Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
generic blog post, with apocolyptic twist
Had a single call today, an old woman with an old PC that needed a reformat. The PC was so old I couldn't locate the ancient drivers for the ancient modem (she uses {GASP} dial up), so I chucked the entire thing and gave her a less old gateway for the same price as a reformat. (with XP vs. the evil windows ME).
I called her and told her she was getting a hell of a deal, which she was, but I did a good thing today, because resurrecting that rickety old PC with Windows ME on it would have been a crime against humanity.
Otherwise, I played WoW, worked on my latest Sci-Fi masterpiece, and stayed out of the bar. Oh yeah, and I listened to the World of Finance crumble as the Congre$$ failed to pass the bail-out plan. How much Raman Noodles can I pack into our storage room? And what's the best firearm for home defense? This sh!t is getting scary.
I called her and told her she was getting a hell of a deal, which she was, but I did a good thing today, because resurrecting that rickety old PC with Windows ME on it would have been a crime against humanity.
Otherwise, I played WoW, worked on my latest Sci-Fi masterpiece, and stayed out of the bar. Oh yeah, and I listened to the World of Finance crumble as the Congre$$ failed to pass the bail-out plan. How much Raman Noodles can I pack into our storage room? And what's the best firearm for home defense? This sh!t is getting scary.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
If we were really a Christian nation . . .
If we were REALLY a Christian nation, or if all these "Christians" would read their friggin' bible, we wouldn't be in this credit crisis on the brink of a depression:
“He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you will be the tail. So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you” (Deuteronomy 28:44-45).
Psalm 37:21, “The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives.”
Proverbs 22: 26-27
Be not you one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
The only biblical way to borrow:*
Probably the most misunderstood financial principle in God's Word is His prohibition against surety (Proverbs 22:26-27 above). Surety is assuming an obligation to pay indebtedness without a sure way to pay it. Non-collateralized loans and cosigning are examples of surety.
Surety means that we presume on the future. If everything goes as expected, we should be able to pay the money back. But, if something goes wrong and we are not able to repay, then we are left with a debt.
It is only when collateral has been placed as security against the loan that is equal in value to the loan that we can avoid surety. If we are unable to pay the loan back, the creditor can repossess and sell the collateral, which will satisfy the total amount of the loan.
The Bible cautions against any type of loan that is not totally collateralized. If Christians would observe this one caution associated with borrowing, the most they could lose would be the security they had pledged against the loan.
* everything from this point was lifted completely from (http://www.crown.org/LIBRARY/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=683)
“He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you will be the tail. So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you” (Deuteronomy 28:44-45).
Psalm 37:21, “The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives.”
Proverbs 22: 26-27
Be not you one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
The only biblical way to borrow:*
Probably the most misunderstood financial principle in God's Word is His prohibition against surety (Proverbs 22:26-27 above). Surety is assuming an obligation to pay indebtedness without a sure way to pay it. Non-collateralized loans and cosigning are examples of surety.
Surety means that we presume on the future. If everything goes as expected, we should be able to pay the money back. But, if something goes wrong and we are not able to repay, then we are left with a debt.
It is only when collateral has been placed as security against the loan that is equal in value to the loan that we can avoid surety. If we are unable to pay the loan back, the creditor can repossess and sell the collateral, which will satisfy the total amount of the loan.
The Bible cautions against any type of loan that is not totally collateralized. If Christians would observe this one caution associated with borrowing, the most they could lose would be the security they had pledged against the loan.
* everything from this point was lifted completely from (http://www.crown.org/LIBRARY/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=683)
Saturday, September 20, 2008
apocalypse now
I have listened to the collapse of the Financial World on my radio as if listening to the demise of some alien world via long-distance radio transmissions. Mortgage backed securities, short selling, bundling, FHA, FNMA, collateralized debt obligations and distressed assets. They boosted the "public debt limit" to 11.3 trillion dollars. Is that even a real number? Couldn't we just put all this bad debt into the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and make it go away?
