manufacturers will typically increase the cycle time.” Source
The news: help may be on the way….
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Posted in Appliances - Household Appliances, DOE - Dept of Energy, Green Energy | Leave a Comment »
August 15, 2019
Answer: For sure, the TCJA put downward pressure on home values … how much depends on a home’s value before deduction caps were put in place.
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In a prior post, we started thinking about this question (since nobody else seems to have landed on the issue) … and took a stab at estimating the isolated impact of the TCJA’s cap on the mortgage interest deduction.
A couple of readers asked (1) What about the impact of the SALT deductions cap?, and (2) Can you work through a example from start to finish … as simply as possible?
Always aiming to please my loyal readers, here’s a try at answering both inquiries with a simple(?) example….
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Posted in Home Ownership, Housing - Mortgages, Real Estate, Tax deductions | Leave a Comment »
August 14, 2019
For 2 years, I’ve been “punishing” Olive Garden for sleazy practice of adding $2 to my bill for the tablet computer that was on our table — even though we didn’t use it!
For the gory details (and a great read), see these prior posts:
I ended my personal boycott because I had the taste for Olive Garden bread sticks, not because the restaurant chain just announced a special promotion: the Olive Garden ““Lifetime Pasta Pass”.
The deal: Shell out $400 and you’re entitled to “a lifetime of unlimited servings of pastas, sauces, and toppings. Plus unlimited soup or salad and breadsticks.”
Of course, there are some small print restrictions and and plenty of fodder for belly laughs …
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Posted in Marketing - Great Moments, Marketing - Shady Practices, Olive Garden | Leave a Comment »
August 13, 2019
Controversial topic, so we’ll stick to the numbers…
Everybody knows that Obama’s words eased the racial divide … and that Trump’s words are blowing the gap wide open
Right?
Well, according to Gallup, that’s only partially right…
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Posted in Gallup, Polls & Surveys, Racial relations | Leave a Comment »
August 12, 2019
Analyzing Census Bureau data, economist Mark Perry concludes:
The “middle-class is disappearing” as we hear all the time, but it’s because middle-income households in the US are gradually moving up to higher-income groups, and not down into lower-income groups.
That conclusion is way different than we’ve been hearing from Dem Presidential candidates … and the mainstream media.
So, let’s dig a little deeper…
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Posted in Economics, middle class, Perry, Prof. Mark | 1 Comment »
August 9, 2019
Last week — following Trump’s tweet calling out Baltimore — we reminded readers that: Once upon a time, Baltimore was thriving…
Noting former mayor William Donald Schaefer’s positive leadership and attention to detail, concluded:
imagine a mega-initiative to clean-up the inner city — haul away the garbage (and maybe some of the rats).
Hire Baltimore’s notorious squeegee boys (and other unemployed residents) to attack the problem.
It wouldn’t fix all of Baltimore’s problems, but it would be a conspicuous step forward.
Well, the city administration didn’t rally the notorious squeegee boys (nor anybody else, as near as we can tell).
But, some people did step up…
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Posted in Baltimore, Trump, President Donald J. | Leave a Comment »
August 7, 2019
After paying Medicare taxes for years, weren’t the benefits supposed to be free?
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Yesterday, we argued that Medicare’s payroll taxes can thought of as a mega-joining fee … or, as prepaid premiums that amortize to the equivalent of $10,000 per year over a retiree’s post-65 life span.
See Ouch: The (personal) economics of Medicare payroll taxes
And, we pointed out that the prepaid premiums are just the tip of the iceberg.
Once retired, the Feds collects additional annual Medicare premiums.
This may surprise pre-retirement folks who think that they pay in during their working years, but then get “free” healthcare insurance when they retire.
![image_thumb[3]](https://homafiles.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image_thumb3_thumb.png?w=383&h=259 "image_thumb[3]")
After
Today, let’s take a look at Medicare premiums…
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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
August 5, 2019
Last week the WSJ ran a piece calling him “Trump: A Brawler for Democracy” .
That calls for a reprise of a HomaFiles post from August 2015 … way ahead of its time !
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Trump: Inspired by the 1972 Cuban Olympic boxing team?
Many of you may be too young to have witnessed and remember, but…
In the 1972 Olympics, the polished U.S. boxing team was predicted to sweep the competition.
But, something happened on the way to the medals’ platform that shocked the sporting world.
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Here’s the story and why Trump’s first days in office jogged my memory of the 1972 Olympics …
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August 5, 2019
Over the years, I’ve anteed about $250,000 into the Medicare tax kitty.
And, you may have thrown in more than you think!
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Motivated by Medicare for All hype coming from far-left-leaning Dems presidential candidates, I finally took a serious look at the buckos that I’ve thrown into the Medicare kitty over the years.
I’d like to say that I was surprised, but I really wasn’t.
Here are the details…
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Posted in FICA - Social Security - Medicare, Medicare | Leave a Comment »
August 2, 2019
Anybody remember Mayor William Donald Schaefer? Tom Peters does…
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Baltimore has gotten a lot of attention this week … with Pres. Trump indelicately singling the city out as a poster child of inner-city blight and political malfeasance.
It wasn’t always so.
We lived in suburban Baltimore County for 10 years … starting in 1990.
The city had its issues, but they seemed to be under control.
Why?
“Excellence” guru Tom Peters credits the leadership of a William Donald Schaefer.
click to view
Who?
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Posted in Baltimore, Inner cities, Schaefer, William Donald | 2 Comments »
August 1, 2019
But, this time, it was Kamala that got Kamala-ed.
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On balance the debate was pretty boring and uninformative.
The gang of many tried to pile on Biden
Joe was wobbly and a bit tired … but fended off the punches … often by putting up his strategic ObamaShield … saying implicitly: “If you attack me, you’re attacking Barack”.
For example, did you notice how Joe hung with “ObamaCare” … but other candidates kept referring to the “Affordable Care Act”?
I expect that’ll be Biden’s go forward strategy: wrap himself with an Obama cloak … and trade on borrowed adulation.
click to view
Basically, I think Biden played to a tie.
The bigger story last night was Tulsi Gabbard taking Kamala Harris to the hoop…
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![image_thumb[3]](https://homafiles.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image_thumb3.png "image_thumb[3]")
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