Monday, August 10, 2015

Another Sign of the Times...I Want One In My Yard

I love the sarcastic truth of it. She and her hubby need to go to jail for a whole list of crimes that go all the way back to Arkansas. I need to be careful. Even though I live in Iowa, I could die from Arkancide. Many have. Poor Vince Foster. Enough. Here it is...


Sitting In the Parking Lot

You are probably not aware of it, but, with the exception of the weekends, I write most of this stuff from a grocery store parking lot. I use the free wi-fi and the time I have in the morning to answer emails, visit my favorite websites and ponder what's next for the Daily Ground Hog. All this occurs in my mobile office, the Tacoma, prior to my final departure for work.

Some have noticed that TDGH is not always so daily. I would agree with that. I try to write something everyday, but there are times it just does not happen. It's probably not writer's block, but there is no inspiration either. Today is one of those days. I got nothing much to say other than...

It was a pretty good weekend. I particularly enjoyed teaching my Sunday school class. We have spent the last two weeks on Matthew 7:1-6. Good stuff. Good discussion.

Dad was good. There was a general lack of confusion for him. I think its helped that he has cut back on the ice cream. His mind seems clearer when he avoids the sugar and the high fat items. I hope it continues for him.

Another thing that I might share. It's more of a creeping feeling of impending doom. You can chalk it up to my fascination with conspiracy theories, but I think there is going to be a rough ride ahead with the economy. The stock market is overdue for a severe correction, economic growth is nominal or flat and unemployment is continuing to be an issue even though the official government figures do not indicate the scope of the problem. There are over 90 million people in the US that are unemployed. I'm thinking that the social safety net cannot support this many for much longer. We will see.

September and October will tell us if I'm right. These are traditionally times when we feel economic pain. I know in October, there will be an official international move away from the US dollar as the preferred currency for trading. This may cause some general economic unsettlement here at home. There is the specter of a interest rate hike from the Fed. This may play havoc with the bond market and retiree investments. There is also an election here in the US next year. It worries not just me, but many people. The choices are awful. No one wants to address real problems. And then there's the clown factor...Donald Trump and his three ring circus. He does serve as a warning post. Our empire is in the last throes of an unintended death. There are so many things our leadership could have done or avoided doing over the last 60 years that would have lead to a different outcome. There is also the baby-boomer problem. We have never really tried to reign in this out of control government because we are the beneficiaries of the largess for the most part. We lived and and continue to live well off the US military industrial complex, even when we oppose it.

I can go on, but it's starting to sound like rambling...probably is. And it is what it is. Let see it play out. Probably won't be fun, but it will be interesting.

Later!