#I’m sorry if your campaigns aren’t bogus and I’m sorry that you are in the situation you’re in | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

vivithefolle · 4 years ago

Note

“Oh great, it’s the Harry stans again” I’m a wolfstar stan my dude

“So Harry’s desire is a family” yes, and what comes with having a family? Love, also Harry didn’t have his found family yet, just a few friends, and he can have his found family and still want his parents

Fred and George don’t bully him, they tease him like all big brothers do. And Ron went to them when “Scabbers” “died” so he doesn’t hate being vulnerable in front of them

“Let’s think deeper than just “hurr durr rawn wants powur” That is why though. Even at the end of DH he says “the unbeatable wand, Harry?!” Meaning he wants it for its power and is shocked Harry doesn’t

Also, Harry didn’t tell Ron to go with him to save Malfoy, and he only wanted Ron to come to the Ministry because he didn’t want to put his friends in danger. The only reason he was ok with Ron going is that Ron said he would. Why do you think Harry and hermione are selfish and don’t deserve him? That ain’t true

Harry got glimpses in to Voldy cause thats influence. Harry can’t be controlled because he is so full of the “force (Voldy) detests”. It is said multiple times that’s why. And he is so “purely and strongly” associated with love. It’s what makes Harry, Harry. Despite what he’s been through, he remains “pure of heart” as Dumbledore put it, he sacrifices himself and it sets off a protection charm for everyone, he tries to save Voldy, etc. and we do see it shown from him more than Ron. I could bring up countless examples but I’ll just leave it at: Harry felt bad for Hagrid when Aragon died and wanted to be there for Hagrid, despite Aragon nearly eating him. Ron did not. I love your blog btw, I just don’t agree with you on this lol

[Previous]

I’m a wolfstar stan my dude

Ah yes, Wolfstar, the pairing where one guy weaponized his friend’s most important, life-changing secret in order to play a “prank” that could have ended in manslaughter, because the one guy gave his friend’s feelings as much consideration as a plastic bag’s. Also said guy later believed that said friend could be a traitor. A love story for the ages surely.

Yes. And Ron’s desire is also tied around love. Because Ron believes that he needs to accomplish things to stand out and be “worthy” of loving. That’s his whole thing during the entire books, that’s what drives him to sometimes put his foot in his mouth up to his thigh and make stupid mistakes, because he’s trying to earn love, he’s going out of his way to earn the love of his friends when they already love him but are just pants at showing it.

Fred and George don’t bully him, they tease him like all big brothers do. And Ron went to them when “Scabbers” “died” so he doesn’t hate being vulnerable in front of them

Fred and George absolutely bullied Ron. That’s just fact. Look at Order of the Phoenix, look at how they treat him through the books. Fred and George may be popular characters but as big brothers they are AWFUL.

And who’s to say Ron went directly to them? We see them “““comfort”““ Ron but maybe Ron was just sitting with Harry and Ginny and lamenting Scabbers’ death then Fred and George came in and decided to add their five cents. Also in spite of how horrible Fred and George can be to him Ron still loves and admires them greatly - case in point, how he still trusted them about the bogus spell to turn Scabbers yellow.

Yeah, because Ron’s pragmatic still. Imagine what you could do with such a powerful wand. What’s the point of the Invisibility Cloak when you have a super-powerful wand that may cast the best Invisibility Charm ever? How about enchanting stuff with that wand? What of that wand’s ability to heal people? Imagine all you could do if you had that thing up your sleeve.

Also, Harry didn’t tell Ron to go with him to save Malfoy

No he didn’t. Ron turned back of his own will. Because Ron loved Harry and was willing to endanger not only his life, but also the one of the woman he loved, to save Harry from a fiery death trap. Ron chose to go back because he knew Harry was gonna try to save everyone like the idiot martyr he is.

he only wanted Ron to come to the Ministry because he didn’t want to put his friends in danger.

You greatly overestimate Harry’s niceness.

Harry’s eyes met Ron’s. He knew that Ron was thinking exactly what he was: If he could have chosen any members of the D.A. in ad-dition to himself, Ron, and Hermione to join him in the attempt to rescue Sirius, he would not have picked Ginny, Neville, or Luna. - Order of the Phoenix

He’s not thinking that because he’s nice and ~doesn’t want to put them in danger uwu~: he’s thinking that because he thinks Ginny, Neville and Luna aren’t good enough to rescue Sirius. To be fair, that’s also quite pragmatic: Neville has indeed great trouble with magic due to his father’s wand, and Luna has never participated in an adventure to fight Voldemort, while Ginny’s participation was that of his victim.

Why do you think Harry and hermione are selfish and don’t deserve him? That ain’t true

Because yes, that’s true. They’re fundamentally self-absorbed. Part of it is teenage immaturity, of course, and Ron can be similarly self-centred, but Harry is often going around thinking “me me me”. Like, when Arthur Weasley got bitten by Nagini he was thinking about how he was going to look crazy if he said he dreamed he was the snake, what the fuck Harry.

Similarly, Hermione often prioritizes herself and her feelings above Ron’s. She treats Harry very delicately because poor wee Harry is a poor orphan and that’s so sad but she has no such qualms with Ron since she doesn’t realize that his baggage amounts to a little more than just “I feel overshadowed by everyone that came before me”: it’s legit “I feel that nobody will ever love me because who’d care for a loser like me when there are all those great people around me?”. To be fair Hermione is not a psychologist, and she’s not under obligation to help Ron cope with his feelings, but when you’re friends with someone you usually try to support them a bit.

