Do All Women Have the Right to Become Mothers?

Several thousand dollars for fertility treatment? Even as I gasped in shock at the high cost, the subject of the documentary film I was watching exhaled in relief because she was able to afford it. "This is worth it," she told her partner, and I could tell by the emotion in her voice that she meant it. But I wondered how low-income and poor people were able to afford infertility treatment when the cost is so high and coverage so limited. I know a lot of people who intend to have a baby but

The Green Metal Box

An extended excerpt from Charlie Sykes: On this Memorial Day, I want to do some personal remembering. A year ago on May 1, as some of you may know, my mother died. She was 87. A year ago today May 25, I found a green metal file box among the things we were able to save. Inside was the story of her first husband, a young man named Lambert Hruska, who joined the army in the months before WWII, rose to the rank of captain with the 3rd Infantry Seventh Army, was awarded the Silver Star and bron

Kirsten Dunst's Innocent Claims of 'Depression' Rehab Quickly Shot Down

Taking a break from shooting All Good Things on the Upper West Side, Kirsten Dunst tells E!’s Marc Malkin that she didn’t go to Cirque Lodge to get treatment for drug or alcohol abuse, but simply because she was depressed. “I was struggling, and I had the opportunity to go somewhere and take care of myself. I was fortunate to have the resources to do it. My friends and family thought it was a good idea, too. But I didn’t know where to go. My doctor recommended Cirque Lodge.” Except Cirque Lo

What It Takes To Be A Great Trial Lawyer - Part 19

The Knowledge That You Are Only as Good as Your Next Verdict. I stole this idea from a friend in Atlanta who told me about it over a decade ago. While I disagree with the notion some might take from this statement (that a lawyer has to win or has done a poor job), I wholeheartedly agree with what I know was intended by the statement: great trial lawyers do not rest on their laurels. There is no doubt that some percentage of lawyers who have had a few victories start to believe their own pr

Average? I Like Average, if It’s My Average. (Part I)

Okay, same drill as my pieces for my worst losses, but this time I chose the ten most average investments of mine in terms of dollars earned. Remember, one of my key disciplines is rebalancing. Honeywell Honeywell was short and simple.  I felt it was out of favor, and I bought some.  Six months later, I had cheaper stocks to buy, so Honeywell was gone. Stone Energy Stone Energy was a weird one.  As you will note, the initial purchase and final sale prices aren’t that much different.  In

Revival, Faith Healing, and Healing Prayer

The whole discussion about Todd Bentley and the Lakeland Revival has led me to think back a great deal about the Brownsville Revival. There were and are a number of concerns while at the same time I don’t want to be a blanket critic. But I have personally seen people seriously hurt by the excesses that tend to accompany a mass revival movement. Activity involves risk, so when I give cautions about risks one should not assume that I am saying to avoid the whole movement and everyone in it becau

Re: Profiting from getting lost?

By: A Person In this case I don't know if the boat crew 'forgot' about them or just couldn't find them We always dived with flourescent marker buoys. It was another thing to keep track of while diving but it made the boat crew's job much easier. You lose sight of bubbles very easily and if you do get separated by a couple of hundred metres in rough sea it can be very difficult to spot the heads because you have no idea which direction to look. Keeping track of marker buoys is a whole lot easie

Vinod Khosla: Setting The Story Straight

To my surprise, this morning I found myself cited by the Wall Street Journal as a strong advocate of subsidies for food-based ethanol, and as a recipient of "federal dole" who ought to "take a vow of embarrassed silence." While I appreciate the Journal's foray into fiction writing (and I'd love to discuss my status on the dole with my accountant, who recently filed my taxes), I would like to clarify a few of the facts and offer a more rounded view of biofuels and ethanol in general. A few fact

Understanding Salary Caps and Why The NFL opted out

OK, maybe I can't say for certain why the NFL opted out of their current CBA. But what I can speak to is the problem with salary caps as they are structured in the NHL, NFL and NBA, so that sports fans can understand why the NFL is doing what it is doing and why it could and probably will happen in any league governed by a salary cap. The basic structure of a salary cap is that the revenues of the league are aggregated into a total pool, call it football, basketball or hockey related income. E

