Un-science propaganda in the name of science ed—how fascism
works
Trump Sec Education is having climate change deniers (Koch
Industries) blast students and teachers across America with Heartland materials that reject
basic principles on which nearly all climate scientists agree. Yet, during
her confirmation, she said ‘support the teaching of great science and
especially science that allows students to exercise
critical thinking and to really discover and examine in new ways.’ Recently,
DeVos praised US
default on Paris Accord: ‘rolling back the unrealistic? and overreaching?
regulatory actions by the previous Administration.’ A survey of high school
science teachers “reported telling their students, wrongly, that the causes
of recent climate change are the matter of scientific debate.” Among real
scientists, there is no debate. Future voters get the wrong message by DeVos
allowing right-wing lobbyists DeVos herself pays for to create a false impression. Leading
children to junk science is wrong and contradicts DeVos pledge to promote
‘great science’ and ‘critical thinking.’
This is how fascism
drives a wedge into society and common beliefs. Koch Industries is the only
beneficiary of dumping toxins into our environment for their short-term
profits.
Who are better investors—men or women?
Most people say men. They dominate Wall Street profit
machines. They take risks and overwhelmingly believe that they can beat the
market. When they lose, they
get bailed out since we let them play with our money. Just like most
drivers say they are superior drivers. Hubris or overconfidence? Fidelity’s
study found that women are better because they don’t do those things. In
fact, Fidelity found that if
you leave your account alone you earn more. They don’t trade as often in
risky equities and they know they are NOT ‘masters of
the universe.’ Another study says women earn 1% more than men. Women also save/invest
more. They take the long view on investing like Warren Buffett’s strategy. Buffett earns over
20% per year (2016: p2) by NOT trading. Active
investors earn just 3.79% while a low-cost market index fund earns 11%. (dalbar)
I wrecked my portfolio; did you?
My retirement nest eggs could have contained over a $1
million. Invested at 8% in a balanced fund, I could have spent $80,000 a year
on average. But I fell victim to 10 investment biases that wrecked my
portfolio. After learning about my
mistakes, I was able to recover and still grew it to $900,000. I had never
heard of Warren Buffett when I began investing in the early 80s. Warren Buffett
had not yet provided his secret to investing.
I had no
idea that for investing, the key to success is cost.
I did not
know you can avoid taxes on retirement income.
I did not
know my money could grow faster just by leaving it alone.
My first contact with 'investing' was deciding which options
for my 401k account. The HR person said “you won't lose money with this one.” They
steered me to the “stable value” and money market options. That was my first
big mistake.
I learned to avoid my biases and invest well: https://www.amazon.com/investment-biases-that-fried-nest/dp/1547188952
Should you buy a house?
Your home could be considered an investment. Actually, for
most middle class folks, it was assumed that you have a big asset, not just a
place to live. Why? Because you are not “wasting” your money by paying rent and
having nothing to show for it after 30 years. Now a new
report says, Forgetaboutit. Making payments for 30 years is not good for
you. Current trends of slowing rents relative to the costs of ownership
and climbing mortgage rates in some markets support this view. Three
cities, Dallas , Denver and Houston ,
are in historically high territory for renting being the
better option for building wealth. The housing supply continues to fall and you
still need a place to live. The overall return on home equity wealth is still about
5% over time. If you have been paying for a while, this may be the smart time
to sell with rising prices. On the other hand, homeowners 65 and older who
still have mortgages have ballooned. Some use their new 15-year mortgage and
property tax to reduce income tax. Others take their equity and downsize or
rent. The standard deduction for most neutralizes any tax deduction. Secure
employment can make home ownership a no brainer but the trend is down
reflecting economic upheaval.