Look at how Harry and Hermione reacted to the bullying campaign against Ron in OOTP. Not. One. Fucking. Thing. Ron left to trudge alone in the snow for maybe hours after his first match, and they didn’t fucking try to find him, they stayed holed up in the common room, just staring at each other and feeling sorry for themselves. I don’t know if it’s a Brit thing to leave a friend alone with their own dark thoughts for company after a terrible public humiliation but it’s certainly not a good friend thing.

Yeah because bullshit plot device magic blah blah blah, really it ain’t shit. It’s mostly an excuse. Because how offensive it is to imagine that had Harry just gone to Voldemort a bit earlier, then the “““Love Charm”““ would save everyone? Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Colin, had Harry moved his fucking ass and just surrendered he’d have saved them all. Hell, when you already consider that the Battle of Hogwarts happened at Hogwarts because fucking Harry absolutely HAD to be the one to get one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes you see, couldn’t have summoned Kreacher and asked him to search the place, couldn’t have remained hidden and entrusted the other students with the search, nooo, absolutely HAD to go to Hogwarts aka the place where every child is held hostage by a fascist government that could decide to kill them all for “hiding Undesirable Number One in their midst so they deserved their fate”... Genius move Harry, truly. +50 people dead thanks to you, fucking dumbass.

he tries to save Voldy,

Um, not really, he just told Vold to try and feel some remorse. Then bullshit space magic about the Elder Wand so Harry is technically not a murderer because he just Disarmed his opponent, you see, he’s still pure yall, cause killing someone quickly and painlessly (= Avada Kedavra) is worse than torture (= Crucio), ysee?

Harry felt bad for Hagrid when Aragon died and wanted to be there for Hagrid, despite Aragon nearly eating him. Ron did not.

............................... um, no.

“Hagrid!” cried Hermione, leaping up, hurrying around the table the long way to avoid the barrel of maggots, and putting an arm around his shaking shoulders. “What is it?” “It’s...him...” gulped Hagrid, his beetle-black eyes streaming as he mopped his face with his apron. “It’s...Aragog...I think he’s dyin’...He got ill over the summer an’ he’s not gettin’ better... I don’ know what I’ll do if he...if he...We’ve bin tergether so long...” Hermione patted Hagrid’s shoulder, looking at a complete loss for anything to say. Harry knew how she felt. He had known Hagrid to present a vicious baby dragon with a teddy bear, seen him croon over giant scorpions with suckers and stingers, attempt to reason with his brutal giant of a half-brother, but this was perhaps the most incomprehensible of all his monster fancies: the gigantic talking spider, Aragog, who dwelled deep in the Forbidden Forest and which he and Ron had only narrowly escaped four years previously. “Is there — is there anything we can do?” Hermione asked, ignoring Ron’s frantic grimaces and head-shakings. “I don’ think there is, Hermione,” choked Hagrid, attempting to stem the flood of his tears. “See, the rest o’ the tribe...Aragog’s family...they’re gettin’ a bit funny now he’s ill...bit restive...” “Yeah, I think we saw a bit of that side of them,” said Ron in an undertone. “...I don’ reckon it’d be safe fer anyone but me ter go near the colony at the mo’,” Hagrid finished, blowing his nose hard on his apron and looking up. “But thanks fer offerin’, Hermione...It means a lot.” After that, the atmosphere lightened considerably, for although neither Harry nor Ron had shown any inclination to go and feed giant grubs to a murderous, gargantuan spider, Hagrid seemed to take it for granted that they would have liked to have done and became his usual self once more. - Half-Blood Prince

Then

“Excellent,” he said. “Really excellent. Right...I’m going down to Hagrid’s.” “What?” said Ron and Hermione together, looking aghast. “No, Harry — you’ve got to go and see Slughorn, remember?” said Hermione. “No,” said Harry confidently. “I’m going to Hagrid’s, I’ve got a good feeling about going to Hagrid’s.” “You’ve got a good feeling about burying a giant spider?” asked Ron, looking stunned. “Yeah,” said Harry, pulling his Invisibility Cloak out of his bag. “I feel like it’s the place to be tonight, you know what I mean?” “No,” said Ron and Hermione together, both looking positively alarmed now. “This is Felix Felicis, I suppose?” said Hermione anxiously, holding up the bottle to the light. “You haven’t got another little bottle full of — I don’t know —” “Essence of Insanity?” suggested Ron, as Harry swung his cloak over his shoulders. Harry laughed, and Ron and Hermione looked even more alarmed. “Trust me,” he said. “I know what I’m doing...or at least” he strolled confidently to the door — “Felix does.” - Half-Blood Prince

Harry doesn’t want to go to Hagrid’s out of the goodness and lurve of his heart. He’s going because it’s convenient. Because Felix Felicis.

Harry really isn’t anything special. Anyone with basic math skills can realize that dying to save possibly hundreds of people is better than you living and possibly hundreds dying. That’s nothing to do with purity of the heart or shit, that’s just math.

#harry potter #harry potter series #vivi answers #ask #harry potter critical

20 notes · View notes

themoneybuff-blog · 6 years ago

Text

The pros and cons of Personal Capital

If you've read money blogs over the past five years, you've heard about Personal Capital. Personal Capital is a free money-tracking tool with a beautiful interface and gasp no advertising. (One of my big complains about Mint is that it shoves ads in your face.) Many of my friends and colleagues promote the hell out of Personal Capital because the company pays good money when people sign up. (And yes, links to Personal Capital in this review absolutely put money in my pocket. But any Personal Capital link you see anywhere on the web puts money in somebody's pocket.) I sometimes wonder, though, if any of my pals actually uses Personal Capital, you know? All of their reviews are glowing. While I like Personal Capital, I've been frustrated by the app in the past. Even today, I find that it's not as useful as I'd like. What are my issues with Personal Capital? For a long time, I was frustrated trying to get Personal Capital to connect to my accounts. It still won't connect to my credit union, but that's fine. I can enter my balance manually. It was frustrating, though, that for years I couldn't get Personal Capital to connect to my Fidelity investment accounts. They work nowbut I'm always worried that they won't. The app still won't connect to my Capital One credit card and hasn't for over a year, which I find mind-blowing.