Staying Motivated With Personal Finance

As we all know, mastering or even just managing our personal financial situations is a long and tedious road. We make decisions that affect our personal financial situation several times each day. From the clothes we wear to the car we drive, to the lunch we eat..it all affects our finances. Whether we like to think about it or not, we cannot escape the reality that we will never be completely free from the day to day management of our finances. The increasing stack of bills piling up in the m

THE FINTAG NEWSLETTER @ 23 May 2008

FINTAG COMMENT Doctor Who? One of the UK's endearing and probably oldest running TV show features a Scotsman pretending to be an English Doctor who jumps between time in an old police box. Nobody knows his real name either. Being in such good company, I know what it is to live a lie. Hedge Fund managers are unable to market themselves in the same way as a retail mutual fund and so have to live behind password protected websites and office suites with no name on the door. Over the years the wor

Why Do You Need A Critical Illness Insurance?: In Critical Insurance We Get All Expenses Of Medicals ,mortgage Insurance Quotes Is A Insurance In Which We Claim In Cases Of Critical Illness, Death

We may all live longer these days but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan for unforeseen events; which is why it is essential so insurance quotes be considered from a young age. After all, you are providing for the financial needs of your family in the future if something untoward happens where you will no longer be around to help them in person. Studies have shown there is a strong possibility that at some stage in your life you will suffer from a critical illness so most of the insurance quo

Why Do You Need A Critical Illness Insurance?: In Critical Insurance We Get All Expenses Of Medicals ,mortgage Insurance Quotes Is A Insurance In Which We Claim In Cases Of Critical Illness, Death

We may all live longer these days but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan for unforeseen events; which is why it is essential so insurance quotes be considered from a young age. After all, you are providing for the financial needs of your family in the future if something untoward happens where you will no longer be around to help them in person. Studies have shown there is a strong possibility that at some stage in your life you will suffer from a critical illness so most of the insurance quo

Why Do You Need A Critical Illness Insurance?: In Critical Insurance We Get All Expenses Of Medicals ,mortgage Insurance Quotes Is A Insurance In Which We Claim In Cases Of Critical Illness, Death

We may all live longer these days but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan for unforeseen events; which is why it is essential so insurance quotes be considered from a young age. After all, you are providing for the financial needs of your family in the future if something untoward happens where you will no longer be around to help them in person. Studies have shown there is a strong possibility that at some stage in your life you will suffer from a critical illness so most of the insurance quo

Timing, GINA is Law and the Future of Genomic Medicine

So some very important things came to pass today. All of these things will have a major impact on the future of Genomic Medicine. First and foremost....I have a delivery system for Personalized Medicine. Physician based care is the only way for this future. It may not be sexy enough for Kleiner Perkins, but we have some very strong allies now. After the best meeting I have had in my career so far I headed to a very quiet space for the webinar. The webinar is a demonstration of how powerful th

Dad Update - 5/20

Well, I cant say good or bad yet. Dad was to have surgery last Thursday, but had some urgent complications taken care of before his surgery. They got to the hospital on Sunday (Mother's Day), and on Monday someone came in and requested to look in his month. Well see in the past he had Endocarditis. Its to do with bacterial infection causing damage to the heart valves, and hence his heart surgery in 2004 for him to have a heart valve put in. Well, its actually blood poisoning, so they wanted to c

Good Mom

Cathy’s been on my list of "good moms" for a variety of reasons, but this post adds another jewel to her crown. Her child missed a day of school for reasons beyond her control, and she was advised by the school to "just say that he’s sick" next time. In a day when attendance policies are already rigid enough to cause even the best parents some consternation, having the school tell parents to just lie about it is entirely counterproductive. See, it’s stuff like that that got us into the overbe

Santa Cruz Mountain Wildfires

The smell of wildfire is slowly permeating our home this morning. “I thought I smelled burned toast,” my daughter tells me. I feel my chest tightening and take an extra puff of my inhaler before we get our shoes on for our mile walk up and down the hill to school. When I open the front door to the foggy morning â€" the air is so still, it’s eerie - the acid smell makes my nose wrinkle up. I try not to breathe deeply and wonder if we should really be driving, to avoid inhaling this contami

