Fiscal Cliff best option

What is the best option for the US as it approaches the "fiscal cliff"?  The Answer will surprise you.

Fiscal Cliff is just a bump in the road.

The best option for Congress is to do NOTHING.  That is right, NOTHING.  Nothing allows taxes to go up (democrats keep telling us taxes need to be hire, this will raise it about 800 Billion Dollars).  The GOP, allegedly believes in limited government and a balance budget, guess what – we are about to hit the debt ceiling.  Meaning the government won’t be able to spend more than it takes in.  This will save us 8-10 Trillion dollars in debt and force the Obama administration to live within its means.

Right now the GOP is just trying to get 800 Billion in savings by negotiations.  Why not get it all?  The basic answer is that the GOP and Democrats are really the same party.

Home Brewing part 2

In February I picked up a Red Ale from Liquid Hobby. It turned out well, but I think the alcohol content was low. I was still having trouble with the Hydrometer. I also realized that I should be measuring the temperature of the water, which I didn’t because I didn’t have the tool to do so. I still haven’t picked one up. Then I took 6 months off of brewing. I was too busy and picking up a 12 pack of Yungling is too easy. I also moved from South to North Carolina. Plus I’m not really a beer snob, I’m a rugby player. The next beer I made for Caribou Slobber from Northern Brewer. The directions were very different than from Liquid Hobby – a little harder to follow, but with more details. I also purchased a case of re-sealable bottles and a glass secondary Carboy. This was the toughest beer so far. I did get to borrow a brew kettle that was heated up with propane that was supposed to be easier to control; of course it was my first time using it. Also first time working with grains, which was fairly straight forward. Still having trouble with the hydrometer, I got a reading of 1.042 and the direction I think say 1.052. The one thing I like about Liquid Hobby direction better is it is very specific about the ranges you should get and Northern Brewers is not. I did like the more complicated brewing, although it did take up more time. I also think I messed up the yeast culture a bit, so maybe that is why the gravity didn’t change as much as I thought it should. The beer came out tasting good, but I think it was low alcohol again. I broke my Hydrometer putting it away. So now I have a portable Refractometer, which I now HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Home Brewing – First Brew

Just before last Christmas, there was a homebrew kit on www.groupon.com from our local homebrew store Bet Mar Liquid Hobby shop.  In college I had some roommates who dabbled in home brewing and have since continued.  So I decided to ask my brother to pick it up for my Birthday gift.

The first brew I did was an Amber kit.  I unfortunately lost the directions since then, but I’m sure you can find it on the Bet Mar website.  The beer came out tasting very good, but I definitely did not do the beer making process properly.  I’ve tried to keep notes as I brew, but I’ve not a done a great job.  I can tell you I cleaned the pot I just bought (4 Gallon about $55 from Wal-mart) with Everclear.  I don’t know if this was a good idea, but I do know you aren’t supposed to clean with normal agents (soap). 

The hardest part was reading the Hydrometer, I should have paid more attention in Chemistry Class at Clemson – I’m sure my professor will concur.  I also don’t think I added the Sugars properly from my notes, but they are almost a year old.  Anyways everyone really liked the Amber Ale.

The other hard part was getting enough of the right type of bottles, I had 12 that were screw caps and broke about 4 of them and then gave up.  Rookie mistake, I probably left about ¾ of a gallon at the bottom.  I tried to put it in an old Orange Crush plastic bottle to see how it turned out.  Not well.  Apparently it is doable, but I didn’t do any research beforehand.

The dust has settled on QE3

Ben has explained that he is hoping to reduce interest rates on housing, to make them more affordable.

Whut?!?

Didn't we get in this mess by people buying houses more than they were worth becuase of government loan programs that allowed consumers to buy houses that they could afford, thus drying up supply and increasing prices.

Since last time we tried something like this it sent our economy into the worst recession since the great depression, I'm sure it won't do the same thing again.  Actually it won't because QE won't work, it hasn't worked and it is a failed economic philosophy. 

On the side note, if you love to pay more for gas.  QE is working great!  Crude Oil hits 4 month high.

Fed launches QE3

QE 3 Announced

 

*Not my Picture

The Rich will get Richer!  The poor will stay poor, and the middle class will become poor!  Whoops, that is not what the Fed is telling us will happen.  However if you will just take a moment to look at what has happened in other countries that have tried that and what is happening in our grociery stores and at our gas pumps you will see that QE3 does nothing, but help the rich bankers, get richer.

*Update
http://www.ft.com/home/us has an article that I can not access, showing that the US median income is the lowest it has been since 1995.

IRan

Why are we going to war with Iran?  They haven’t invaded a country since before we were officially a country.  They have allegedly help fund terrorist, but that shouldn’t cause the US to take another 1 Trillion in debt.

So why will our government invade Iran, no matter who wins the elections, by the end of 2014?  Because Iran is selling oil to other countries in currency other than the US dollar.  The same thing Iraq did before we invaded them.

I don’t know if WW III is coming, but if it does – it will likely be over protecting our fiat currency (monopoly money).

WWIII?

What is causing Cancer at 9/11 sites?

Fox News Report more people are eligible for aid. I'm wondering what from a building and a plane crash would cause cancer.  It does seem like a high number to have got cancer.