Personal Capital, as an app, isn't robust enough to replace something like Quicken or You Need a Budget. The latter tools allow you to track and manage your money on a transaction by transaction level. Okay, maybe you can track your transactions, but you can't do anything meaningful with them, the same way you could with Quicken or YNAB.The phone calls! My god, the phone calls! Here's a not-so-secret secret: The Personal Capital app while beautiful and useful is actually bait. It's a lure. Its aim is to attract high net-worth users to connect their accounts. When they do, Personal Capital (the company) begins a phone campaign in an attempt to recruit the users as clients. Personal Capital isn't actually an app company; it's a wealth-management company. They want people with lots of money to sign up. (I can't comment on whether this is a good deal or not. I don't want a financial advisor. I ignore all of the calls from Personal Capital.)

Personal Capital has pretty reports, but there aren't enough of them. My copy of Quicken 2007 ugly as it is has 23 different reports and 10 different graphs. (Plus, you can customize many more.) Personal Capital has maybenine ways to look at your money? (I can't tell for sure.)The security is over the top. I suppose I should be happy about this, but I'm not. It feels like I'm constantly having to verify my identity via email or text message. Some of my other accounts make me do this occasionally, but it feels like Personal Capital does this multiple times per week. That's crazy! Now, these complaints aside, here's a confession: I've been using the Personal Capital app for 5+ years. For real. I can't remember when I started, but I do remember being cranky because a Personal Capital rep didn't know who I was at Fincon 2013 in St. Louis. I use your app, I told him. And I have a big blog. (I wince now at the thought of my arrogance.) Despite the drawbacks, there must be something to it. Right? Today using my current financial situation let's look at the pros and cons of Personal Capital. Quicken 2007 vs. Personal Capital As regular readers know, I'm an old fogey. My money management tool of choice is an antiquated copy of Quicken for Mac 2007. This tool is so important to me, in fact, that I'm currently refusing to update my system software to the latest version (Mac OS Mojave) because I'm afraid it'll break Quicken. (Other user experiences are mixed.) How important is Quicken 2007 to me? No joke: I would buy a used Mac laptop just to run that software. As much as I love Quicken, it has its drawbacks. One of those is that it's a pre-mobile app. Quicken 2007 is almost as old as this blog. It came out roughly one year before the first iPhone. (Get Rich Slowly launched on 15 April 2006. I can't find a release date for Quicken 2007, but it was available by at least 30 August 2006. The iPhone launched on 29 June 2007.) If I want to interact with Quicken, I have to sit down at my desktop computer. Because I'm a nerd, I'm attached to my mobile devices. I have an iPad. And an iPhone. And an Apple Watch. (Why isn't it an iWatch? I don't know. Apple doesn't give a fig about consistency.) I want to be able to track my money from my mobile devices. Trust me: I've tried tons of other mobile apps. I don't really like any of them. I do, however, like Personal Capitalwarts and all. I would never ever use it as my only money management tool, but as one piece of a bigger package, it'a actually kind of awesome. Personal Capital is the only mobile money management app that I use. There are others out there, sure, but for my needs, Personal Capital fills a nicheand fills it well. Personal Capital as Daily Money Tracker I use Personal Capital as a daily tracker. Quicken 2007 is my actual go-to tool for entering and analyzing my data, but Personal Capital is what I've used for the past five years to check on my accounts to make sure everything is okay. Believe it or not, Personal Capital has saved my bacon several times. What? My credit card payment is due today? Whoops! I'd better go pay it. Wait! What's this strange charge on my account? That's not me. Let me call my bank. Whoa! I forgot to pay my garbage bill. I'd better handle that when I get home. Because Personal Capital connects to (most of) my accounts, I'm able to look at everything from a unified dashboard. I don't have to log in to each credit card and bank account to verify everything. I can do it from one place. (Okay, not my credit union. I still have to go check that separately.) Here, for instance, is a look at my recent transactions. (I have no idea what the graph is tracking. I'm not sure I care.)

When I shared my financial situation recently, a few readers wondered why I don't count my business finances when tracking my entire money picture. Well, in Personal Capital I do. Because I can connect the app to both personal and business accounts, I can get an idea of the Big Picture. Here you can see that most of my expenses for January so far have been blog related.

I'll admit, it's very nice to have a single app where I can view all of my recent transactions, both personal and business. Although I only take action on this info maybe twice per year, it sets my mind at ease. It takes thirty seconds of my time each day, but that's thirty seconds I'm happy to spend. Personal Capital as Investment Tracker Honestly, though, Personal Capital isn't meant to be a daily money-management tool. For that, I'd use something like You Need a Budget. Personal Capital is specifically designed to monitor your investments. Because of this, the Personal Capital app has a variety of tools to help investors. First up, there's the plain ol' portfolio view:

Nothing special here, right? You get a list of your investments and a graph of their performance over the past 90 days. Nothing special, but still easier for me than logging into the Fidelity website (or app). (As a passive investor, though, I don't actually look at investment performance that often. I might check it once per weekbut a couple of times per month is more likely.) You can also get a breakdown of your asset allocation:

The Personal Capital app also offers something interesting something I think Vanguard and Fidelity should offer. They have a tool that analyzes the fees on your investment accounts. As you probably know, fees are one of the top drags on the average investor's performance. Too many suckers pay 1% or 2% per year (or more!) in mutual fund costs. Index funds have risen to prominence because they promise management fees of 0.20% or 0.10% (or lower). Personal Capital makes it clear just how much you're paying in fees.