Early Detection And Breast Cancer

It is generally accepted that by the time a cancer is found by mammography or palpated during a clinical breast exam, the cancer has been growing for 8-10 years. What if we could have been alerted to the problem as it was developing, rather than wait till it is large enough to be seen by the naked eye? Would that be of interest to you? There exists a technology that can detect an issue YEARS before a tumor can be seen on X-ray or palpated during an exam. This technology has been approved by th

10 Tips for Minimizing Life Insurance Costs

After my friend's husband died last week, I wrote about figuring out how much life insurance you need and what kind of policy you should get. Since I've hopefully spurred at least some of you to get new policies if you need them, I figured I'd better share some tips for saving money on your premiums: Buy term. - It's much more affordable than whole life. (But find out why you may want or need a whole life policy.) Shop around. - While you want to make sure you get coverage with a reputable compa

I Suppose I Should Buy Life Insurance Now…

Up until now, there are two reasons I don’t have any privately-bought life insurance. For one, as I’ve mentioned nobody is actually dependent on my income. Wife is doing fine, don’t have any kids yet. We also have 1x annual salary’s worth of life insurance as a benefit from our employers, and she’ll get all my retirement account funds if something happens to me. The other reason is that I know that life insurance is priced based on tiers of health, and I’ve been secretly thinking that I can bac

Go ahead, ask.

Go ahead, ask. How much does it cost to spend an hour and a half in the ER? 2905.48. That’s not including the doctor who bills separately. I have two choices according to the hospital. Pay lots of money each month for nine months, or a little each month for three f’ing years. I’m making a third choice; when i get my tax refund next year, it’s going to whittle down the bill. I make one thousand more per year than the max to qualify for the poor people’s program that pays the bill for you. I

Underwater Fantasea

I wanted to take a more serious look at underwater photography, so I did! I LOVE WATER! I also love photography and I’ve always wanted to mix the two. After much research I decided to go with the Fantasea Underwater Housing for my older Nikon D70 DSLR camera. Sure I’ve got newer better cameras like my D300, but none that I was willing risk taking underwater for the first time (even with the included flood insurance). If I lost my D70 it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but if I lost my D300

What You Need To Know When Getting An Auto Loan: Automotive Acounting Software Program Will Provide Details For What You Need To Get An Auto Loan.

Although some people have enough money to buy a car from savings, the vast majority of us will have to arrange some form of finance like an auto loan if we want a nice new car. Most people are unaware but a car loan is a secured loan on the car being purchased; the security required for the loan will reduce as the risk decreases with each monthly premium. After checking out how much your budget is you can start looking for cars within that price range and this is where the internet can help as

beating the drum

I know that I beat the ACTH drum loud & often. But the fact is...ACTH is day by day proving to be our miracle drug. Trevor's seizures have now been in remission for FIVE MONTHS! He is by no means *out of the woods* - as his continued abnormal brain waves reveal. And every day the back of my mind wriggles reminding me that the relapse rate is 50%. And that Trevor's risk is higher based on his subclinical activity. And I also know that ACTH fails 50% of the time. I have friends who have gain

Changes

Over the last few weeks I’ve really been rethinking a lot of the choices I’ve made during my previous two births. They were very different, and neither was what I wanted/want. With Alaina I was entirely too trusting of doctors instead of my own body, which resulted in an almost 19 hour labor with both narcotic and epidural pain relief, pitocin, and a fever for which I had to be treated on IV antibiotics before I was allowed to go home. My body just wasn’t ready and as a first time mom you don

THE FINTAG NEWSLETTER @ 20 May 2008

FINTAG COMMENT And now I am a passenger too. We have had some fun with GLG, but now the joke is on us. 130/30 funds, which are by there very nature a long only fund with short bits to help dullard long only managers move into the 21st Century, are in my book a complete farce. GLG are also a farcical hedge fund manager with a chaotic management structure and its star trader leaving for Switzerland. Well now the 'twixt shall meet. Today we look at 2 million leaving the UK, Buffet buying hand bag

Lessons Learned by Being Laid Off

On Friday, May 9, one of the vice presidents walked into my office and fired me. Little did I know that I was the second casualty of five (10% of the staff) to be laid off on that Black Friday. I’m headed to a better life with my own solo law firm. I have a small, growing client base, and new opportunities pop up every day. But I want to highlight a couple things I learned by being laid off. It was unexpected, shocking, surreal, and enraging. Here is what it taught me: Maintain your teeth L

emergency!

