A New Source of Money?????

I get most of my news from the radio every morning as I'm driving into work and I heard one story today that made me stop and think, and if true, might become California's next source of income and solve much of our economic trouble.

Like I said, I don't know if it's true, but I heard that a group purporting to represent California marijuana growers has been offering to pay the state $1 billion in sales taxes, if only their sales were considered legal. The growers have a petition saying, "Take Our Money Please!"

Now, as a dedicated employee of the State of California I'm faced with a 10% pay cut starting in February. I'm cutting every expense I can, but a person can only cut so much, and some bills (IE car loans and student loans) remain fixed and you cannot switch to a generic brand, and I'm opposed to the use of illegal drugs though I do consider myself "Pro" when it comes to medical marijuana, though I would take the pill form if (God/dess forbid) I developed cancer. But I must admit the thought of the state getting $1billion of extra sales taxes is tempting.

Is this me talking about legalizing and taxing marijuana sales? I wonder if the thought is my own version of "The Devil Made Me Buy this Dress!" by Geraldine Jones? Is "The Devil" making me think these thoughts?

A Possible Solution

I had an epiphany earlier today, an idea for a possible solution to the problems faced by the American economy. It came to me when, for some reason, I began to remember a story my grandmother told me of what things were like for her, her parents, and indeed all of the United States, during World War II.

To help finance the cost of the war, the government sold "War Bonds" and, for mainly children, "War Savings Stamps", and my idea was, "Why can't we do something similar now?".

What do I mean?

Quite simply, I think the government should issue special bonds, call them "War Against the Recession" or "Win Against the Recession" (W.A.R.) bonds to finance the public works projects like roads, bridges, damns, alternative energy systems, etc, etc, that President Obama wants to implement to help get our economy working again. Projects that would put millions of Americans to work (without raising taxes to much) so they can buy goods and services from other Americans. It would have the added benefit of helping to control inflation without having to raise interest rates by taking excess money out of circulation.

I think it would work, especially if it was marketed in a way similar to the way they did it in my grandmother's day, by appealing to the patriotism of the American people.

I wrote an e-mail to Senator Dianne Feinstein suggesting my idea, and I will let you all know when I hear back from her what she thought of it as soon as I get my reply.

I Just Had the Strangest Dream (3)

This dream I just had really is strange, and I hope it's not one of my precognitive dreams because it wasn't very pleasant.

In the dream, I was a character in the Canadian sitcom "Little Mosque On the Prairie", and it is discovered that a neighbor killed their partner with a geode used as a blunt instrument.

As best as I can remember from the dream, I and some other neighbors were curious because none could recall seeing either of the missing neighbors for some time. We all talk about breaking into the home when the character Rayyan (in the dream, my sister) says that as a doctor, she can get permission to enter the house because of "medical concerns" (she actual does the quotation mark thing with her fingers).

We, myself and my "sister" Rayyan, enter the house with a few of the other characters, and discover the place is a mess. Mess hell, it's a pigsty, with filth, dust and cobwebs covering nearly everything.

We are just about to leave when I go to get Rayyan who is looking at something on the dresser-drawers in one of the bedrooms that turns out to be a geode. I ask her what the bid deal is as I used to have dozens of those (in real life I did use to have one, but my real life sister{the bitch} stole it to give to a friend of hers).

I cannot understand why she has one of those stunned looks on her face when I notice some hair stuck in some of the geode's cracks, and what I think looks like blood. Everybody leaves the house to call the police, who along with Rayyan (she's also the town medical examiner) begin a thorough search of the entire property.

I all but break down emotionally over the whole deal and turn to my "father" Yasir who gives me a hug as I start crying my eyes out.

It was at that point I woke up.

Like I said, it was a strange dream.

Beware the Goblin Men

We must not look at goblin men,

We must not buy their fruits.

For who knows upon what soil they fed

There hungry, thirsty roots.

Alameda's "SantaMeda"

I normally don't like going to out of town court functions on Sundays, mainly because I have to get up early for work on Mondays, but since today is a holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., I was able to make an exception and do what I could to help the people of Alameda make the I.S.E. event as much fun and as successful as it was.

Here are a few of the pictures I took. I had more, but at the request (re. threat of violence) of the people they were taken of, I have deleted them as they did not show the subjects at their best.