In my case, I'm doing fairly well except in my rollover IRA. But I'm okay with that. That rollover IRA is 100% invested in a real-estate investment trust (or REIT), and those carry higher expense ratios. (True story: That REIT is actually my highest performing investment over the past decade!) Personal Capital's Retirement Calculator All of these other features are great, but there's one main reason I continue to use Personal Capital: its retirement calculator. As I mentioned the other day, I hate most retirement calculators. They're overly simplistic. Their assumptions are bogus. They're designed to get users to save more than they need. The Personal Capital retirement calculator isn't the best tool on the market we'll look at two better tools during the next week but it's pretty damn good for something that's free and built into an otherwise useful app. This section is going to be the biggest part of this review, and it's going to contain plenty of screenshots. You've been warned. First up, here's a look at my own personal financial situation as of this morning. (Sorry for the mute notification in the middle of the screenshot. My bad. Not sure why I was muting my iPad, but I can't fix it now.)

Based on my current situation $736,170 in liquid investments and roughly $60,000 of annual expenses Personal Capital says I'll run out of money at 62. This doesn't differ much from other retirement calculators I've looked at. But here is where Personal Capital gets fun (and the reason I'm obsessed with it). Do you see those + signs across from Investment Events and Spending Goals? If you click on those, you can add new events. (And if you click on existing events, you can modify those.) This means you can tweak your parameters over and over and over again. What if, for instance, I decreased my spending from $60,000 per year to $42,000 per year? (This is my aim for 2019.)

Well, look at that. If I re-embrace frugality, my money will likely last until I'm 72 instead of 62. Nice! And now that I'm back to work at the box factory, what if I stay there for ten years and earn $20,000 annually?

Holy cats! As you can see, working part-time makes a ginormous difference. If I reduce my spending to $3500 per month while earning $20,000 per year, I'm golden. I shouldn't run out of money before my projected age of demise. (Even in a worst-case scenario, my money would last until age 67.) And if I end up with an inheritance? Party time!

Okay, maybe I'm getting a little too out of control there. Let's dial things back. Let's get rid of the inheritance and bring my spending back to current levels. If I work part-time for ten years, what then?

Hm. Not enough to get me to where I want to go, is it? (Plus, I was muting the sound again. What the heck?) Okay, what if I decide to sell this house at some point in the next ten years. What then?

Okay, not bad. That makes me wonder, though, what if I did not decide to go back to work for the family business. What then?

Well, I guess that's not bad, but it's not nearly as good as if I'm bringing in some sort of income. Okay, let's look at the ultimate optimistic scenario. Let's say I trim my spending from $60,000 per year to $42,000 per year. Let's assume I spend the next decade at the box factory earning $20,000 per year. Let's assume that my mother dies in ten years or so and leaves me an inheritance. Let's assume that Kim and I sell this place after increasing frustration with the never-ending repairs, then move into a rented apartment. After all those assumptions, what does my future look like?

But that's a future that's far too rosy than the one I think lies ahead. You get the point, though. Even without the app's other features, I'd love Personal Capital just for its retirement calculator. It's more fun and flexible than 95% of the other retirement calculators on the market. (As I mentioned, we'll take a peek at the 5% that are better over the next few days.) The Bottom Line I have been using Personal Capital for five years now. It's nowhere near a complete money-management tool, and I know that. But I don't care. I don't expect it to be the biggest and bestest. I accept it for what it is. Personal Capital is great at a few things: Monitoring your money on a daily basis.Tracking (and analyzing) your investment portfolio.Playing with various retirement scenarios. If you're not interested in these three tasks, Personal Capital probably isn't right for you. If you want a lot of detail and analysis, Personal Capital probably isn't right for you. If you have a lot of money invested and don't want people to pester you with phone calls, Personal Capital probably isn't right for you. For everyone else, though, Personal Capital is a useful (if imperfect) tool. If you decide to use it, just be aware of its limitations. As I say, I've been using it for five years. It's not my top tool, but it's the one I access most often. That's worth something, I guess. I'm curious, though. Many GRS readers must also be using Personal Capital. What are your experiences like? Do you recommend it? What are your favorite features? What do you not like? Would you recommend Personal Capital to a friend?

Author: J.D. Roth In 2006, J.D. founded Get Rich Slowly to document his quest to get out of debt. Over time, he learned how to save and how to invest. Today, he's managed to reach early retirement! He wants to help you master your money and your life. No scams. No gimmicks. Just smart money advice to help you reach your goals. https://www.getrichslowly.org/personal-capital/

0 notes

rfhusnik · 6 years ago

Text

Remember: You’ll Do The Work, And You’ll Pay The Bills

Written By: Steven Fillmore

For many years I tried to more or less keep my mouth shut. I got up every morning and went to work. But, as a recent retiree, I’ve become very concerned about the future of The United States of America. And I don’t think the majority of Americans today realize the potentially perilous position that their dismissive attitude toward illegal immigration will most likely place their children and grandchildren in in years to come.

