thelerner

This posed an interesting financial question. My family was getting a pension from an old job. We could take it as an annuity, one that was paying about 5.5% or it could be rolled over whole into an IRA or with 20% deducted into a normal savings account. We chose to roll it over into the IRA. The 5.5% annuity was tempting (nice rate, guaranteed income) but it meant losing the principle. Plus it wouldn't grow with inflation and if the owner died payments would stop and not be transferable. Losing 20% on day one also didn't seem wise, particularly if we didn't need the money right away. Rolling it over preserves it and lets it ride tax free, til taken out. Even if we only got 4 or 5% (versus a probable long term 8%) in growth and dividends, we'd still have the principle, whereas with an annuity the big initial chunk is essentially gone. Here is my advice to her for investing it: 40% 50%in VYM, a vanguard fund that invests in the higher dividend stock in the S&P500. Low expense- .20%, its beaten the Dow stocks by a little over the past 5 years. Not the SP500. but it has a much larger dividend. Stock prices go up and down, but dividends are what you keep. I like them. Buying the Dow (DIA) or SP500 (SPY) or this one VYM, tends to beat 80% of active ETF's and mututal funds, ie the professionals, especially if you reinvest dividends. The little fact that they continually drop out the worst also helps them do better then average. So why individual stocks? Partly ego, and the fact hope some will do very well and with higher dividends a good stock can earn the equivalent of 7 to 10% on your originally money in 5 to 7 years due to dividend growth and some stock rise. Add 10% each to several stocks already in her IRA, ie adding to winners ADP, nice steady growth, up 70% in 5 years and decent dividends. A consistent grower. AVA, nice dividends, up 65% in 5 years, the rare oil & gas fund that isn't too erratic. O, a REIT play, good dividends(4.4%), erratic and doing poorly of late, but its long term record is very good. Plus price isn't good diversity play as its not tied as much to the general market. Add 15% to these 2. Scotts Miracle Growth. Good stock, nice growth over 5 years-(+100%) decent dividend. It's also a slight marijuana play, in that its been investing in hydroponics businesses that should do well as legalization increases. FDN, an internet ETF. This a play on FANG, the 4 stocks that by themselves are responsible for much of the an entire stock market rise. Facebook, Amazon, Netflix & Google. All are very high priced- Amazon alone is over $1,000. Always questionable to buy things at nosebleed prices but these are powerhouse stocks that own there field. I don't feel good about it, the expense is .54 (not horrible) but this was the way to invest the last 10 years. At some point you have to jump on a powerful trend.

bump.. what the world needs now.. more metta, less feta.

You know what teaches me patience. Counting my breaths to a 100. It's slow, tedious.. my mind rebels but its a good teacher.

There's the main simple 'holding the ball' for the main practice, but wasn't there a more intricate, 'Church and steeple, open it up and..' kind of mudra for his Golden Flower practice? It's a shame the forum on his practices was short lived.

Saw preview for the movie Dunkirk. From the short, it looked like an uplifting reminder of an important and dramatic event in WWII. Movies are important. They will be viewed and remembered while comprehensive history books collect dust. The movie Saving Private Ryan probably gave the best visceral images of what D-Day was like

There's a small chance the simple(st) instructions would be- 1.)Sit (preferably in lotus) stare at tip of nose, while connecting middle eye and heart 2.) Don't take anything too seriously. 3.) Repeat daily

Probably not, other then its the probably better to approach it as a practitioner then a scholar, ie more time doing then studying. Kinda the opposite of me. My attempts to understand the SofGF are here- Whoa, that's new, I copied the address and the whole thread magically appeared. ..where was I.. there's books, translations, podcasts but ultimately one has to sit and get there mind, eyes and heart attuned to it, give it time and surrender. addon> I'm not a fan of his, but I found Osho's writing on the subject to be nice and direct. I'm still looking for a good Westernized instruction book on it, without the poems and oblique language. P.S. I think its great to awaken old threads. Especially the good meaty ones.

One I'd say, have a sacred component to your practice. Whether its staring at a sacred art. One, in my case, a short Jewish prayer as a meditational/chanting device. (many years later, I've do this though its more Hermetic/Kabbalic then Jewish prayer) Two, Quieting the mind. Just observing it, asking the question-What will my next thought be?, Counting to 10 over and over Three, have a life. A good life. Take time to enjoy yourself. Connect with people, they are your species Michael

I've met and read from friends, teachers and interesting people who have inspired me and made me stretch my mind a bit. I've learned specific things that I incorporate into my daily practice like the sitting style of Stillness Movement meditation. I've had adventures like flying to Phoenix, meeting other bums, hiking with them, including searching for ET's in the desert and sharing a Kunlun seminar weekend. I've been awed by depth of many here present and past. The esoteric and the down to earth. The gift of there insights and tales of there training, even such seeming mundanity of simple training logs have been inspiring. I've learned, perhaps taught as well as fought; been trolled and trolled others over the years here. Been moderator and suspended. An early joiner.. if 3 years is a generation in Internet Time, then I'm a great grandfather here. Seeing members come, go, burnout, trollout.. even die. I've written some good stories here and used the PPD's as a bit of a diary. Reading my old blog posts is like looking through a time portal.

