Pandora Pandemic- Praise for Deathguard army
Hey Shawn,
The Pandora’s army special Deathguard arrived today. I must say that I am impressed with the final product. The army arrived in near perfect condition ( just needed to spot glue an Obliterator arm and the Daemon Princes Torso). A hearty thank you to Blue Table on a job that went well above my expectations. I am eagerly awaiting my next order and will use you guys for all my future projects.
Thanx Again,
J
Clunk for Cashers
The realy enemy is the lack of understanding of basic (basic) economic principles. The most basic one is:
There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Here’s my take on this program, if you care. The cash for clunkers program is that someone shows up with a qualifying car (a clunker) at a dealer. They get a credit for the car and they buy a new one. The clunker is destroyed and the dealer gets a reimbursement from the federal government.
What is the net effect here?
1) new debt is created, assuming most people take out a loan for the new car. This benefits the banks.
2) since the old car (which still works) is destroyed, it reduces the supply of low-end cars, which I believe will make the cost of a used car go up. Who does this hurt? It hurts people who are in the market for a cheap used car. That’s me by the way. I bought my car for less than $1000. That’s all I could afford.
3) The vouchers have to be reimbursed by the government. Where do you suppose that money comes from? Ultimately, money is siphoned out of the private sector through one of three means: Taxation, Inflation (printing of money) or Public Debt. In the end it comes out of the pocket of the common man. That’s you, yes you. You’ll be buying your corn flakes and they’ll be a little more expensive because A) the company that produces them will have an increased tax burden, B) the dollar is worth less than it was (because of money introduced into the system by the Cash for Clunkers program), or C) tax increases to pay back interest on money borrowed from foreign governments.
The $4500 vouchers someone happily got at the car lot (thinking it was a free lunch) will ultimately be spread around to the populace.
All this is part of the federal government’s War ON Independence. People must not be allowed to live their lives peacably, humbly and debt-free.
I’ve noticed that food is not off limits. I predict you will see more and more “food crises” where the government must step in to be sure our food is safe. As people get crushed the feds will raid local farms and small producers in the name of food safety.
But this is really about control.
Imperial Guard Strike Force
This is one of the armies we did during the July run of the Pandora’s army special. It’s a 2000 pt Imperial Guard army. I am currently running this special until further notice. So bring it on.
Human Tooth
My wife and I were watching a Swartzenegger flick on TV and we conked out on the couch. I shuffled my darling wife (wiped out from three days of camping with three kids– tons of relatives around, though) off to bed. I woke at 1am and got to work. By the time I went back to sleep I was all caught up.
At one point I was listening to one of Regina Spektor’s more fast-paced songs and I realized I was typing in double time to the beat as if the keyboard were a piano. I was really on a roll! I type 80wpm without errors, and can go faster.
I was pretty much caught up at work. Just twiddling my thumbs to set up projects. Come on people, let’s go. Remember, you can get a Pandora’s army that is awesome and happy for $850 (1500 pts). I don’t think you can beat that. We provide everything; do all the footwork.
I got into trouble today by letting my boredom turn into a project: cleaning and organizing the assembly room. You can imagine how many bitz we have left over. We have enough extra parts to make a Space Marine army, for sure. We totally rearranged the place. Swept and filled about two large black trash cans with detritus. Everything ship shape.
I am reading the planetstrike book. I’m looking to get in a game this week.
I’m setting up the next round of Pandora’s armies if anyone is interested.
It was Sundae Monday but I forgot to bring the camera, sorry to say. I will have vids of other sorts up tomorrow.
From a poisoned fount comes forth bitter water
A reader sent in this article:
http://rushkoff.com/2009/07/31/bank-bonuses-carpet-bag/
And here’s another one about private health insurance:
http://www.doublex.com/section/news-politics/health-insurance-woes-my-22000-bill-having-baby
We pay about $424 a month for ours, but it has an astronomical deductible of $10,000 a year. We saved up and paid out of pocket for Willow. About $2600 at a birth home. She had complications that set us back another couple a thousand. We found the hospital very reasonable with a payment plan with very modest installments.
I think the solution is more supply. The free market is not being allowed to operate. Birth homes, Care Clinics. There you go. Let the man do his job.
Death Korps Spreadsheet Up
Now more inclusive. I was suprised to find about forty different kits produced for this range. This is easily the most extensive Imperial Guard set outside of Cadians.
http://www.bluetablepainting.com/view_files.php?download_categoryID=7
You’ve got to do a right-click then “save target as” thing.
If you want to play around with that.
Myth of the Rational Market: progress
I am about halfway through my new book. I thought it would be the opposite of books I’ve been reading (about free markets and sound money and economics 101) but it’s really not. Just a different sort of thing. It’s a history of Wall Street and the various money theories to come through. It’s a hard read with a lot of names. It’s like reading an index to an encyclopedia… something like that.
It’s full of things like “binomial market operations” or whatever. I don’t understand half of it, but I’m getting the general vibe of things.
If anything there is some convergence. More on this later.
Newthink
I’ve been thinking outside the box a lot recently. What if everything I’ve been taught is wrong?
For example:
When you want to start a small business the first stop is the bank because they’ll provide the money. WRONG! A bank loan is a killer for a small business. Get private investors if you have to, or even better yet, just shoestring it for a few years until you can amass capital and customers.
Here’s another one:
Invest money for retirement so you can live off the interest. WRONG? The banking/investing system is more likely to destroy the value of your investment; the government is devaluing the dollar at a faster rate than the interest you will earn. What about actually creating a cache of all the physical materials you will need, as well as items that will be of intrinsic value (to trade or cash-in later). This will proof your stash from government looting.
I’m thinking of writing a short book. Basically, how to disconnect from the system as much as possible without becoming a caveman or a hippie. A different way of living. And then keep track of it so you can see if I’m eating dog food in my old age.
Is it possible to live in the city limits, in a nice home and still have the self-sufficiency of a mountain man?
Be Still My Soul
My wife has been out of town at a family reunion. I stayed home with our four-year-old son. I limited my hours at the studio to about three a day. I suppose this is as close to a day off as I ever get. What am I talking about? I get a solid day off every week; Sunday.
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It was great to get one-on-one time with my young son. Without his siblings around it was a completely more relaxed experience. We went out on all sorts of adventures (read: errands) and I taught him how to do the dishes. I took him to work with me (both slow days). We got matching haircuts. We made jello. I am just full to the brim with joy and satisfaction.
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Last night we went on a walk. That means I walk, and he rides his little tricycle. He’s learned to use the hand brake on it and his favorite part of the walk is a downward sloping section of sidewalk, about a quarter block long, that he speeds down then makes a controlled turn at the bottom.
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So, we’re walking along and he stops suddenly, looks back and points out a squashed spider on the sidewalk. He backs up. “Daddy, look, I crushed-ed a spider!”
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“Yeah, you sure did.”
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He puts his little hands on his cheeks. “Oh no! I did not mean to crushed-ed him!” He’s quite distraught and begins to explain to me that “spiders are our friends outdoors!”
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I learned later that his mother told him that spiders are our friends as long as they are outside.
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This morning I woke up around 4am, my mind reeling with worry and fretting. More than usual; layers upon layers. It was a confused and crowded jumble. All I could do was pray with my whole mind, and try to think about positive things. I put on some Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I think that calmed the waves. Whew.
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PS- as usual I am constrained to make my usual disclaimer: I do not consider myself a good person. I always wince a little when I put up this sort of post. I don’t want it to be a preachment. As Peter said, I am subject to like passions as other men. This sentiment is amplified by the occasional email I get from a young person who thinks that I am some sort of role model. There are better role models out there!