Make your financial life simple: https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Financial-Life-paycheck-paycheck/dp/1441499326
Trump tax cut down-played by J P Morgan
Analysts with very expensive crystal balls said they now see
$100 billion of annual debt-financed tax cuts to take effect in the second
quarter of 2018. They previously forecast $200 billion of such tax cuts per
year to start in the third quarter of 2017. Tax cuts for the rich inside the
new TrumpCare bill increase the deficit
by $600 billion. (Congressman who
wrote the cut
to Medicaid funding bill for ObamaCare got $800,000 TrumpWorld.) With his tax cut bill, the
Congressional Budget Office projects that the federal debt will grow
by $10 trillion over the next decade. Wealthy
folks keep buying stocks and moving firms overseas; pushing Wall Street
prices higher assuming the Trump bump. It looks like the GOP wants to increase
the deficit putting the burden on the next generation. Their experience in KS
illustrates the effect of tax cuts to the wealthy. KS
was close to bankruptcy and the KS GOP leaders have reversed the 2002 tax
cut on business and high earners. The wealthy buy art and assets, they don’t
buy new factories or businesses. We pay the taxes they don’t.
Take your tax credits now: https://www.amazon.com/Tax-Credit-Class-your-credits-ZERO/dp/1539462382
Trump encourages religious zealots with more paranoia
The Don told a religious gathering that "we're under
siege" but will emerge "bigger and better and stronger than
ever." He supports evangelicals “to follow their faith.” For some
conservatives this means discrimination
and bias is OK—“live by the teachings of their faith." He
does not mean for Muslims and other minorities. In fact, anti-sharia
rallies are the new Trump demonstrations. The evangelicals applauded for
Gorsuch as a Supreme who they see as ending legal abortion. They
support destroying the church-state wall so tax-exempt orgs can help decide
elections. He promised to defend religious “preaching what is in your heart.”
For some this means not serving gays and minorities and managing behavior
through health care benefits. No birth control, no abortions, and no sex for
gays are the basics. Trump promised no support for health care options for the
poor. He will find more GOP
voters to end the ‘siege’ felt by those who want a ecclesiocracy
with Trump as the appointed ruler: “I alone can fix it.”
Evangelicals ignore what Trump calls TWO Corinthians: "I
have written you in my letter NOT to associate with sexually immoral people."
“Grab them by the __
“Trump
Evangelical Christians applauded him for 3 minutes. Beware
false gods.
Industry OK’s advisors who rip us off just do it again and
again
A new study shows that HALF of bad
advisors HELD on to their jobs after being caught. About half of the rest
got jobs at other financial firms. In other words, a year after serious
misconduct, about three-quarters
of advisors found to have wronged clients are still working. Using a bigger
firm makes no difference. These predators go for those with less college and older
age. All advisors must produce revenue for their firms. Some firms seem to attract
suspicious employees. They
certainly are not working for us. They often sell us products we don’t need
or products inferior to others. In an experiment, 85%
of advisors changed an age-appropriate low-cost portfolio to an expensive
version. And the industry works hard to disguise its costs. Most of us
have no idea what we pay. “The broker leads them to believe they’re not
paying any fees at all,” one critic says. Firms have margins
of 39% and signing bonuses of effective sellers can be $6.6 million. Conflicts
of interest costing investors dearly—up
to 63% of our nest eggs. The industry and the Congress it helps with
elections have no
incentive to control bad actors. Without high fees brokers claims they
won’t service those who need help.
Is “advice” really just a sales pitch like a car
salesperson: https://www.amazon.com/Lies-Financial-Advisors-Told-alternatives/dp/1478281545
If Putin can hack
our election computers and change votes, can our power
grids be next? Hackers have devised
a cyberweapon that has the potential to be the most disruptive yet against
electric systems that Americans depend on for daily life, according to U.S.
researchers. The malware, which researchers have dubbed CrashOverride, is known
to have disrupted only one energy system — in Ukraine in
December. In that incident, the hackers briefly shut down one-fifth of the
electric power generated in Kiev . We
have NOT done a thorough investigation of all of our state voting computers
yet. Re-counting
fake votes does not solve the problem. Some states like GA
PA dismiss idea since GOP won. Trump’s hunt for voter fraud takes us away
from questionable GOP manipulation, like deleting
voter rolls, etc. The head of the Senate
Intelligence Committee told USA
TODAY, "I
don't believe they got into changing actual voting outcomes," Virginia
Sen. Mark Warner said. But Congress doesn’t
know for sure! Homeland
Security, which works with the owners of the nation’s critical
infrastructure systems, did not respond to a request for comment by the Washington
Post. Some utilities are trying to catch up but we saw what happens if they
don’t fix the system.