So, this is the whole story of what happened . . . Two weeks ago yesterday I woke up with extremely violent and painful stomach cramps, which got so bad that I went to emergency at a private hospital the next day. They took an x-ray of my abdomen, told me I had gastroenteritis (even though I had none of the other usual symptoms that accompany gastroenteritis) and sent me home with an enema and a special diet. By Friday I was in such agony that I couldn’t even eat anymore and went back to

It can be done!

We’re going to look at immigration today â€" but, to segue a moment, I’m listening to John McCrusty on CNN and I’ve discovered something … I can’t bear the sound of his voice; I can’t look at him, either. He and Dubby are morphing in my senses like a huge, gelatinous blob of primordial ooze â€" something you want to blow into a hanky and dispose of quickly. His speeches are ill-crafted, simplistic, bombastic and accusatory, and he’s clumsy in delivery. The stink of hypocrisy rolls off him when he i

Northern Virginia Long Term Care Insurance - Why You Need It Now

Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Insurance is a fairly recent phenomenon, due in part to the rapidly aging yet longer-living population, retirement planning of the "baby boomers", and quickly escalating long-term health and medical costs that aren't typically covered by traditional health insurance or Medicare. This type of insurance is especially helpful for those who develop disabilities or chronic (long-lasting) illnesses later in life. Long-term care services range from home- and community-based services to services provided in an assisted living, retirement or nursing facility - though these services are increasingly difficult to find and pay for in the fast-growing Northern Virginia counties of Loudoun, Fairfax and Arlington, much like other "close-in" suburban areas near major metropolitan centers.

Low Cost Health Insurance - Did You Consider These?

Did you consider all you should have while shopping for low cost health insurance? I’ll explore a few things you’ll do well to consider if you are really serious about reducing cost. Here they are… 1. There are state plans for kids that will save you much if you get them for your children. There are conditions that must be fulfilled before you are considered qualified for such. They will either be totally free or require very little payment so check to see if you are eligible. These state pla

Obama Speaks in Billings, MT

A transcription of Barack Obama’s speech from Billings, Montana as broadcast by Fox News: {Snarky remarks all mine.} Intros and thank yous not transcribed. There were those who said, ‘why are you running so soon? You can afford to wait.’ And I had to explain, I’m not running because of some long-held ambition or because I think it’s something I owed to me, I’m running because of what Dr. King called ‘the fierce urgency of now’ - the fierce urgency of now. And what he meant by that was there

Swimming in red tape

Andy Burnham should try it Labour minister Burnham wants us to get fit, he wants to trumpet the new sports facilities that they have made available for us, he’ll probably want to come to South Shields when Cllr. Iain Malcolm finds a developer to build our own super sea front water park swimming pool. Yet looking at this, council swimming pools are shutting at the rate of seven a month, with the mendacious excuse of under use generally cited as the reason for closure. They appear to be under u

Dental Insurance Plans Why Are They Necessary?

Dental Insurance Plans Why Are They Necessary? Daniel Millions If you are considering signing up for a dental plan, you probably first of all asked yourself whether it is really that important to do so and why. If you have a family and especially children, then, you just have to consider the amount of money that regular check-ups at the dentist’s take up every year, and this will motivate you to think of it seriously. With dental plans, it is possible to drastically cut off on these costs. D

Live in Your Investment

Live in Your Investment Posted by Brett Carman on 5/14/2008 at 9:27 AM Posted in Real Estate I am constantly trying to help my clients come up with creative ways to buy and sell real estate. When I get the type of client that I think would be interested, we talk about how a great way to get into real estate investing is to buy an income producing property that you can utilize for yourself, too! Whether you want to buy a residential or commercial property, you can get more favorable bank

Hunt For The Best Car Insurance

Hunt For The Best Car Insurance May 18, 2008 â€" 6:37 pm by Steve Johnson Car insurance can be a major expense, and we all want the best deal. But not every one knows how to find the best car insurance offers. They look for cheap auto insurance, but cheap isn’t necessarily a good value. If you wind up with inadequate coverage, that cheap insurance is going to turn out to be very expensive. If you want to get the best price on car insurance without giving up protection and peace of mind you nee