And as far as I can see, there are three dangerous points of view now “setting up” America for tragic consequences in years to come. First, there are those Americans who think they’ll be able to keep themselves isolated from the increasing number of Hispanics now living either legally or illegally in their nation. These are the people who illegally pay for various services, such as their children’s education, and build walls around their property, yet don’t want our nation to build a wall to protect its current poorer inhabitants. And by the way, why is it that every time a proposed border wall or border shutdown is mentioned in the media, only negative things are said? Second, there are those who believe God will provide an answer to illegal immigration. And they also believe that the Almighty won’t allow a Hispanic majority to harm or misuse non-Hispanic minorities in the years to come. And then there is that third group which says it cares about the future of the U.S.A. It has grave concerns it says, about environmental issues. But rest assured, environmental concerns will take a back seat in importance to future Americans if those Americans are no longer able to live freely because what once had been a class of illegal aliens now controls their very lives.

And, in the midst of these future fears, like most elderly white men, I’ve paid a price for the concept of white supremacy, though I never believed in it; and, if the truth be told, often wondered if a fair amount of those who said they believed in it actually did, or were simply using that bogus concept as a tool to stir up some excitement in what otherwise would have been very boring existences. But then, maybe dad was right. He told me I’d amount to nothing someday.

Yet, with that said, I can’t lie now and say that life has gotten better for white American males over the span of my lifetime – oh no! And it seems that this fact has become especially noticeable over the last ten to fifteen years. And here are some examples of what I mean. Today, America’s heroes aren’t the people who work to keep the nation functioning. No, today we look up instead to such people who are able to enter our country illegally, and then live off the fruit of the labors of this nation’s working class. And today white American males are pretty much automatically held in disdain by many women and members of other races.

Nonetheless, I’m in a reflective mood today. Thus, I hope I won’t ramble (too much) in this piece. And, let me tell you that this is the last time Steven Fillmore will appear as a writer of these posts. And I’ve informed my city’s mayor, Ralph Hawk, who compiles these writings, of that fact. And Ralph said he was sorry to hear that, but admitted that he can probably find several other people from our city who’ll be willing, able, and probably glad to hold forth here.

So, anyway, today I’m thinking back to forty some years spent working in this city’s main factory, and how yesterday, a few days after I retired from the workforce, I heard some liberal legislators say that most white males of my age actually wasted their lives. And how did we waste them? Apparently during our working years we didn’t do enough to help socialists, communists, fascists, criminals, drug users, illegal aliens, deeply indebted college graduates, feminists who weren’t living out the full feminist dream, so-called dreamers, gay, lesbian, and transgender activists, animal rights activists, environmental activists - and especially those of that group who want to ban cows and airplanes, as well as pass a number of other asinine dictatorial laws, members of Congress whose vocabulary seems to be limited to the word impeachment, members of Congress who dress as foreigners, and members of Congress who all dress in the same color for special events, just like the brown shirts did many years ago when they conducted their business in a Reichstag that was trending toward Nazism.

And, of course the American liberal media concurs with that afore - mentioned assessment of America’s working class. And it makes sure that everyone knows that during our lifetimes people such as myself didn’t care enough about the poor and downtrodden; but more importantly than even that, feared what an invasion of foreigners seeking to end what had been the American way of life would do to the legacy and wealth we hoped to leave our heirs.

Thus, I’m leaving these words as a very troubled soul. I only pray that the youth of America will reject the socialism and near communism which already we see being peddled by most of those who so far have announced their candidacies for president in the next election.

And we know that a portion of America’s youth will be, and already has been taken in by the ridiculous promises which left-wingers have, and will continue to make. But the postulation that the rich should pay their fair share in taxes is truthful, yet is easier said than done. Few know of, or take the time to learn of how dollars sheltered from taxes often, in the long run, do more for the American economy than do those confiscated via taxation, and then wasted on government frivolities such as conspiracy investigations which investigate the innocent, and allow those who may really be guilty of what’s being investigated to appear blameless, even though those of that second group are probably the same individuals who got the phony investigation started in the first place, and perhaps used America’s highest information gathering unit to aid them in that quest.

And it’s difficult to leave when it’s known that soon Americans will be bombarded by left-wing campaign ads promoting various presidential candidates. And we know that soon the youth of America will be severely tested. It will have all sorts of financially impossible promises made to it such as: Everyone should have a free college education, airplanes should be banned (can you even begin to imagine the negative impact of this!), cows should be banned – this will do wonders for America’s agricultural sector – especially when the large numbers of Hispanics whom the leftists apparently wish to have enter our country have found the livestock industry to be one of only a very few industries which actively seeks them as workers. And, the list of crack-pot ideas which already have been floated by many potential candidates for president goes on and on.

Thus, before the snowball of lunacy which no doubt will descend upon us in the months ahead reaches its full speed, I’d like all Americans, but especially young Americans to remember that nothing is ever given away, or accepted in a completely free fashion. A price is always paid; and under socialist and communist leadership, a despised lower working class always toils to benefit bureaucrats, even though socialists and communists tell the masses that the exact opposite is the true experience under their way of life. So, don’t be fooled in the upcoming presidential election. Don’t vote for someone who’ll keep you working to support him or herself, while he or she keeps right on importing more people into this nation who’ll also lessen your paycheck amount through their welfare needs.

And, as a final sign off here, I want to say that I’m aware of course that the dictatorship of the right (fascism) can be as destructive to human rights as that of the dictatorship of the left (communism). But only people who deserve to live freely will live freely. Ask yourself, “If my car died on the roadway tomorrow, would I simply leave it there, run away to the north, and not care about it anymore? And would I leave others to deal with its obstruction?” Those questions, though simplistic, are probably dually pertinent at this time. First, if something is wrong in my nation, do I simply run away to where other people can take care of me? And second, will I allow myself to be conned by politicians, either young or old, or male or female, who should know that the policies they’re advocating will be disastrous for America, yet pursue them anyway – apparently only to appease their own large egos.

