Cheating Wives

Of course Men are better than women is severely toungue in cheek but I can't help but agree with his take on cheating military wives. I just heard an interview with an Army chaplain on NPR last week and his hardest times weren't necessarily the soldier's dying but trying to counsel young men when their wives/girlfriends cheated on them. I can only imagine being in that hellhole of a country and trying to deal with domestic issues when that's probably one of the few things that gets you through a day. And seriously, what kind of woman would put somebody through that over there? Why not just wait until the soldier got back/was coming back?

401k Loans

This article says 401k loans are up. After thinking about it many times I finally came to the decision that it's ALWAYS a mistake except for a couple of situations I can think of.

#1 Paying off your house IF it's the house you plan to die in. Otherwise you are foolish because inevitably you will "move up" and blow any savings/security you had from a paid off mortgage.

#2 College degree. I hesitate to say it because I've seen people waste money on education so many times. I'm sorry but the purpose of a DEGREE is to help make more money. The purpose of education is to be educated. Borrowing to get a degree and make more money is ok but still needs to be considered in depth before you do it.

That's all I can think of. Really #1 and #2 won't happen to most frugal people because when they are old enough (40-45) to have a paid off mortgage they will have paid it off thru savings. #2 in general (education vs. degrees) is a pet peeve of mine anyway. In the past I've seen people blow huge amounts on school loans to be social workers.....18-20k to start. Just work your way thru school for crying out loud. Teaching degrees are only one notch above this. Don't borrow money if you are going into a field that sucks in pay. Really, it's probably a good thing they don't teach money management in schools. The vast majority don't know beans about money or financial management anyway.

Myanmar

I read this quote today from a citizen of Myanmar:

"People are shot and they are running. The soldiers shoot the people. ... Some people are walking on the street and shouting," she said, adding she witnessed government troops shooting a man.

"No one can help us. We have no weapons," she said. The military junta "have weapons, and they are doing what they want. We have no rights."

And that is why libertarians like me are all about gun ownership. Even(gasp!) automatic weapons. Because in the end that's what they are for. To stop government intrusion and violation of your rights. Guns=rights. Notice how every gun bill designed to limit weapons is OK with shotguns.... It's because they are fine for home defense and such but utterly useless against trained soldiers. However a small cache of AK's or M16's turns a neighborhood into a no go zone for troops. Witness Iraq. Even heavily armed convoys literally walk in terror against small arms fire.

A government can never truly control a country and violate citizen's rights until weapons are taken away and only given to "designated" authorities.....