Bump # 2

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=397 If anyone can 'clip' it up in a better way that would be great. Michael

looking through some old posts. bump

Apech, what's your take on the finding of cocaine and tobacco in Mummy's? I know its controversial and has been excused by some as contamination, but I think there's been more evidence. If true, it could prove ancient Egyptian trade routes to the New World. FWIW- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_trans-oceanic_contact_theories#Claims_of_Egyptian_coca_and_tobacco that link has fascinating history in it. I particularly liked the stories of Japanese ships in 1833 and 1850 that were blown off course and landed in California. One being enslaved by the local tribe (til rescued) the other in 1850, involved the sailors being assimilated into the local tribe. Such relatively recent history is not speculative. I like to think the ancient was much more connected then we often think. Though often such routes were considered secrets or forgotten. Did Columbus sail to the America in possession of an ancient map or knowledge passed on from another who'd been there before..? maybe. It's proven that the vikings had a settlement in Canada around 1000 BCE

Fascinating, .. the average Olive barrel is 60 gallons.. if 16 ounces of beer turn into 412 milliliters** of yellow liquid and Nungali drinks 2 beers in the morning and 3 at night, then I figure he should fill up the last 1/4 of the 2nd Olive barrel by July 3rd. **PS I'm American, and don't know what milliliter is.

I've been thinking of putting some urine around the garden. Not on the plants, but around the perimeter.. perhaps after dark or wearing some disguise. Nothing worse then getting arrested and having to use the excuse 'I did it for the plants', unless the judge is a gardener you might not get much sun for a while. The thinking is less fertilizer and more an odor that would scare away varmints. I could self dilute by drinking an extra liter or two of water earlier.. beer might add some needed B vitamins to the soil. hmmn, if I wore a dress I probably wouldn't be recognized in the dark. In the right dress I wouldn't even have to expose myself, just slowly pramble around the edges. My wife has a pink knit that would flatter my eyes. Nah ! Addon- also just got some brussel sprouts. Nice discount seller (Minke on Touhy) too, 6 small plants for $1.69. 3 to plant and 3 to give away. They had some large tomatoes for $4.95, I'm talking large plants that already had multiple tomatoes on them. Might not be a bad idea next time. At $9.95 they had Grafted Hybrid tomatoes, that were advertised to grow faster, taller and hardier, with only a few side affects (diarrhea, impotence, red skin etc.) . Perhaps next year too.

I am secure enough in my manhood to admit I had a good time watching Wonder Woman. Good superhero origin film, well done, with a bit of decent philosophy on war and 'deserving' built in.

I think so. The local Whole Foods gives them away by the bucketful (strangely Starbucks often do not), from what I hear you can't use them 'straight' but aged and mixed with some mulch, like leaves and grass, they're a powerhouse of nitrogen. Plus with Whole Foods they come with lots of used organic filters. The filters add nice absorbancy, holding in moisture. A long time ago I read the secret of European home gardening was coffee grounds and grass clippings (aged as compost).

This year I'm still doing grape tomatoes but found ones called Rapunzels. They grow high sporting 2 tomatoes next to each other flowing down the vine, like long red hair. Hope they make it. Also a Ghost Belle pepper, a large medium hot pepper, two cucumbers, a celebrity tomato (hybrid), some other hot pepper. I still have some room, so I'll probably buy a Brussel sprout or two. Watering each morning with a can. Afraid if I use the hose, it'll rip up the young plants. Instead of buying fertilizer I bought a large bag of Miracle Grow soil and spread that around planted into it. Trying to trellis better this year too.

Oil changes aren't too bad, particularly if you have a coupon, or they're running a special. But often they end with the words, you need your filters changed. My wife had that happen and was quoted $110. She called and I told her I could probably do it. I hit a nearby auto parts store, the cabin air was $8, the inside engine air one was $29 (note on internet they're $10ish) and with the help of youtube was successful installing them. Big, and relatively easy saving. Still even buying retail provided a nice savings.

It means you're empathetic, have an open heart. A good trait, but one that leaves you vulnerable. Lately I've been working on seeing emotions differently. Often we're trapped in them. Ie, see or think Sad and we're trapped in sadness. These days I'm trying to be more mindful of emotions. See when they start. Boom just then.. that car cut me off, that person looked at me funny, the world isn't going according to my wishes.. Spend a few seconds being aware of the trigger, then honoring the emotion with some action. Then being done with it. Take boredom, its an emotion, leading to laziness and regret. Once I realize its hit, its easy to know the cause, ie I'm doing nothin, then honor it, do something, preferably productive. Action can precede motivation. We need to train ourselves not to wallow in emotion and see them as gut wisdom that require action or to be filed for later action. With a friend who's down or depressed, you can't necessarily 'save' them, but you can write or email a note 'Thinking of you, coffee or walk soon- Love'. Sometimes a simple gesture makes a big difference, and having honored the emotion, get over it. The other way I deal with heavy things is an SEP field- Somebody Else's Problem. There is great wisdom in putting up SEP fields around things we have no control over, thus ignoring them. We have to pick our causes and battles because we can't do it all. It's really just a modernized metaphor for the Serenity Prayer- God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

The Egyptian empire lasted so long its hard to make generalizations. By the end, it was Greek, Cleopatra was a Ptolemy. Looking at the people on the walls, it seems most people depicted were darker skinned then the most in the Middle East. Though race might be skewed because the ruling class tended to be very incestuous.