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Dan Manning math theory behind the why years seem shorter as you grow older:
Examples: When A baby turns 1, it has experienced 100% of its life in that one year. That one year is 100% of the baby's life. When that baby turns 2, a year is 50% of its life. Time now seems to be moving twice as fast. When that child turns ten, a year is only one-tenth of the total time experience.
So time actually does start to fly by.
Tomorrow, 1 year will be 1/42nd of my entire life up to this point. That's only 2.38% of the entire time I've been alive so far. The years do seem to go faster.
So as you get older, and every year seems to be getting shorter, mathematically speaking, each year is a smaller portion of your entire life experience up to that point.
So time actually does start to fly by.
Tomorrow, 1 year will be 1/42nd of my entire life up to this point. That's only 2.38% of the entire time I've been alive so far. The years do seem to go faster.
So as you get older, and every year seems to be getting shorter, mathematically speaking, each year is a smaller portion of your entire life experience up to that point.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Infinite Jest: a really, really long book I gave up on @ pg. 36 out of 1079
I TRIED reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, but I guess I'm too stOOpid. The sentences, in my humble opinion, were train-wrecks. The paragraphs went on for pages. By page 36 (out of 1079) I had no idea what the going on.
Here is a book where the author doesn't seem to want to get to the point.
Not sure if it is on purpose or if he's was long-winded by nature (or if he was high on acid the entire time). Don't get me wrong, the guy was a friggin' genius. Reading two pages of this book makes that clear. But reading two pages of this monster can also put you in a coma, not from boredom, but from word-overload. How about some white-space? Maybe this is the wrong book to pick up first, but I am not wading into this morass; I'll never get out again.
But his write-up, "Consider the Lobster" for "Gourmet" magazine is excellent.
I did get one awesome quote (there are many, many more in the book I'm sure): "unpleasant-fact specialist" referring to someone who is a downer.
Here is a book where the author doesn't seem to want to get to the point.
Not sure if it is on purpose or if he's was long-winded by nature (or if he was high on acid the entire time). Don't get me wrong, the guy was a friggin' genius. Reading two pages of this book makes that clear. But reading two pages of this monster can also put you in a coma, not from boredom, but from word-overload. How about some white-space? Maybe this is the wrong book to pick up first, but I am not wading into this morass; I'll never get out again.
But his write-up, "Consider the Lobster" for "Gourmet" magazine is excellent.
I did get one awesome quote (there are many, many more in the book I'm sure): "unpleasant-fact specialist" referring to someone who is a downer.
Monday, September 15, 2008
helpful hint:
If you need a machine to help with breathing for you or a family member, don't wait for a hurricane to buy a generator. Jesus Christ people.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
movie review: spider-man 3
| spider - man 3 | 2007 | * * | Who put this friggin' soap opera in the middle of my Spiderman movie? This thing sucked ass. Thank gawd Kirsten Dunst and Bryce Dallas Howard were both was smokin' hot. ~ 09.10.08 |
See all my movie reviews
Sunday, September 07, 2008
book review: A Death in The Family
| #52 A Death in The Family | James Agee | 2007 | * * * * * | Pulitzer Prize-winning multiple point of view study in faith, death, family and plain unbelievable writing. ~ September 1, 2008 |
genric blog post, weekend wrap-up
Shot guns and canoed yesterday for Justin's bachelor pre-party. Today, dropped off a laptop, picked up a desktop for repair, and watched the Lions lose in their season opener to Atlanta. Bought a Wii-Fit, and I'm sore. That thing is a serious worker-outer. Then again, I'm old and out of shape.
I have gas. Goodnight!
I have gas. Goodnight!
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
chrome web browser
works pretty good . . . but where'd my advertisement blocker? Firefox has adblock plus, and I'm used to not seeing these f*cking ads all over the place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
About Me
- dan
- I am the author of 5 books: Android Down, Firewood for Cannibals, The Cubicles of Madness, Robot Stories, and most recently, Various Meats and Cheeses. I live and write in Michigan. My website is at danmanning.com