Category: Politics, Religion & Money

The One, True GPS

Somebody I know needs a GPS for a trip, but doesn’t want to use phone navigation software. Do I have something that works directly with the Global Positioning System satellites? Why, yes I do. A now-idle Garmin nüvi 58 that I bought six years ago, along with a nice beanbag dashboard mount, for getting around greater Phoenix.

After repurposing a 32 GB microSD card to make it possible to update the maps, the Garmin is now ready to go.

Fun fact: The Internet and the Global Positioning System were both created with American taxpayer dollars, under the auspices of the Defense Department, formerly the War Department. Reminding you and all Americans to take the right route and DON’T BE A SUCKER!

How Much is Free Advice Worth?

I don’t follow personal finance gurus, like PBS favorite Suze Orman, and not because her sales pitch is directed mostly at women. The inspirational self-help tone, with its “pay yourself first” catchphrase advice, isn’t for me. Here’s an Orman podcast with another cutesy slogan.

The Freakonomics podcast has a related discussion. What do academic economists think about personal financial advice? After all, the spending decisions made by consumers, in the aggregate, are what drive 70% the economy.

Let Them Eat Debt

Republicans continue their efforts to dissolve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They apparently see it as a Socialist/Communist institution. I assume because the bureau, which is under the self-funded Federal Reserve, was originally proposed by Elizabeth Warren.

Republican attorneys have attempted to dismantle the CFPB from the moment Congress created it in response to the 2008 financial crash. The agency protects consumers against exploitative fraud and deceit in home mortgages, credit cards, consumer loans, and retail banking.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/10/trumpiest-federal-appeals-court-kills-cfpb-fifth-circuit.html

A Life Defined by Wars, Real and Imagined

I’m not fond of FRONTLINE’s use of ominous background music. The subject of this program is scary enough without enhancements.

Michael Flynn… declaring America is a Christian nation… saying he is waging war against Democrats… who are the enemy… because they are evil.

Flynn talks about being a no-compromise tough guy, but he crumbles when challenged on a “battlefield” not of his choosing. He pleaded the Fifth under questioning from Liz Cheney, and he resorted to walking out of an interview with Michelle Smith from the Associated Press.

Defying a Disease That Defies a Cure

As stated in reply to a comment from tastewar, I am giving a listen to Dark Was the Night: A Red Hot Compilation. The album was produced in 2009 to raise money to fight AIDS.

In 1991, Prue’s friend Cynthia O’Neal founded Friends in Deed* with Mike Nichols to provide direct support for AIDS patients. The story of Friends in Deed is told in Cynthia’s memoir, Talk Softly, dedicated to her sons Max and Fitz. Prue says that Max has since passed away.

* The organization is now part of The Big Groups.

Cynthia and Patrick O’Neal