Be a Winner or a Loser, it’s Your Choice

The stock market is impartial as to whether you are a success or a failure in your share trading. The only person who cares (Apart from your bank manager) should be you. For it is only by the choices and decisions that you make in the future which will determine your success or demise in the share market. We will be dealing with realities today and actual truths. No pulling punches or soft soap. Just harsh plain facts. This article is about Choices or Decisions. Call them what you will, but

So You’re Thinking About Investing in Property

So You’re Thinking About Investing in Property   With the excess supply of properties on the market and prices in decline, maybe you’re one of the lucky few who can turn lemons into lemonade by taking advantage of the housing market downturn. For example, maybe you’ve got a walletful of spare change and you’re thinking about buying an investment property to rent out. Before you do, there are a few major things you should consider before taking the leap. First off, you’ll need to figure out ho

How to find a good visitor health insurance policy

by C. Ray Sondeo When we head out on vacation we do it to relax and get away from the hassles in life. The trouble there is that we don’t always leave trouble at home, sometimes it comes with us in the form of illness or injury. If the thought of this bothers you, then you probably want to find a visitors insurance policy. Visitors Insurance policies are like most other insurance policies. With the difference being that visitor insurance is for a set time period during vacations or travel. Thi

Tips On Finding The Right Visitor Health Insurance Policy

Tips On Finding The Right Visitor Health Insurance Policy by C. Ray Sondeo When we head out on vacation we do it to relax and get away from the hassles in life. The trouble there is that we don’t always leave trouble at home, sometimes it comes with us in the form of illness or injury. If the thought of this bothers you, then you probably want to find a visitors insurance policy. Insurance coverage for visitors is similar to other insurance coverage. The only real difference is that visitor i

are your car tires safe

are your car tires safe May 17th, 2008 Are Your Car Tires Safe? Writen by Joseph Kenny Do you know most of the car accidents are caused because of one or the other fault in the car tires? Most of the car accident reimbursement that the car owners have to pay to the accident victims or the loss they have to incur in terms of insurance money they get is all due to fault in car tires. So, when you go out to buy a car then with all the factors like performance, brand, price, appearance, comfort

Dubya Discovers Good Government?

(Completely tongue-in-cheek headline; don’t worry.) As I’ve noted in the past, one of the advantages (if you can call it that) of reading the Bucks County Courier Times is that you’re alerted to the very latest in wingnuttia, and the paper didn’t disappoint again recently, republishing this column from Cokie and Steve Roberts. And isn’t it such a shame â€" boo hoo! â€" that Dubya is sooo unhappy that “his proposals have died on Capitol Hill”? I’m sure “no one could have predicted” how that would h

John McCain: Messiah!

Johnny On-The-Make McCain gave a long speech in Ohio the other day, telling any Republican who would listen that he is the way and the light and the truth who will lead them from the wilderness of ethical filth they’ve chosen to live in since 1994 and that he will save the country in the process. He foretold the future, this balding little prophet. It’s an old messianic trick. Tell ‘em about tomorrow and make it look good so they will forget about the misery of today. Johnny wants to use it t

Fun week... learn about economics, Part V! by gimleteye

It's the end of our week of learning, and you've been a very good class! But mostly quiet. It's OK. I understand. On a fundamental level, people really don't want to know the full scale of the economic disaster unfolding in the United States. There are very powerful forces at work to keep happy faces on grim statistics. For instance, the US equity markets seem unfazed by the credit crisis. Any bit of news that is not as bad as it might have been is seen as a cause for optimism. And yet, in thi

UGH!

*bitching will ensue... please disregard if you're having a bad day* I'm in SUCH a hair rut right now! I'm not happy with my hair (for no good reason). It's you know, there, doing its thing... but it's gotten to that in-between point where it's no longer short but not quite long... and I'm at a loss. I can sorta put it up in a messy ponytail, which I'm sure looks horrible, but i could care less, quite frankly. I guess I should do a braidout or something. Plus I really want a proper haircut, but

Stock Analysis Coming Up

Hey everyone, I’d like to apologize for the lack of articles being posted here lately.  The new baby in the house really puts  a damper on things as far as “extra time” goes. So here is what I’ve been up to financially: Mining For Money I have a great analysis of a killer mining stock coming up.  It’s actually almost ready for you to read, but it has gotten rather lengthy and in-depth and I’m still not quite finished.  You’ll thank me for it later…if you don’t fall asleep reading it! Rental

