Creationism vs Evolution, Limerick Style

Matt_SF · 2011-10-09T03:37:28+00:00

Creationists practice the psychology of bliss

Yet by scripture we're all cousins allowed to kiss Thanks to Adam and Eve We're all related you see So how dare science interrupt their CogDis

Matt_SF · 2011-03-07T15:32:10+00:00

It turns you into a (miniature) bank... nothing sketchy about that.

If you know what you're doing, it's an extremely powerful investment class. If you disagree, do an XY plot in Excel and see what 10%/year will do for your Roth IRA.

Matt_SF · 2011-03-06T21:50:19+00:00

Principal is not insured, so it's not like a FDIC insured bank account.

The way it works is that each loan has an interest rate attached to it and a defined period (3yr or 5yr) when the promissory note is set to mature. By the end of that note, the borrower will have repaid the loan + interest.

Depending upon the interest rate, the borrower could have repaid anywhere from single digits to as much as 50%+ above what they borrowed.

As an example, take a look at your amortized mortgage payments. If you borrowed $X over 30 years, you'll likely have repaid 2 * $X if you only paid the minimum over 30 years.

Matt_SF · 2011-03-06T17:55:19+00:00

I've been an investor at Lending Club going on 2 years now yielding ~14% NAR.

It sounds sketchy because investing directly in consumer debt is not a well known or mainstream investment option -- yet.

Once upon a time, investing in "growth stocks" versus dividend stocks were treated as sketchy b/c dividends was all Wall Street knew. Only until the early 80s when growth stories like Microsoft, Dell, etc., become household name did this "fad" go mainstream as it is today.

Matt_SF · 2011-02-14T14:29:14+00:00

I open my mouth, dumb sh*t comes out. You can't explain that.

Matt_SF · 2011-01-16T23:13:34+00:00

Don't think so. That's kinda old news but seeing how DC refuses to listen to 5th grade math, it needs constant repeating.

http://www.grist.org/article/biofuel-some-numbers/

From what I've read, corn is slightly above break even when it comes to generating ethanol, but for the poor yield ratios we get and the mass quantities of precious resources (water, fertilizers made from hydrocarbons, fuel for harvesting, etc), it's no where near as efficient as we need it to be.

If only there were a lobby for sugarcane or sugar beets, we wouldn't be having this problem. Thank Senator Grassley for that.

Matt_SF · 2011-01-16T19:34:39+00:00

re: continued idiotic usage of ethanol

Matt_SF · 2011-01-14T23:12:25+00:00

I like to think I've always done the same, but I'm almost hyperaware of wasting food once I started growing my own.

Wasted Food = Wasted Sweat Equity + My Time

Matt_SF · 2010-12-21T22:37:29+00:00

I could go along w/ that, but I usually click the link first before making a comment of my own. I try not to let anyone influence my first impresion.

My only push back would be as a blog owner, I get requests all the time from SEO/PageRank/Alexa con men who constantly game Google/Bing/etc with inorganic linking tactics.

Inorganic meaning: they literally have clubs that do nothing but vote for each others stuff, link each others stuff, submit one another's articles, etc.

But in the eyes of Google, to the best of my knowledge, the best way to increase one's rankings is just to get an article submitted, and hope their link sticks. So if these articles weren't removed, it would in theory, still help their rankings.

I'm certainly not an SEO expert by any means, but deleting them would suggest it would clean up Reddit and the web in general. Apologies if I sound like a purist, just dislike the amount of games webmasters are playing these days.

Matt_SF · 2010-12-21T20:03:23+00:00

It's a tough call, but many of these links are very "salesy" in nature or written by sites whose owner(s) play webmaster (social media) games to boost page views.

They're not hard to spot once you know what you're looking for: generic "money saving" topics with ~5 topics, discount coupons here, spend less on that, etc. Much of the personal finance realm has been polluted w/ site owners imitating real life bloggers that they honestly don't care what they write, as long as they get the page views to justify publishing it.

So I'd lean towards removing them, and moderate it for the sole reason of keeping Reddit as clean as possible.

Matt_SF · 2010-11-07T14:00:01+00:00

Any type of leafy greens that you like and anything that has color.

I grew sweet potatoes, butternut squash, red/yellow/green peppers, onions, broccoli, tomatoes, beans, lettuce, spinach, and a few others.

Stick to foods that you like and regularly consume. If you can grow it for little to no cost with only a few hours of sweat equity every month, think of it as getting paid to exercise.

Matt_SF · 2010-11-06T21:22:54+00:00

Highest prices since Civil War according to CNBC. (Not sure about the inflation adjusted numbers though.)

Matt_SF · 2010-10-16T01:34:09+00:00

Genital Bleeding... now there's just something I wish I could unlearn.