We used a similar tool on the Iran
centrifuges and now the Ruskies can use it against us.
GOP tells reporters they can’t interview Congress without
approval
In a dictatorship, the junta in power starts by using
“protecting” and “security” as the excuse to cancel our rights. Now the Senate
Rules Committee is forbidding
reporters from interviewing Reps on the run, in the halls, where they are accessible.
Instead they must get a scheduled interview, which senators
often cancel. Recently, House GOP attacked a reporter for asking about
health care and got
‘community service’ (his job) not jail. And Trump asks for loyalty from all
his employees, even his
cabinet.
*****************
TrumpWorld
Goal: Trump brand around the world
“Covfefe” means “I’m
tired of this BS”
We can’t stop watching his “apprenticeship
for president” show EVERY DAY!
Two Americas
Trump is still just a mafia contractor from Queens—Fred
taught him to be The Don.
Like mob boss, he asks
Comey to let Flynn
probe go, then asks
for loyalty, then fires him, then threatens him. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/863007411132649473
Trump
is not concerned about Putin hacking elections bec/ it does not hurt his
brand.
Chris Wray to FBI so he can get Trump off like Wray did for
Christie’s Bridgegate. Wray
kept secret Chrisie’s messages to staff who were convicted of giving order
to close.
Senate
votes to block any Trump rollback of sanctions for interference.
Ryan admits The
Don is incompetent to lead America--Mafia yes: “an
offer can’t refuse”
Trump promise to testify like promise to show tax returns
and deport 11 million.
Lawyer Kasowitz’s clients include Russian
bank and oligarch close to Putin. Manafort
Mueller is now examining whether Trump tried to obstruct justice. Comey, Rogers ,
Coats
Trump retreat from world: America
was happy “between our two oceans,” he said, until realizing “what
a crummy world if we all retreat inside our own borders.” Gen Mattis
“When America
Trump
calls his TrumpCare bill ‘mean’ this week but “great” last week. Polls
at 40%
Jared in charge of everything is quiet like Chauncey Gardner
(Peter Sellers) Being There
TrumpWorld – using presidency to make money the old
fashioned way:
*************
Regulators are the only protection against
corporations since we
can’t sue anymore
“It is nearly
impossible for one individual to take on a corporation with vast resources.”
Supremes
stop us from suing—State courts no
longer available to sue corporations!
Michael Joseph CC, VisionQwest Resource caught defrauding
150 $1.2m taxes.
Mike McMahon Caught
‘churning’ cost client $267,567
in fees; lost $261,441 trading AP
We need regulation—GOP wrong—companies/cities
wouldn’t fix bad products on own
GM
killed 124 because ignition switch pin not replaced after knew it
killed first in 2006.
Police want gun control.
When everyone has guns; your
chance of being killed goes up. Police don’t know who
to shoot. They assume everyone has one and shoot
first. You and thief have guns. CO schools now allow
teachers/administrators to carry
guns in the classroom. Kid lesson! Since 2015, police have killed
86 people with realistic looking FAKE guns--suicide?
Silencers
for sale soon by GOP House bill
SCAMS:
Ignoramus Award:
Tangier Island is losing
16 feet to rising tides every year, mayor told Trump, who said, “I believe
your island will be there for hundreds more.”
LA coast lower
Mississippi area flooded faster than expected
How our government wastes our money:
If Gen Flynn and
Jeff Sessions can refuse to answer Congress, is
there any law now?
Where have all the jobs gone?
Half of all
retail gone by 2018—automation is cause unless tied to sales or handling.
Bank America
layoffs staff again
The average wage needed to rent a two-bedroom home ($21.21)
is nearly three times more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
Over 2 million US
workers make at or below the federal minimum, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Job interview will ask for your salary requirements. Answer:
I
will research the range.
Which job board sites are best
for your job search?
Cancel Robo calls with Mr NoMoRobo: https://www.nomorobo.com/
Miracle:
Bullies
in schools are drawing inspiration from Trump. It takes a miracle to undo
attitude.
IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
973.746.2014
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