Is Cheap Life Insurance Really A Sensible Option

Is Cheap Life Insurance Really A Sensible Option Darryl Scott The term ‘Cheap life insurance’ is to some extent a difficult statement to define. The term can mean that they are the cheapest quotes in their category of cover, but that can mean that it is very expensive but the cheapest available option. Some articles claim that it is out there but that depends on what you consider is the best option. If one accepts the maxim that you get what you have paid for, does this mean that you are unde

Budget views

There is heaps of commentary on the Budget on a myriad of different websites - a couple I found of interest are here, here and here. Rather than write my views about it in detail here, I’ll just reproduce a speech I made in the Senate today during a debate (of sorts) about the Budget. I won’t add more to it now, beyond saying that I think that a lot of the rhetoric about the Budget’s impact on wider economic factors like inflation and interest rates is mostly overblown. I was bit surprised/dis

Long-Term Care Insurance - Why It's Important

Long-Term care insurance is usually the last type of insurance to get. Some of the reasons for this are that no one wants to think of themselves needing help with bathing, eating, etc. It is very easy to procrastinate or hope that your savings will be sufficient to meet any associated expenses that will occur. Long-Term care costs are increasing rapidly with the average cost of a Nursing home at over $70,000/year. Long-term care is typically by those who are frail and elderly, but statistics show that long-term care is required by anyone with a debilitating illness or injury who needs assistance to perform what is considered everyday functions, such as feeding oneself, bathing and getting dressed.

The good times are over? What good times?

We all want change and we all want Our Country back The Bank of England is warning the nation, Our Nation that the good times are over and that we had better prepare ourselves for a time of austerity. First of all what good times? There have been no good times in this nation for a long, long time. The British Public are nothing more than milk cows being farmed on an Island Prison for the benefit of the "elite" and to help pay, along with the rest of the White Western World for the creation of

LCA-Vision (LCAV): Possible Value Trap

LCA-Vision (LCAV): Possible Value Trap Posted by Davy Bui on May 14th, 2008 in Stock Research I’m sure many of you are saying “No duh, Davy! The stock’s only down 10% today after cutting the dividend.” But I’ve actually been looking at this stock for a few months now. Generally, I usually don’t post about stocks on my watchlist unless they get added to the portfolio. That said, I bring up LCAV (and don’t forget HRZ) as a reminder of the importance of avoiding mistakes as opposed to the al

Musings in traffic

As I was driving to work this morning, late as usual, I discovered that some idiot decided to turn on the ramp meter to the freeway.  For those of you who have not had experienced a metered on ramp let me explain… There is a stop light that makes you stop right before getting on the freeway.  I am sure it is supposed to help traffic or some other BS like that.  What it really does is force you to floor it to try to match the speed of the cars already on the freeway to be able to merge without

Reader Mail: How Do I Reduce Investment Fees?

It has been a while since I’ve opened up the mail bag to share. This time around, I received an email from Jeff looking for advice on how to reduce his investment fees. Here is the email: How do you go about investing in stocks without attracting fees. As it stands now - I give my money every month to a financial advisor and they invest my money for me. Now, my question is - I could go and invest in BMO or something else through my advisor - but I also cringe at the fees that I am likely to

The Best Way to Find the Most Affordable Life Insurance to Fit Your Needs

The Best Way to Find the Most Affordable Life Insurance to Fit Your Needs It is difficult to find which is the most suitable and affordable insurance to purchase from the numerous insurance policies available. Life insurance provides a source of income for the family to cope with the loss of income in the event of insurer’s death. This is a great help in taking care of the expenses and in paying of bills and final expenses. You have to understand how the insurance works for your benefit. Life

Quit Smoking, For You, Your Family and Your Wallet!

