My Ebola Vaccine Conspiracy Theory

This shows my current level of mistrust in not only the large evildoer-drug-makers but also their media and political puppets.  Here are my original thoughts on an Ebola Vaccination Conspiracy…

It all started when the first guy came to the U.S. for treatment (Dr. So-and-so) and this is before there were any infections on U.S soil.  This is when it was just that doctor who made news by coming home to Atlanta for treatment.   I thought… “Hmm.. not the best idea.  And where is the CDC in this decision?”  “Can’t we treat him elsewhere, like somewhere safe?” * (See below for *)

And I noticed, politicians, media, etc. saying “Oh, there is absolutely no risk.”  I actually thought, “Huh.  Big difference from the message we received about H1N1”.   When H1N1 (swine flu) was the rage, oh seriously, everyone absolutely must get the vaccine.  You could die!  Wasn’t it Biden who said he told his grandchildren to stay off planes and subways to avoid the swine flu!  Scare!  Scare!  PANIC!!!  But with Ebola, the message is “Don’t worry.  There is a very, very inconceivable chance of this ever spreading.  Really there is almost no chance what-so-evah.”

And oh by the way, there is no vaccine.

Well here is the conspiracy:

If an evildoer had a vaccine for Ebola and wanted to be filthy filthy rich… hey they know it works because they actually cured a few people in Africa… then, they should they just make the vaccine, ship it en mass to the Congo, eradicate the virus and be happy with that?  No.  Dr. Evil would first let the U.S. get a taste of Ebola.  Put some fear into a country with some real money.  Focus on the big prize.  Then introduce the vaccine, but only after making sure that all U.S. citizens felt the urgency to be vaccinated.

This would require some hushing, but it is conceivable.  All you have to say is “our experimental drug is effective, but not tested, not approved.”

Would someone have the thought of cashing in like this and would it be possible?  The first answer is yes.  Because if I was able to think of this, then so did someone else.  I feel confident in that.  Would it be possible?  Yeah, I think it’s possible.  With the right lobbyists, you easily promoted your H1N1 vaccine.  I don’t know if it is the same people, just an example.  But with the right amount of money you could conceivably and secretly cozy up to, lobby and own the head of the CDC.  Own his actions, then you have what you need to get Ebola into the U.S.

It actually makes some sense if you believe people are rational.   Otherwise, why wasn’t the Ebola patient, who died at Presbyterian Hospital, immediately sent instead to a secure treatment center?  Why on earth not?  That hospital was just a normal hospital not an infectious disease hospital.   What is the CDC for if they are not going to completely take care of something like this and do it immediately without anyone ever knowing there even was a threat?  They can’t see the potential threat in treating this Mr. Duncan in Dallas?

Just a possibility.   Let’s see if a vaccine is pushed on us soon.

* – quantify this risk… say it is a low probability of even a small outbreak, what is the cost, when you take the low probability and multiple it by the huge $ number known as the U.S.A.   If you are rational and if you are one to quantify your decisions, this is an easy call.  No way should the CDC take that risk.  This is their job!

Chrysler Town & Country – Door Locks Won’t Work

So, this is the deal. The van my wife uses for work has power door locks. It is a 2006 Town & Country. I decided to check the fuse before bringing it in to the dealer to get ripped off and after locating the fuse block, which is under the hood by the way, I just cannot figure out which fuse is for the power door locks. So I pulled this fuse called IOD. Ignition something or other and it is a 20amp fuse on the driver’s side front of the fuse block. Anyway, I check, it is fine, so I put it back in. Voilà. Now everything works again. I guess it reset the computer or something! Good news. Right on!

How to Measure Inflation

So I am reading the WSJ and I find that Bernanke is again making headlines. Read the first two paragraphs of this.

So, even the WSJ says inflation is up because Food and Energy prices are up. Wait, we don’t count food and energy in our inflation figures…. Then the Beranke says it is up to developing nations to control their own inflation. Oh, now I see. He means that if they exclude food and energy from their inflation figures, that everything will be alright for their nation too. Smart guy that Bernanke.

The Walmart Greeter

Listen. I used to think that a small amount of inflation was OK, even beneficial because it would help us with long term debt problems. (Pay today’s bills with tomorrow’s dollars) But then, someone challenged me on that and I really started to think about it. And, wow, if you stop to think about it. It is definitely not ok. It is to someone’s benefit and to someone else’s disadvantage. I will write more later on how I think it is a zero sum game.

Inflation is not necessarily to your benefit, as it obviously depends on your financial situation, and it is definitely not to the benefit of someone that you know — a close friend or relative, maybe even a parent. This we can be sure of: someone you know is getting screwed on this 2% inflation deal.

So if we are the greatest country on earth, and we are, then why do we even need this currency manipulation? Let’s play it straight up, zero percent, quit stealing from the poor (and giving to the banks?). A target of 2% inflation is not a fair policy to the poor and uninformed or to anyone who is a saver.