Anything that’s wrong in a capitalist America can be fixed in a capitalist America. But there are a few facts to be faced. No economic system is inherently fair. Some people will always need to do the blue and white collar jobs that will need to be done. And if those people are forced to labor under a system which takes too much from them and then gives too much to criminals, illegal aliens, or government officials who don’t understand the importance of fiscal responsibility, then the entire society will have serious problems.

And remember, don’t be intimidated by old or young male or female presidential candidates. All of them have one thing in common; they want to shake their fingers at you and tell you what a bigot and destroyer of the environment you are, and have been, and, especially so if you’re white and male. And remember also, while they’re chasing their socialist dreams, such as giving freebies to non-workers, trying to end the airplane and livestock industries, severely altering the American way of life for the worse, and importing more foreigners who’ll live off your labor today, and perhaps confiscate your heirs’ wealth in the future; you’ll be the people who’ll be doing the work which always needs to be done in any society, be its economic system capitalist, socialist, communist, fascist, feudal, monarchical, or whatever. Yes, you’ll do the work, and you’ll pay the bills, but they’ll continue to devastate America and its way of life.

And also, you may say this is crazy, and hopefully it will prove to be false, but what will America be like when Hispanics are the majority ethnic group in it? Will they abide by the laws and ways of life which traditionally have been the foundations of The United States of America? Or will they pursue their own agenda, using their majority status to elect Hispanic candidates to national office, including perhaps the presidency, and then use their political power to severely restrict whites and blacks, and, who knows, perhaps confiscate their lands and wealth, and perhaps even enslave them?

0 notes

andrewdburton · 6 years ago

Text

The pros and cons of Personal Capital

If you've read money blogs over the past five years, you've heard about Personal Capital. Personal Capital is a free money-tracking tool with a beautiful interface and — gasp — no advertising. (One of my big complains about Mint is that it shoves ads in your face.)

Many of my friends and colleagues promote the hell out of Personal Capital because the company pays good money when people sign up. (And yes, links to Personal Capital in this review absolutely put money in my pocket. But any Personal Capital link you see anywhere on the web puts money in somebody's pocket.)

I sometimes wonder, though, if any of my pals actually uses Personal Capital, you know? All of their reviews are glowing. While I like Personal Capital, I've been frustrated by the app in the past. Even today, I find that it's not as useful as I'd like.

What are my issues with Personal Capital?

For a long time, I was frustrated trying to get Personal Capital to connect to my accounts. It still won't connect to my credit union, but that's fine. I can enter my balance manually. It was frustrating, though, that for years I couldn't get Personal Capital to connect to my Fidelity investment accounts. They work now…but I'm always worried that they won't. The app still won't connect to my Capital One credit card — and hasn't for over a year, which I find mind-blowing.

The phone calls! My god, the phone calls! Here's a not-so-secret secret: The Personal Capital app — while beautiful and useful — is actually bait. It's a lure. Its aim is to attract high net-worth users to connect their accounts. When they do, Personal Capital (the company) begins a phone campaign in an attempt to recruit the users as clients. Personal Capital isn't actually an app company; it's a wealth-management company. They want people with lots of money to sign up. (I can't comment on whether this is a good deal or not. I don't want a financial advisor. I ignore all of the calls from Personal Capital.)

Personal Capital has pretty reports, but there aren't enough of them. My copy of Quicken 2007 — ugly as it is — has 23 different reports and 10 different graphs. (Plus, you can customize many more.) Personal Capital has maybe…nine ways to look at your money? (I can't tell for sure.)

The security is over the top. I suppose I should be happy about this, but I'm not. It feels like I'm constantly having to verify my identity via email or text message. Some of my other accounts make me do this occasionally, but it feels like Personal Capital does this multiple times per week. That's crazy!

Now, these complaints aside, here's a confession: I've been using the Personal Capital app for 5+ years. For real. I can't remember when I started, but I do remember being cranky because a Personal Capital rep didn't know who I was at Fincon 2013 in St. Louis. “I use your app,” I told him. “And I have a big blog.” (I wince now at the thought of my arrogance.)

Despite the drawbacks, there must be something to it. Right? Today — using my current financial situation — let's look at the pros and cons of Personal Capital.

Quicken 2007 vs. Personal Capital

As regular readers know, I'm an old fogey. My money management tool of choice is an antiquated copy of Quicken for Mac 2007. This tool is so important to me, in fact, that I'm currently refusing to update my system software to the latest version (Mac OS Mojave) because I'm afraid it'll break Quicken. (Other user experiences are mixed.) How important is Quicken 2007 to me? No joke: I would buy a used Mac laptop just to run that software.

As much as I love Quicken, it has its drawbacks. One of those is that it's a pre-mobile app. Quicken 2007 is almost as old as this blog. It came out roughly one year before the first iPhone. (Get Rich Slowly launched on 15 April 2006. I can't find a release date for Quicken 2007, but it was available by at least 30 August 2006. The iPhone launched on 29 June 2007.) If I want to interact with Quicken, I have to sit down at my desktop computer.

Because I'm a nerd, I'm attached to my mobile devices. I have an iPad. And an iPhone. And an Apple Watch. (Why isn't it an iWatch? I don't know. Apple doesn't give a fig about consistency.) I want to be able to track my money from my mobile devices.

Trust me: I've tried tons of other mobile apps. I don't really like any of them. I do, however, like Personal Capital…warts and all. I would never ever use it as my only money management tool, but as one piece of a bigger package, it'a actually kind of awesome.