Quit Smoking, For You, Your Family and Your Wallet! Just think of how much money you are spending on cigarettes. $3, $4, $6 a PACK? That is a lot for one pack of cigarettes. Now, how many packs do you go through a day? One, two, three, maybe more? If you smoked a pack a day, in one year you would spend almost $2000. Yes, Two Thousand dollars. Over $3600 if you smoked two packs a day. Sticker shock? What would you do with an “extra” $2000 dollars. Go on vacation with your family? Get th

I want to scare my parents with a suicide “attempt” what should i do to ensure no perm damage to me?

get really really drunk so that your not passed out but youre all f*cked up lie on the floor with a bottle of pills have fun dude Answer: I am sorry you are so unhappy. There are other more effective ways to get your parents to take you seriously. Be up front with your parents. Let them see your emotions. Cry if you are sad about how they are treating you. If you feel you can't talk to your parents, talk to your school guidance counselor about how you wish to “attempt” suicide. Please choos

A Happy Mother’s Day Greeting from Social Services

Two women, Michelle Hammond, and Lynn Sears, accompanied by a sheriff, Deputy Kemmerling, drove up to the house in two white cars, one a patrol car and the other a government vehicle. They asked to see Arthur, my son. Arthur is 30, but disabled. Arthur had left to take a short constitutional after having lunch, he had then been gone for about 15 minutes. I told them he would be back shortly and went inside, leaving them to wait on the driveway. The house is a cabin located in a small subdivisi

AIG Slumps…If One Believes in Numbers

Beware of companies that find new ways to value assets while they’re sinking. Where have we heard this story before? A company loses a bundle of money due to depressed values for its assets, and it says those valuations don’t really count. That’s what has happened to American International Group Inc. today in its conference call, and not for nothing, but instead of bouncing in the aftermath of the company’s chat with analysts, the stock is tailing off, lately hitting its worst level of the d

Sam Friedman on Climate Disclosure

It’s a little crazy at the day job, so I’d expect my posting to continue to be somewhat erratic until a couple of projects quiet down a little. However, I did want to pop up to mention that Sam Friedman has an interesting article up, written by Charles Chamness, discussing the campaign to get insurers to disclose climate change risk as part of public disclosure. One section of the article strikes a chord with me: Earlier this year, the task force released a draft Climate Risk Disclosure Pro

Marketized Health Care: Some Horrible Choices at the Margin

When I was in grad school in England, one of the dorms had a radiator that required the user to insert pound coins into a slot for heat. I found this bizarre at the time. . . but perhaps it will be a model for hospitals soon. As an article entitled "Cash Before Chemo" suggests, IV drips may as well include credit card readers in some hospitals: [For the effectively uninsured Mrs. Kelly,] [c]hemotherapy would continue for more than a year, as would requests for upfront payments. At times, she a

Reader Story: Beware of Scams and Pyramid Schemes

In the past, I’ve shared the story of the worst job I ever had. In a lot of ways, it felt like I was part of a pyramid scheme or multi-level marketing operation. I’ve been approached to participate in similar operations since then: once by my veterinarian (?!?) and once by a stranger in a book store. Sometimes you cannot tell a scam is a scam until you see it up close, and then the sunk-cost fallacy will sometimes force you to make a poor choice. GRS reader Bozemblem recently sent me this story

With Friends Like These

our family feels truly blessed indeed. I may have mentioned, once or twice in passing, that Parker is a VERY expensive kid. It has become rather the norm for us to find little surprises in our mailbox telling us that we owe ANOTHER $1,200 or (ah!) SEVEN THOUSAND dollars in medical fees. It seems as though Reed and I made a major technical error in paying each bill as it came in since Parker was a newborn. Because now, when the savings are dry, the fundraising coffers are bare, and our chec

Fear Stops You From Starting A Home Business

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Coberly replies:

absolutely right. no one ought to try to live on SS who isn't already pretty good at living on nothing. but that's pretty much the point: SS is insurance... you set aside the least amount of money you can in order to guarantee at least the lowest possible standard of living you can stand "if all else fails." and it turns out that for a lot of people who never thought it would happen to them, all else does fail. as for the greater returns from equities etc. yep. that's the risk premium. i

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By Jeff Smith of Portland, Oregon. Jeff is a longshore worker and the president of the International Longshore Workers Union Local 8. As a longshore worker, I have been loading and unloading cars, steel, lumber, containers and “you name it” at the Port of Portland since 1980. I am proud to be a member of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and to serve as the president of ILWU Local 8 here in Portland. And I have to say that today is a great day to be a Longshore worker in this co

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PDB's Friday News Report

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