A Good Man

“Frank DuBose.”
Laurae receives occasional news of Mira Costa High School through her alumni organization and a few days ago the news contained a copy of Frank’s obituary. Frank was my Mechanical Drawing class instructor for two years in high school, 1955 and 1956. I remember enjoying his classes very much, although I must say that I also remember him as being stern, a no-nonsense kind of guy. And old…in 1956, he was already 50 years old! And he died at the age of 100! I have always given him the credit for my knowledge of blueprints and how to build.

You know, how people love to frighten themselves? We go to horror films and really enjoy the scary parts…we actually look forward to it! Why is that? For myself, I don’t care much for horror films. The last one that I really enjoyed was a French movie made in the mid 1950’s; Diabolique. What I do now (instead of films) is read the Daily Reckoning newsletter. Here are some scary excerpts…

“*** The war in Iraq costs $150 million a day, according to a recent USA Today report. Afghanistan adds another $27 million.

Meanwhile, fears over Iran sent the oil price up last week. And then came Venezuelan President Chavez, with a helpful remark. He said he'd shut down U.S. oil installations in the country and sell his oil to China and India, if America got on his nerves.

There will always be jobs, ATM machines, and home equity lines, right?
What a strange public mood! It's almost delusional. People cannot imagine that times could ever get so bad that they would need to draw on their own savings. There will always be someone ready to lend them money, won't there? What they don't consider is where the money will come from. If Americans no longer save, who will have savings to lend?

*** Due to soaring deficits, the Bush administration will be forced to ask Congress to raise the national debt limit, which is now at $8.2 trillion...and counting.

CNNMoney.com. The report states, "Americans are among the world's most cash-strapped people, according to the latest semi-annual survey from AC Nielsen. Nearly a quarter (22 percent) of Americans have no money left once they've paid for their essential living expenses and spent their discretionary dollars. That puts the United States at the top of a list of 42 countries for saving futility."