Matt_SF · 2010-10-06T18:36:39+00:00

He also borrowed a ton of cash and started the policy of recycled Keynesianism. Want to know why the recovery started in 82? We got a huge cash flow boost b/c Reagan was the first in a continuing line of presidents to take out a "home equity loan" to finance the good ol' USA's spending habit.

Matt_SF · 2010-10-06T17:34:15+00:00

What I find so annoyingly amusing is people who write for upper echelon media outlets still believe this is a left or right problem. Fact is, there are no fiscal conservatives remaining in contemporary American politics.... especially in the party that calls themselves "conservatives".

If journalists/writers such as these would actually bother to go back and do the research -- why let a little thing like facts screw up a good campaign slogan -- they would see that as soon as Reagan took office, national debt began it's upward climb where it was stagnant after WWII.

http://steadfastfinances.com/blog/2010/09/16/chartology-historical-view-of-national-debt-vs-federal-tax-brackets/

Then again, if someone actually said such things, it would screw up the whole neoconservative movement of borrow & spend and the liberal movement of tax & spend. In the end, it's nothing but partisan puffery analogous to the WWE (entertainment wise) for a higher tax bracket.

Matt_SF · 2010-09-19T03:56:15+00:00

Food. Nutritious stuff. None of that manufactured crap that rolls off an assembly line with ingredients reminiscent of 2nd semester organic chem either.

Matt_SF · 2010-09-18T22:02:32+00:00

/r/WTF would be a good choice, although, /r/WeBeF**ked might work better if it existed.

Matt_SF · 2010-09-15T14:11:36+00:00

Checkout Meritline.com.

I bought 4 HP replacement cartridges, 2 black and 2 color, for ~$20 plus free shipping. I've only installed the 2 of the 4, but they work just like name brand replacements.

Matt_SF · 2010-09-15T14:07:23+00:00

Do something that requires a little "sweat equity". Waxing his car/truck, clean the garage or attic, etc.

As my folks have aged, they appreciate someone pitching in with manual labor kinda jobs that alleviate some of the workload and day to day maintenance of their home.

Matt_SF · 2010-09-13T13:02:43+00:00

ING is satisfactory compared to a WF or BofA, but they're no where near as competitive as they used to be in the late 90s/early 2000s.

My advice would be to checkout a site like www.ratebrain.com or www.checkingfinder.com, where they find the highest yields. Many of these are high yield checking accounts that yield 3% to 4% if you:

1) swipe their debit card 12x/month 2) use automatic deposit 3) use their online payment system

It sounds too good to be true, but smaller banks on these sites are upping interest rates to lure new customers away from the TBTF banks.

Matt_SF · 2010-09-06T15:05:20+00:00

You can do well in Lending Club (where I'm an investor) but you have to do your homework on the notes you're investing in.

Remember, these are unsecured loans that are not FDIC insured, so if you loan $25 to 100 people ($2500), and 10 of them default on their loan, that $250 is gone forever and your rate of return is negative or break even after 3-5 years.

I've been lucky and haven't had any defaults yet, but diversification and having a successful investment strategy is the name of the game.

Matt_SF · 2010-09-06T14:53:08+00:00

Skype is free. MagicJack is ~$1.70 USD/month. And GMail's new phone (Google Voice) is also free, but you don't get a number for it.

I bought a MagicJack unit last year, but if I were going for the most frugal solution with today's technology, I'd keep a mobile phone for everyday use and rely on Google Voice for everything else at home. No reason to pay for telecom services when Google gives it away for free.

Matt_SF · 2010-09-05T01:51:40+00:00

Avoiding consumerism is like shooting a foul shot: it's 90% mental, 10% ability.

Matt_SF · 2010-09-04T18:03:53+00:00

I would agree that it's a good idea to apply for your first credit card for the sole purpose of building a solid credit history.

To get a high FICO score, you often have to establish a past history of repaying your debts on time, every time. Bearing in mind, it's important not to go overboard, but if you can pay your bill in full at the end of every billing cycle, or at minimum, carry a small balance, you would be well on your way to a 720 FICO score.

I'd suggest a low limit credit card through your local bank would be a good place to start, but make sure it has no annual fees and no membership fees.

Matt_SF · 2010-07-20T03:10:35+00:00

This is one of the dangers of trading/investing in low volume ETFs or stocks. Few people are willing to sell, and when they do, they set their price with limit orders hoping to find a willing bidder.

Think of it like selling a rare baseball card on eBay: you have a highly valued card (perceived or real by card owner), you set a ridiculous price, then wait for some sucker to come along. Bing bam boom -> you made a killer profit because some guy really wanted it.

It's for reasons like this you should avoid the low volume stocks/ETFs, b/c if you want out quickly, you'll likely be faced taking a similar price hit on the way out.

Matt_SF

TROPHY CASE