On 2 November 1979, two days before Islamic radicals took over the Tehran Embassy with 66 US hostages, a senior official and his family were trying to escape by car to the west. After four hours of driving, the man stopped to buy fuel and food for his family. Tourists traveling abroad will attest that usually the American dollar can buy anything at any time in any country in the world. Our currency is baseline in valuing all other…
The old axiom “them that has, gets,” implies that those who control tools and resources can increase their holdings. However, a second axiom says “them that got, has to work harder to keep it.” Your financial success is dependent on learning the difference between precious ore and overburden. The truly impoverished are those who lack resources of any kind, and are denied opportunity. But many that “got” stuff can become overburdened when many unnecessary possessions become a financial…
In l992 Hurricane Andrew was the nations most costly natural disaster of the century. But in 2003, Hurricane Isabel, hailstorms in Dallas, and the California fires combined to almost exceed the dollar cost of Andrew’s devastation. Add to these losses the fact that from 1999 to the end of 2002 the US Stock Market suffered its worst period since the l929 crash. You were lucky if the net worth in your retirement plan or investment portfolio didn’t sink by…
YES NO Are you using credit cards for items you used to pay for with cash? / Is an increasing percentage of your income going to pay for interest expense? / Are you tapping more of your savings to pay current bills? / Your savings should be at least three months’ take-home pay. Is yours inadequate? / Are you making only minimum payments on revolving charge accounts? / Are you shuffling debt from one card to another on 0% introductory…
On Good Friday, 1964, at 5:36 pm, Mother Nature dealt out a Richter 9.1 earthquake centered north of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. It leveled the port town of Whittier ten miles east of the epicenter, and dropped 3rd and 4th streets 30 feet in Anchorage 70 miles to the west. With a force equal to 1,000 Hiroshima bombs the quake went on for 4 minutes and left 90% of all Alaskans without power, water, sewer, and supplies. Fortunately, airport runways…
A runner will burn approximately 2,700 calories in a marathon. A hummingbird will burn over 14,000 covering the same distance. The runner will take about 35,000 strides. The hummingbird, at 200 wing beats per second, will have to stop and refuel a number of times. Each has different dietary needs. Diets differ, as do quantities each consumes. Those who have purchased pre-packaged “year’s supply” units for set and forget convenience may not only find the unit’s quantity insufficient,…
When McDonalds introduced a hamburger in l968 that was over three times the price of their basic $.15 burger, everyone thought that the Big Mac would be too expensive to catch on. Today, at $2.24 it’s a pretty good deal, especially compared to “nickel candy bars” and “Five and Dime Store” items. Inflation is a price escalator that is here to stay. Government printing of the M1 money supply in excess of net GDP increase is one cause…
“I was going to do that tomorrow, but I think that’s too soon.” Well, that certainly is an attitude, and there are always lots of things holding us back. You might be the specialist – someone who knows a lot about a little; or a generalist – someone who knows a little about a lot. But, what you are not can always be the opportunity for someone else to help you accomplish what you should. “Every seed…
The psychic diversity manifest in everyone as a unique creation of God can none the less reveal common symptoms from actions or inactions that keep psychologists and psychiatrists in the business of defining normalcy and assisting in modifying personal behaviors to conform. But, for the rest of us there is this simple gospel reality: STANDARD WORKS STANDARDS WORK. For more information contact (your emergency preparedness specialist). CATCH THE VISION, GET FACTS, DEVELOP SKILLS, AND BE PREPARED.
The most difficult maneuver for an aircraft pilot to master is a steady hover. Many aspire, but few can — flight schools wash out over 50%. A rotorcraft is capable of flight in any direction – it can take off straight up or even backwards. But, no less than 8-16 hours of dual instruction is needed before one acquires the “hover bug.” “The instructor will step out of the left seat and tell his scared to death student to…