Ahh, but deflation is bad. Very bad. We need a 2% inflation target to give us a cushion against the evils of deflation. Think about that and then read this. Deflation can be good.

Think about this. Walmart is like a small country. Thier greeters are the poor people.

Here is a series of facebook entries I made last week. The italics are added comments for this post:

1. I remember thinking/talking about “if there was inflation, who would benefit first?” (as it propogates through the economy) and that was a useful thought… But, now I have been thinking, “Who benefits last?” and I believe the answer is POOR PEOPLE. It is Mr. Walmart Greeter, who lives paycheck-to-paycheck and because of a 10% unemployment rate, faces no prospects of a raise, yet pays 2% more for food and shelter.

 It is more than 2% if you include food and energy. Why wouldn’t you include food and energy? Poor people spend a light higher proportion of their income on food and energy. It counts.

2. If the Fed says they have a target of 2% inflation, then that means they are stealing 2% from America’s poor working class.

I will add that it is not stealing from America’s working class, it is stealing from the World’s poor and working class.

3. Hmmm… they protest about the rise in “fuel and food prices”. Just another Walmart Greeter, making the same wage but paying more. Clearly, it was their prime minister’s fault though and not our Fed.
International Riots because of inflation.

So, if you are a democracy and you are set up to run your country like us, you might have people who can manipulate your currency so that your food and energy prices don’t soar. But, good luck with that. Also, is it the Walmart Greeter’s fault that he hasn’t affected his own money so that he can afford his food and energy? That is like the Fed saying, hey I know I just punched you in the face, but, you should have moved.

4. This isn’t really funny. I like funny better. I post it because it agrees with what I believe is happening.

Inflation Manipulation

5. Not a post on FB. And now in the WSJ we have an article about how the Fed is not responsible for causing inflation (and riots,deaths?) in small foreign countries. Read this:

Rioting about food.

So, we have a President, and many, many other Hollywood stars, who are/were embarassed of the United States. Go figure. These policies are more of an embarassment then anything else.

So in closing, you can see that 2% to 4% annual inflation is really great…

The President Addresses the Nation

Some important news from President Obama:

“The President calls for a 5-year spending freeze that will reduce deficit by $400Bn over next 10 years ($40Bn a year?). I love these plans – somehow a freeze saves you money because you WOULD have spent $40Bn a year more but now you won’t.” (PSW)

I have not yet grasped the real meaning and consequences of our spending/money printing/borrowing from ourselves, but clearly a lot of thought went into the President’s plan. It must be very difficult to trim our spending from 3.83 T all the way back to 3.83 in only 10 years.

On the other hand, it would be very difficult to spend more than we already are!

Fed target of 2% inflation

Why Am I So Poor?

I remember thinking/talking about “if there was inflation, who would benefit first?” and that was a useful thought for personal investment purposes… But, now I have been thinking, “Who benefits last?” and I believe the answer is POOR PEOPLE. It is Mr. Walmart Greeter, who lives paycheck-to-paycheck and because of a 10% unemployment rate, faces no prospects of a raise, yet pays 2% more for food and shelter.

If the Fed says they have a target of 2% inflation, then that means they are stealing 2% from America’s poor working class.

It is a mathematical fact that the volume of money changes the value of the money. The question I pose above is exactly how does that dollar change value… it doesn’t happen all at once to every dollar. It takes some time to propagate through the world economy. Someone benefits first have more dollars (2% more) and they can spend them on goods that are at preinflation prices. And some poor (literally) fool benefits last, because he pays 2% more for his goods, but uses his same dollars… If you are in the class of “too poor to own Real Estate and don’t own TIPS”, then you lose. Sorry the Fed just stole your money. Really it wasn’t literally a theft, but it was an invisible transfer of wealth from you to someone richer than you.

And we wonder why the gap is widening between the rich and the poor.

Bernanke Double-Talk

The crack staff at 60 Minutes wasn’t able to remember the Bernanke double-speak when they did the interview last Sunday… but thankfully we still have Jon Stewart.

Big Ben Bernanke on 60 Minutes

Rocky Patel Vintage 1999

This is the smoothest smoke I have had. It is not overpowering, I think they list it as a mild-medium. You can smoke it when you are fishing, golfing, or just hanging out. It hits the spot, light on the pallet and the next day you won’t feel it coming out of your pores. If you are a Macanudo fan, try this one by Rocky, it is so much better.

If you are like 99% of cigar smokers, you will love this cigar. I opt for the 6 x 60 whenever it is available, but all of the vintage 99s are sweet.

Inflation

2% to 4% inflation is not a good thing for the real people of this country. The “real” people are the people who work for a wage. They are almost at their limits and they are the ones who are most affected by inflation as they try to save. These are the people who are just getting by. They are not math geniuses and economists who went to Princeton, Yale, Harvard. They don’t earn a lot of money, but what they do earn, they put in their time and they get very little in return. Inflation sucks for these people, this is an invisible tax on them. It is an outrage!

I will provide two examples for you.