Personal Capital is the only mobile money management app that I use. There are others out there, sure, but for my needs, Personal Capital fills a niche…and fills it well.

Personal Capital as Daily Money Tracker

I use Personal Capital as a daily tracker. Quicken 2007 is my actual go-to tool for entering and analyzing my data, but Personal Capital is what I've used for the past five years to check on my accounts to make sure everything is okay.

Believe it or not, Personal Capital has saved my bacon several times. What? My credit card payment is due today? Whoops! I'd better go pay it. Wait! What's this strange charge on my account? That's not me. Let me call my bank. Whoa! I forgot to pay my garbage bill. I'd better handle that when I get home.

Because Personal Capital connects to (most of) my accounts, I'm able to look at everything from a unified dashboard. I don't have to log in to each credit card and bank account to verify everything. I can do it from one place. (Okay, not my credit union. I still have to go check that separately.)

Here, for instance, is a look at my recent transactions. (I have no idea what the graph is tracking. I'm not sure I care.)

Personal Capital as Investment Tracker

Honestly, though, Personal Capital isn't meant to be a daily money-management tool. For that, I'd use something like You Need a Budget. Personal Capital is specifically designed to monitor your investments. Because of this, the Personal Capital app has a variety of tools to help investors.

First up, there's the plain ol' portfolio view:

(As a passive investor, though, I don't actually look at investment performance that often. I might check it once per week…but a couple of times per month is more likely.)

You can also get a breakdown of your asset allocation:

The Personal Capital app also offers something interesting — something I think Vanguard and Fidelity should offer. They have a tool that analyzes the fees on your investment accounts. As you probably know, fees are one of the top drags on the average investor's performance. Too many suckers pay 1% or 2% per year (or more!) in mutual fund costs. Index funds have risen to prominence because they promise management fees of 0.20% or 0.10% (or lower).

Personal Capital makes it clear just how much you're paying in fees.

Personal Capital's Retirement Calculator

All of these other features are great, but there's one main reason I continue to use Personal Capital: its retirement calculator.

As I mentioned the other day, I hate most retirement calculators. They're overly simplistic. Their assumptions are bogus. They're designed to get users to save more than they need.

The Personal Capital retirement calculator isn't the best tool on the market — we'll look at two better tools during the next week — but it's pretty damn good for something that's free and built into an otherwise useful app.

This section is going to be the biggest part of this review, and it's going to contain plenty of screenshots. You've been warned.

First up, here's a look at my own personal financial situation as of this morning. (Sorry for the “mute” notification in the middle of the screenshot. My bad. Not sure why I was muting my iPad, but I can't fix it now.)

Based on my current situation — $736,170 in liquid investments and roughly $60,000 of annual expenses — Personal Capital says I'll run out of money at 62. This doesn't differ much from other retirement calculators I've looked at.

But here is where Personal Capital gets fun (and the reason I'm obsessed with it). Do you see those + signs across from Investment Events and Spending Goals? If you click on those, you can add new events. (And if you click on existing events, you can modify those.) This means you can tweak your parameters over and over and over again.

What if, for instance, I decreased my spending from $60,000 per year to $42,000 per year? (This is my aim for 2019.)

Well, look at that. If I re-embrace frugality, my money will likely last until I'm 72 instead of 62. Nice!

And now that I'm back to work at the box factory, what if I stay there for ten years and earn $20,000 annually?

Holy cats! As you can see, working part-time makes a ginormous difference. If I reduce my spending to $3500 per month while earning $20,000 per year, I'm golden. I shouldn't run out of money before my projected age of demise. (Even in a “worst-case scenario”, my money would last until age 67.)

And if I end up with an inheritance? Party time!

Hm. Not enough to get me to where I want to go, is it? (Plus, I was muting the sound again. What the heck?) Okay, what if I decide to sell this house at some point in the next ten years. What then?

Okay, not bad. That makes me wonder, though, what if I did not decide to go back to work for the family business. What then?

Well, I guess that's not bad, but it's not nearly as good as if I'm bringing in some sort of income.

Okay, let's look at the ultimate optimistic scenario. Let's say I trim my spending from $60,000 per year to $42,000 per year. Let's assume I spend the next decade at the box factory earning $20,000 per year. Let's assume that my mother dies in ten years or so and leaves me an inheritance. Let's assume that Kim and I sell this place after increasing frustration with the never-ending repairs, then move into a rented apartment.

After all those assumptions, what does my future look like?

But that's a future that's far too rosy than the one I think lies ahead.

You get the point, though. Even without the app's other features, I'd love Personal Capital just for its retirement calculator. It's more fun and flexible than 95% of the other retirement calculators on the market. (As I mentioned, we'll take a peek at the 5% that are better over the next few days.)

The Bottom Line

I have been using Personal Capital for five years now. It's nowhere near a complete money-management tool, and I know that. But I don't care. I don't expect it to be the biggest and bestest. I accept it for what it is.

Personal Capital is great at a few things:

Monitoring your money on a daily basis.

Tracking (and analyzing) your investment portfolio.

Playing with various retirement scenarios.

If you're not interested in these three tasks, Personal Capital probably isn't right for you. If you want a lot of detail and analysis, Personal Capital probably isn't right for you. If you have a lot of money invested and don't want people to pester you with phone calls, Personal Capital probably isn't right for you.

For everyone else, though, Personal Capital is a useful (if imperfect) tool. If you decide to use it, just be aware of its limitations. As I say, I've been using it for five years. It's not my top tool, but it's the one I access most often. That's worth something, I guess.