I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the following fantabulous people who have all accepted my invitation to be attendants on the dais at Stockton's upcomming imperial coronation, April 10th, 11th, and 12th;

Christian Dior, Carlos Medal, Fred Townson, Athena, and Seneca St. James. Seneca in fact has also agreed to be one of my command performers. You all ROCK!!!!!

Next weekend I'm going to Chico, California for their imperial coronation. It's going to be a blast and I plan on taking lots of pictures.

One Step Closer

What is this picture? It is my Capital One Visa (r). I paid off my balance today! It took scrimping, saving, and switching to a lot of generic brands for the things I buy. It took every economic austerity measure I could implement such as driving 55 MPH, keeping my thermostat at 60*F, downgrading to basic cable, and a few other things here and there (way to many to go into detail).

A few of my friends have had a good laugh at my habits of thrift, but I don't care. I am one more step closer to my goal of managing my debt and buying a home one day.

I'm one step closer.

Indian Lamb Korma with Cucumber Raita

Some have accused my recipes of being "Old Lady Bland" and not very exciting or exotic. I won't say who, but anyone who's involved in the imperial court system knows this person NEVER brings anything to the court functions where food is served except an appetite.

Anyway, I hope you'll like this Indian dish I found in one of the many (you have no idea) cookbooks I've collected over the years. You will need a crock pot for the main part of this meal.

Indian Lamb Korma

• 2 Large onions, chopped
• 2 tsp ginger, finely grated
• 3 cloves cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large dried chile peppers, seeded and de-stemmed, finely minced
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless lamb, cut into 1" cubes
• 2/3 cup ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

1. In a medium skillet, saute the onion, ginger, garlic and chilies in the vegetable oil.
2. Add the turmeric, cumin and coriander to further flavor the vegetable oil.
3. Add the lamb to brown.
4. Once the lamb has browned, pour the skillet contents into the crock pot.
5. Add the tomatoes, ground cloves, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, black pepper and water. Mix thoroughly.
6. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.
7. Thirty minutes before serving, stir in heavy cream and re-cover.

This dish makes about 6 servings.

Cucumber Raita

• 1 large cucumber, seeded and grated
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle cucumber with salt, toss to coat and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Drain off the cucumber liquid*.
3. Add yogurt and mint, toss to evenly coat.

Serve this with the korma for a delicious East Indian style dinner. Pita bread also goes well with this dish.

As always, eat and enjoy.

*Cucumber liquid makes an excellent face wash, so don't throw it out if you don't want to.

Where Does the Money Go?

A friend of mine asked a questions about the stock market and investing recently, and it gave me the idea for today's post (thank you Greg).

The question? "When there is a huge loss in the stock market, and the stocks you buy are worth less than what you paid, where does that money go?"

Technically, it doesn't go anywhere. A stock you paid $20 dollars for still cost you $20. When it goes down in value, it just means that people are not willing to pay $20 for the stock, but might be willing to pay less. Cost is cost and value is value. It's a guessing game really. As much as the market experts try to deny it or say otherwise, it's a guessing game.

I tried to think of a way to compare it to a game like "Hot Potato". As long as the music is playing, the "value" of the potato keeps going up, and no one wants to be left holing the potato when the music stops, but they do want to be the person standing next to the one left holding the potato, so they can buy it for less money and wait for the music to start again.

I have to admit, I've found myself, on more than one occasion, caught holding that potato when the music stopped, and I must admit, it's been painful, but I have also taken it as a learning experience, helping me to refine my investment formulae, and I like to think things are starting to turn around for me.

My best example of this was a recent investment I made in Wells Fargo & Company during the last major drop in the stock market on November 21st, 2008. I was able to buy 97 shares of WFC at $20.53/share. 17 days later, I was able to sell 65 of those shares at $31.03/share. After all of the commissions for buying and selling, I was able to get back my $2000 initial investment, and leave 32 shares worth $659.91 that will earn me a dividend of $43.52 per year (6.6%) for as long as I own the shares. This is what I call "principle taking" as opposed to "profit taking" or, in Las Vegas parlance, "playing with the houses money". I always like leaving my profits where they are, and investing the principle somewhere else when I can.

I'll let you all know about the next investment I hope to make just as soon as I find it. If any of you have a question about a specific company you would like me to research, please, post something in the comments, I'd be happy to let you know what I learn and think about it.