The first comes from my mother-in-law, we’ll call her Mary Lou. Mary Lou has been a hard working mother her whole life. She raised 6 girls and 1 boy all on the salary of a secretary and sent them all off to college (if they were so inclined). She is frugal but incredibly generous and hard working. But, when it comes to money, do you think she considers that there is 2% to 4% stated rate of inflation as a target and that when she saves her money she should try to protect it from the erosive effects of inflation? No way. Like everyone else in her economic bracket, she has no idea. Inflation is not considered. She knows money ain’t what it used to be, but to her, it is not the money that changed, it is the stuff she has to buy. To her a $1 is still a $1 and that is all.

She recently became ill and the family discovered that she had saved a wad of cash in a drawer along with a wish list of things she wanted to do with it. Who knows how long it took her to save that money? It was probably years and years of saving, downright penny pinching, in order to result in that pile of cash in that drawer. She used to keep her house quite cold in the winter, especially while she was at work or sleeping. She scraped all she could to get that money. It didn’t come easy. If I assume she started saving when the last of her girls left the house and got married, she has probably been saving for close to 20 years!

So let’s look at the effects of that inflation, a.k.a. the mother-in-law tax, 20 years later when she has enough saved and she wants to do one of her projects. Guess what? Some of that money is probably worth half what it was when she put it in there. That SUCKS. It is wrong. Who could possibly think that a 2% to 4% inflation is acceptable. Inflation SUCKS.

The second example comes from my college days. At one time while an engineering undergrad, I was extremely short of money, so I picked up a part-time job at UPS, unloading airplanes at the airport. It was tough, it was cold, it was somehow greasy and dirty. I got there at 4 AM, had the planes unloaded in a few hours and was back in time for a 9 AM class, all without a cup of Starbucks. The pay: $8 an hour! I was thankful for the pay. This was circa 1990, 20 years ago. We have had some inflation since then, I do believe, and our Fed has encouraged it!!

Let’s look at the effect of that inflation. January 1990 we have a CPI of 127.4. October 2010 we have 218.711. My $9 an hour back then is worth a CPI equivalent of $15.45 today, not including food and energy of course because, certainly I wasn’t using the money for food or energy. So now forward flash to December 2010. Just the other day my little brother wanted to pick up some extra cash. He is having some hard times and he thought, hey, maybe I could get some extra hours at UPS during the holiday season. So he goes ahead and applies, interviews, all of that. The pay? $8 an hour. Huh? So UPS pays about the same is they did in 1990, but now it is worth so much less. Again, who does this hurt? The inflation hurts the little guy, the poor guy, the guy who is trying to save and not managing a $1 M portfolio… Had we zero inflation since 1990, my little bro would be making an almost acceptable wage. Instead, the price of gas is now 2 to 3 times what it was back then… it costs him more to get there, more to eat, and there is a lot left over for his effort.

There you have it. Two more reasons why I say that inflation sucks.

Possibly, I should keep quiet about inflation, attempt to get myself into the fed, and then close the thing down, locking in a dollar with a fixed value. But then, how would we pay for our wars?

Bits of News

Regarding North Korea
We have no business sending an aircraft carrier over to do military exercises with South Korea. Again, N. Korea is one of those “shitty little countries” who can’t feed their own people. They have weapons that is all they have. They would lose a war with South Korea. Are we such cowards that we are afraid of a shitty little country like this? South Korea admits firing first anyway, so let them handle this. China doesn’t want to see a war there either.

So why does Obama send an aircraft carrier over there? I guess it is more important than our Texas/Mexico border. Quit wasting my tax dollars Mr. Obama and quit putting my brothers in unecessary danger. Oh, and if you are doing this for politcal reasons, or to shore up the dollar, go F yourself for this incredible waste of money and resources.

Regarding The Texas Longhorns Basketball Team and Rick Barnes
Longhorns beat the Rice Owls 62-59. They only made 3 two point field goals in the second half… against Rice. What said Rick Barnes on his narrow win over Rice? “This game was good for us,” Barnes said. Yeah, coach, great win over that almost division II team. Your team is gaining leaps and bounds of confidence from wins like this. On the good side of things, J. Hami can really shoot and Corey Joseph broke out yesterday, leading the team in points. Hopefully his confidence will soar a bit.

Miami loses to Dallas, drops 4 of their last 5
Wow, the big three is off to a spectacular 9-8 start. So far, the big three aren’t quite benefitting from the star power as I expected. They ought to fire the coach and Pat Riley, dissolve the team and then Lebron, Bosh, and Wade could all go volunteer over in Houston. They could work at a soup kitchen and once in a while they could sub in for the Rockets. I would like to see what Daryl Morey could do if he had even one superstar on his team, let alone 3 .

Good News
An awesome thanksgiving meal was served at my house last Thursday.
Here is my sugar shake shake, enhoying a fine malted beverage with her meal.

That is it for this entry. Time to go hit the gym and work off some turkey dinner.