I was curious as the claim 'tin foil hat' conspiracy was invented by the FBI. I was skeptical. Here's what Wikipedia says on the subject - ' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_foil_hat The concept of a foil hat for protection against interference of the mind was mentioned in a science fiction short story by Julian Huxley, "The Tissue-Culture King", first published in 1927, in which the protagonist discovers that "caps of metal foil" can block the effects of telepathy.[2]' I found that seconded in another site, though it includes possible 'alleged' origins as early as 1717 to protect people against Freemasons telepathic attack. Which I find dubious. And there are internet sites that do agree with the theory that wearing aluminum foil hats protects you from nefarious government radio wave control. <again dubious> As an avid scify fan I remember Robert Heinlein writing about a future with free energy and one loan person creating a thin metal shield to protect himself against all the rays being broadcast. What I think.. If there is any danger, its probably caused not by the government trying to control our brains (didn't we all love Obama and now Trump?) rather the routers in our house. You go into some buildings, look for wifi and you get dozen or more signal hits. Lots of waves coming at us. We are bathing in them, triply so if we keep our cell phones next to us and tuned on all the time. I don't worry Illuminati, I worry about Me, and my kids giving ourselves brain tumors and such by keeping our phones too close to our ears. We all have our conspiracies to worry about. Addon> Surf the web and find interesting things. Here is internet 'evidence' that tinhats are an FBI plot to get people exposed to mindwashing radio waves- http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Tinfoil_hat '.. In 2005 a group of engineering and media students at MIT performed attenuation versus frequency measurements for different tinfoil hat designs, concluding that the hats actually increased the intensity of RF energy at certain frequencies, with the implication that the tinfoil hat fad was actually a government plot to increase the effectiveness of mind control rays.[2] Notably the specific frequencies amplified exist in the spectrum of the emission band owned by the government! Of course the government could have blackmailed the MIT students to write that false report to make you take off your tinfoil so they can affect you with mind control rays. Then again the government could also be blackmailing me to write this so you will keep your tinfoil cap on to better amplify the mind control rays.' The venerable Straight Dope provided more science on why such a hat is meant to be Faraday protection device actually you more vulnerable to broadcasters- http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2555/do-tinfoil-helmets-provide-adequate-protection-against-mind-control-rays. If its particularly micro-wave weapons we're worried about, then maybe it'd help. Though I suppose by the time you feel your hat heating up or see it sparking your blood would be mighty warm.

I was just reflecting on deaths in American conflicts. For reducing things down to numbers this site was interesting - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war United States military casualties of war Wikipedia. The numbers tell fascinating stories. Yet no chart, no statistics can cover the horror and loss of war. I have a bottle of Crystal Head vodka in a skull bottle. It came with little skull shot glasses. I raise a toast to the Brave men and woman who served the United States, to the innocent civilians on all sides, to the wounded, to the widows, the orphans and enemies past. Rest in peace, may the world be better for your memory. and may God forgive us all.

How would you schedule a spiritual weekend? Kind of a weekend in Monk mode, from say Friday night to Sunday? From the standpoint of mind/body/spirit what meditations, food and other exercises would you include?

That is the potential problem, bringing a salt CO2 pistol to a gun fight. addon> I've given some thought to getting a higher powered BB gun for such a purpose and friends pretty unanimously shot that down. Most of my scenarios involve shouting 'Get out, I've called the police' then shooting a few salt/tear gas pellets from behind my bedroom door. more addon> speaking of strategy from the same review this was interesting- ' If you enter my house, you will risk an introduction to one of my firearms, but I’ll also be considering every option available to me at that moment in time. My goal is to get you out of my home, not to capture you, not to hurt you, and certainly not to kill you. If I can achieve that by firing a handful of SALT rounds into the wall in the hallway between you and me to create a chemical barrier while announcing that I am armed and calling the police, then I am okay with that. If you decide to continue to advance – eyes and lungs burning – I’m even willing to put a couple of SALT rounds into your chest. My expectation is that you will realize you are making a huge mistake, and that you will reconsider your original plan. Past that, well, I’ve made the decision many years ago that I will use deadly force to protect my life or the life of another innocent person.' Note that he writes '..firing a handful of SALT rounds into the wall between you and me to create a chemical barrier'. Not a bad idea. And who knows, someone who can fire weaponized projectiles, might well have flame thrower as back up