As a young lad, I learned life's truly great lessons, big and small, near and far, up and down, from Sesame Street's lovable furry old Grover. He taught me to share, and now I share these thoughts with you.
Lately, every time I visit McDonalds, I wonder if they could get Grover to appear at their annual company meeting and give a lecture on Big and Small. It seems apparent to me that over the years, the meaning of these words has been lost. Certainly, no one could disagree that the "Big" in BigMac is an outright lie. Have you looked inside one lately? There are 2 potato chip thin slivers of… well whatever passes for meat these days. Their "Big Breakfast" consists of the contents of a Sausage & Egg biscuit and a Hash Brown. Oh my… Can I eat all that? And yet, their "medium" beverage is a 32 ounce cup and their large is the size of a bucket.
Clearly, whoever sets their prices knows up from down; but this confusion over big and small is keeping me far rather than near.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The Truth of the Matter...
The Truth of the matter is, I really hate that phrase, "The truth of the matter". There was a time when "the truth of the matter" grabbed my attention like no other phrase. It made my ears stand at attention waiting for some new kernel, a new seedling, a new fundamental grain of truth. But now it just irritates me.
No, I haven't succumbed to the notion that everything is relative. I still believe that there are some absolute truths. But I also recognize that everyone has their own beliefs about what is true and what isn't. And therefor "Truth" is different for different people.
It bothers me when someone says, "The Truth of the matter is this", because what they really mean is, "Suspend all your beliefs and listen to me. I'm telling you something more important that anything you may happen to believe." That's a very arrogant statement to make. I'm sure if you asked the speaker did he mean it that way, he'd probably say "no". But the truth of the matter is, no one who says "The truth of the matter is" is willing to discuss or debate or weigh out contradictory notions. They have an agenda or a moral high ground that gives them the right to tell me to forget what I think I know.
Have you ever heard anyone say, "Well the truth of the matter is, maybe I was wrong"? I haven't.
No, I haven't succumbed to the notion that everything is relative. I still believe that there are some absolute truths. But I also recognize that everyone has their own beliefs about what is true and what isn't. And therefor "Truth" is different for different people.
It bothers me when someone says, "The Truth of the matter is this", because what they really mean is, "Suspend all your beliefs and listen to me. I'm telling you something more important that anything you may happen to believe." That's a very arrogant statement to make. I'm sure if you asked the speaker did he mean it that way, he'd probably say "no". But the truth of the matter is, no one who says "The truth of the matter is" is willing to discuss or debate or weigh out contradictory notions. They have an agenda or a moral high ground that gives them the right to tell me to forget what I think I know.
Have you ever heard anyone say, "Well the truth of the matter is, maybe I was wrong"? I haven't.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Speculating
They say, "it's where the smart money goes". So I've begun speculating on crude oil futures. Except, I'm speculating that oil prices are going DOWN. Big time...
If enough of you will join me in "speculating" likewise, we might just get the assholes who actually have the stocks to sell them off for fear that they will loose money. If enough people sell off, the price will drop.
Did you realize all these people running around saying "I speculate the price of oil will rise" are causing the price of oil to rise? I'm deadly serious. It's not about supply and demand. It's about hype and fear. Economists have been saying for a few years now that if it were just about supply and demand, the price would be about half what it is today. But the price is being artificially inflated by greedy assholes who keep saying "oh man, the price of oil is going to rise." Hearing that causes more greedy people to invest all their money in oil futures and causes the price to rise. Fuck'em. Don't believe it.
Personally, I think it should be illegal to speculate on the price of something that can cripple our economy. But if the greedy bastards are going to continue to speculate and profit from it, (and by the way, isn't that the definition of insider trading?) why not fight fire with fire?
Its a shame that people are so incredibly stupid that they can't think 1 step ahead. If they did, they would realize even if they profit from a rise in crude oil prices, they loose it because everything else is more expensive. Well, here's where you can help. Join me in "speculating" out loud every chance you get that the price of oil and gas is about to take a nose dive! If enough of us do, we might just be able to cause a sell-off. Keep in mind that there are many times more people like you and me than there are greedy bastards profiting. So if we all do this, we could easily win the hype wars.
If enough of you will join me in "speculating" likewise, we might just get the assholes who actually have the stocks to sell them off for fear that they will loose money. If enough people sell off, the price will drop.
Did you realize all these people running around saying "I speculate the price of oil will rise" are causing the price of oil to rise? I'm deadly serious. It's not about supply and demand. It's about hype and fear. Economists have been saying for a few years now that if it were just about supply and demand, the price would be about half what it is today. But the price is being artificially inflated by greedy assholes who keep saying "oh man, the price of oil is going to rise." Hearing that causes more greedy people to invest all their money in oil futures and causes the price to rise. Fuck'em. Don't believe it.
Personally, I think it should be illegal to speculate on the price of something that can cripple our economy. But if the greedy bastards are going to continue to speculate and profit from it, (and by the way, isn't that the definition of insider trading?) why not fight fire with fire?
Its a shame that people are so incredibly stupid that they can't think 1 step ahead. If they did, they would realize even if they profit from a rise in crude oil prices, they loose it because everything else is more expensive. Well, here's where you can help. Join me in "speculating" out loud every chance you get that the price of oil and gas is about to take a nose dive! If enough of us do, we might just be able to cause a sell-off. Keep in mind that there are many times more people like you and me than there are greedy bastards profiting. So if we all do this, we could easily win the hype wars.
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