Chain Posts and Post Links

Chain To Posts

Seems I got tagged by PK over @  DQYDJ to participate in a blog chain mail, who was previously tagged by someone else to pass the chain along on pain of getting cooties or something.  Very briefly, the taggee has to answer a passel of random questions with a random theme, then gets some some kind of revenge satisfaction by tagging eleven or possibly 30 other bloggers with another set of questions.

1. Would you rather be 8 feet tall and 100 pounds or 2 feel tall and 800 pounds? Depends on the state of the world at the time and which type of aliens are the invaders. A slender 8-foot tall figure would blend in well with the overlord species from “Falling Skies”. The squatter, low-center of gravity heavy-duty version would be right at home with digger-type earth-boring Zumquats from the Alpha quadrant.
2. Pick one: Canada, United States or Mexico. Explain why it is superior to the other two. United States, of course. Americans are the bestest at everything: whitest teeth, longest-living celebrities, biggest people, world-class educational system, and a kick-ass military that will jam a laser-guided missile up your cave anywhere in the world. We can out-Mexican Mexico and out-Canadian Canada any day of the week.
3. What is the best type of Personal Finance writer (think of writer archetypes – Investor, Debt Blogger, Wild-card, Contrarian, etc…). The best type of personal finance writer is the one that blends gardening, career, travel and penny mining stock investing.
4. Lump sum investing or dollar cost averaging? Dunno – a chunk of fives and tens and twenties buried in an old coffee can out back is probably lump sum. Or just a lump, if not wrapped up tight in Saran Wrap.
5. In the Led Zeppelin song Stairway to Heaven, what does the lyric “to be a rock and not to roll” mean? Bonus points if you can somehow work Boleskin House into your answer. I don’t think any of the band knew what that meant. It probably made sense when quaffing Guinness and smoking a fat one at Boleskin House, but they probably forgot.
6. What is your favorite dinosaur? I’d have to go with Triceratops. A heavily-armed vegetarian who wants to be left alone.
7. Paper or plastic? Hmm, that’s a hard one. Fiat currency or credit cards? Pass.
8. If you had to pick, would you consider yourself a cat-person or a dog-person? Neither, I’d consider myself a pig person. Well-known fact that pigs have personality, like Arnold from Green Acres. And, pigs taste mm-mmm good.
9. What would you do with an extra $100,000?. Invest in pork bellies. Put some out in an old coffee can out back.
10. What’s the best thing you’ve ever purchased? Mrs. 101.
11. Would you rather lose your phone or the internet for a week? What about an iPhone, isn’t that both? And don’t answer a question with a question. The internet, I guess.

OK, my turn.

No, it’s not. It ends with me.  On rereading the tag message, DQYDJ forgot to include a dire message of retribution if the post chain is broken.  To quote:  “This chain post doesn’t exactly have a penalty if you refuse, so just make fun of DQYDJ instead”. Right you are then, PK has boogers up his nose and his feet smell.

Unemployed Miners

The whole series of photos I found on Wikimedia for the last post  on Canadian Resources was totally fascinating.  The one photo of the miners digging ditches, featured at top of this post, carried particular meaning.  For years I’ve heard how the WPA put people to work during the depression digging ditches, and here it was.

Other photos were equally poignant.  No matter how hard we think it might be these days, it ain’t nothing compared to how it was.  In those days, a large girth denoted prosperity, not a lack of gym membership and “food deserts”.

I have to think that much of the work carried out by the WPA was unproductive, but certainly for these employed miners it was better than nothing.

Setting aside the causes of the Great Depression for a moment (the origins of the crash, Hoover’s crazy restrictive policies, Roosevelt one-upping Hoover on the Federal stupidity scale, etc), the work solutions afforded to these unemployed working men and women I think provided dignity. And the people were glad to get, it seems.

I wonder why the same approach is not taken today with the millions of unemployed. Is there now shame in physical labor?

And, notice how chummily black and white are sitting together?  Maybe all that talk about ‘brotherhood’ and ‘Workers Unite’ in the heady early days of communism, before all the gulags and pogroms and famines, actually meant something.

Another question:  why was Randy Travis photoshopped into the picture?

[ Update:  Maybe it's Lyle Lovett? ]

Links to Posts

Here’s a few worthwhile reads from last week:

Cult of Money -  How Government Budgets Work

Beating The Index -  Natural Gas Stocks: Beware of Falling Gas Prices

Darwin’s Money – 6 Reasons Why Learning a Foreign Language is Completely Useless

Mike & Molly’s House – Seed Starting Flats

Free Financial Advisor -  Cuppa Joe #1, The Hotel

First Generation American – Frugal Living: The Cobbler

Rambling Fever Money – Enabling The Unemployed Squirrel

Barbara Friedberg – The 4 Hour Workweek Is Impossible

Money Talks -  Is Your Favorite American Product Really Made in America

Personal Finance Journey – Where Lower Income Tax Filers Can Get Free Help

Married With Debt -  Permanent Portfolio: Safe, Stable and Simple?

The Debt Princess – Paying Off Debt: Where Crazy Becomes Innovative

Meal Plan Rescue – Food Connections: How Kosher Connects Me to the World

Financial God – Orwellian Surveillance Bill to Cost Canadian Millions

Money Reasons – How Money Can Increase Happiness Mega-List

Segue Into Carnivals and Roundups

Carnival of Financial Planning #223, hosted by 20′s Finances

Carnival of Financial Planning #224, hosted by Aaron Hung

Carnival of Retirement, 8th Edition, hosted by Money Reasons

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #22, hosted by My University Money

Yakezie Carnival, Daytona 500 Edition, hosted by Not Made of Money

Weekend Reading, Snow Storm Edition, over @ Invest It Wisely

Sharing Saturday #12, over @ Daily Money Shot

Weekend Reading, Anti Citizen Spy Bill c30 Edition, over @ Financial God

Mitt Romney, Please Stop Calling Me – Plus a Link Rondup, over @ Everyday Tips and Thoughts

Sunday Devotional Links, over @ Cult of Money

Roundup Money Style, over @ Mike and Molly’s House

Weekend Reading, Spring is Coming Edition, over @ Invest It Wisely

Reads of the Week, over @ Meal Plan Rescue

The Casanova Kid, A Shit Knife, a Good Book, Having No Regrets, Dark Matter, and a Bit of Magic, over @ JL Collins NH

Saturday Evening Posts No. 2, over @ Thad Thoughts

Seriously People … Vote on What Really Matters This Year, over @ Darwin’s Money

Lifestyle Change Update – Moving Past the Setbacks, over @ Money Reasons

That’s it for last week. Join us again this week for regularly scheduled posting.