from FinancialSurvivalNet
Ranting Andy Hoffman is back for another Monday installment. Italian elections are taking place and it looks like Berlusconi is in. When you see things like this happening, American politics doesn’t look quite so bad. More importantly, this is a potential Black Swan event that could lead to the undoing of the Euro and the world economy. And, if it’s not this it will be something else, rest assured. Don’t try to play tricks with hyper-inflation and the eventual repudiation of all debts. The system will come after you and try to reclaim your gains. Also, what if you’re wrong about when it will happen and you need to cash in your chips before payday? Accumulate gold and silver and be content to just sit back and wait.
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While Mayor Michael The Nanny Bloomberg just keeps going. This is just the tip of regulatory iceberg. They’re intent on taking away your rights, one calorie at a time. Bloomberg has just under a year left at the helm of New York City, and he seems hell-bent on inflicting the maximum amount of damage. His ban on large sugary drinks goes into effect on March 12, 2013, a day that will forever live in infamy, unless the courts strike down this preposterous rule.
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Jonathan Burton is the money and investing editor for MarketWatch, overseeing coverage of investment news and strategies. His Life Savings column focuses on money and personal finance matters. Since the stock markets are off to such an enthusiastic start for the year, we may well see good performance in 2013. Higher dividend paying stocks will remain in vogue, as will larger cap stocks that are better able to navigate an uncertain future for the world economy. He’s hesistant to make comments about the political situation, but sees ample reason for concern on that front. But for now things look pretty good.
Dr. Rosalene Glickman coined the term Optimal Thinking. While positive thinking is nice, it won’t necessarily get you what you want, or where you want to be. Instead, her theory is to get you to live the best life you possibly can as much as you can. This means changing self-limiting thoughts and being totally honest with yourself. We can be our own best friend or our worst enemy. The choice is always ours to make. The consequences are obvious. And always remember that success in one area of your life, does not mean you’ll have a successful life. That requires Optimal Living.
When it comes to making every minute count, you should look into joining a time bank. Members exchange hours for credit and receive services from other members in repayment. Best of all it’s non-taxable and even fun. Delia thinks it’s all part of the collaborative economy coming to the forefront. She believes that the Senate’s new cross the aisle attitude is all a part of it. While your host wouldn’t quite go that far, there’s certainly some merit to people joining and looking for non-governmental solutionsl Most of the problems that society suffers today are the direct result of excessive over-reaching government.
People are rising up against Drones surveilling their activities and reporting back to the police. Seattle just banned the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s) from their skies and Florida has a bill pending in the legislature that would also severely restrict local governments’ ability to watch you from the sky. Many other states are considering similar actions as well. However, the user/abuser of Drones is the federal government. Remember about a year ago, I was flying down the East Coast and personally witnessed one patrolling the skies. Every state bill passed will need to have an exception for Homeland Security, when they are purportedly going after terrorists. However, what exactly constitutes a terrorist in this day and age is an open question. You are seeing the beginning of a revolt by the people to limit their government’s power.
When it comes to figuring out what’s going on in the debt, currency and precious metals markets, no one is better informed or more insightful than 
Your host broke down and purchased a shiny new 42″ Panasonic internet enabled flatscreen tv for just $499, including shipping. However, he failed to read the fine print, the set didn’t come with built-in Wi-Fi. After figuring out a fix, he plugged it in and fired up the internal Netflix app. And behold, Nirvana. Instant access to tens of thousands of movies with no box or adapter. The future is here now. You can also go into YouTube, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and a host of other apps, with a zillion more on the way. We have met the future and it’s internet tv. So now you can tell the evil cable giant to take a flying leap through the hole of a donut!
Just when you thought it was safe to consume a big gulp soda or smoke a cigar, Mayor Michael The Nanny Bloomberg is back. His latest enemy of the week is that harmless little lovable petroleum byproduc–polystyrene a/k/a styrofoam. Forget the fact that it’s an integral part of that hideous weapon that we all love the smell of in the morning–Napalm. More importantly it takes up valuable landfill space, can’t be recycled and requires thousands of years to degrade. This newest threat to civilization is worthy of a full head-on assault by the mayor. While he’s at it, he wants 10,000 parking spaces for electric cars that nobody is buying. What will he think of next, war on extra tight jeans, banning of high heels or perhaps he’ll do something really bold like going after microwave ovens. Your guess is as good as ours.