I'm curious, though. Many GRS readers must also be using Personal Capital. What are your experiences like? Do you recommend it? What are your favorite features? What do you not like? Would you recommend Personal Capital to a friend?

The post The pros and cons of Personal Capital appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

from Finance https://www.getrichslowly.org/personal-capital/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

awesomedarmoe-blog · 7 years ago

Text

I’m NOT a “Bigot”

Recently I had a group of Transgender individuals hack my Facebook pages, file complaints about my various posts, calling me “Transphobic” simply because I do not agree with THEIR P.O.V. with the issue and the fact that there are a couple of trash issues said community refuse to recognize and tend to. ISSUE #1 -- I have no problems with people that require the surgery to have it. BUT, I do believe this is only the case for those that were improperly reassigned gender at birth, hermaphrodites or those born with the organs of the gender not being physically represented. I DO NOT believe that 5 and 6 year old boys that play dress up or even play with Barbies and Easy Bake Ovens are Trans. . . I know of very few males, gay & straight, who did not pass through such a phase. Related to this. . . at 3 & 4 I spoke with a lisp and walked with a swish. I can assure you, I’m nowhere near Transgender even though I have a form of body dysphoria -- I hate my fat! (who don’t?) Sadly though clinicians are using such phases in life as the grounds of their diagnosis or assumption of a Trans situation. I’m certain most reading this will agree that this is akin to the trend in the 90s when so many “Mental Health” professionals were planting the thought kernel in a child’s mind, that they had been molested. We would discover this deception and the result was a lot of bogus cases getting overturned. A course correction that’s rather difficult to do when you’ve been on hormone therapy for a few years and finally wake up to the fact that you’re simply gay, and not part of the current popularity movement. ISSUE #2 -- I have major issues with people that act like and project an attitude of “Kiss My Ass” -- expectation and privilege. Sadly, I live in a region that is rife with both, Trans and Feminists (typically younger individuals) that are demeaning and all too frequently, rude. I loathe such attitudes in anyone, but if you are part of a misunderstood minority, why go out of your way to create problems? Understandably, I live in a region that’s a Bubble in which the Trans and hardcore Feminists have a level of freedom, protection and acceptance that stands way outside of what most consider “common” or remotely “normal”. There is a great sense of imbalance when it comes to men’s issues and even something as simple as dating -- no meeting of gathering places for us, the women manipulate the scenario so that they are allowed in. Gay Men frequently inundated by members of the Trans community for reasons about to be touched upon. . . ISSUE #3 -- I am not obligated to buy into your delusions. Trans individuals have a belief that they are (typically) of the opposite gender from what biology suggests. This is a mental obsession and they get their panites in a twist when you don’t use the “proper pronoun”. GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK! I worked as a professional mind reader for 30 years and I’m not good enough to know such things and I learned many years ago, not to assume (met many a bearded lady over the years). Stop labeling people as “Transphobic” simply because they won’t join you in your fantasiful trip down the yellow brick road. For millennia there have only be BOYS & GIRLS in the world with limited acceptance for those showing a homosexual-like nature; most traditions setting such people to the side, for religious training because they carried within them, the essence of both God & Goddess. From this more primitive perspective you had traditional heterosexuals, Bi-Sexuals, Homosexuals (men & women) as well as the A-sexual or non-gender/non-sexual being. Again, it’s been this way for centuries and I’m certain these points of reality will prove far more a constant than what we’re seeing in trend currently around the LGBT community

ISSUE #4 -- The Trans Evangelicals i.e. militant and aggressive transgender folk that berate and gang up on fresh out of the closet gay/lesbian kids and harass them into believing they are Trans.

If there is one thing I loathe in life, it’s a high pressure sales pitch of which zealots of most any cause, fit the mold. I grew up around preachers and evangelists and know them all to be con artist and bold faced liars. When it comes to this issue things are no different; individuals within the Trans community can be assholes just as anyone else can. In my area the imbalance seems to empower certain folks that want to share the pain and bring others down into the abyss with them.

We must bare in mind that the Trans community has an exceptionally high ratio of mentally unstable individuals. Huge %s of them are drug addicts and alcoholics due to self-hate/loathing. Over 40% of all Trans people ultimately kill themselves within the initial transition stages with a relatively similar % killing themselves within 5 years of completing the surgery. Yet, Mental Health professionals are negating the condition as being a disturbing Psychological issue presented by people that need on-going help vs. enabling.

ISSUE #5 -- The Game Players i.e. Female to Male Trans folk that get their jollies not revealing that they are trans until they have lead gay men down a path that leads to the bedroom where certain body parts are missing (sorry, but most gay men want a real functioning dick). If you throw them off you, toss them out the door or kick their ass, you are stigmatized with being Transphobic. . and that’s bull shit! This is a game that will end up with someone getting killed if the Trans community don’t get it stopped FAST!

I brought this forward on Facebook and was immediately attacked by Trans people and their enablers. Which seems to say, “Trans people can do whatever the fuck they want and you can’t clock them on it.” Well, I’m going to risk saying that you’re full of shit; this is highly unethical, immoral and disrespectful and it is the sort of thing that hurts your cause far more than it does anything. ISSUE #6 -- Ignorance DOES NOT = Transphobic

I have never understood the appeal of doing Drag; I’m a male and though I don’t mind wearing a kaftan at home it is not something I’d wonder about town in. I wear MEN’S CLOTHING because I am male. As an entertainer I have worked with many drag queens and female impersonators and for most of that career never had problem one. . . drop away from the scene for a decade and things change on the social-politica front and the Trans community manages to launch a big PR campaign that makes them special. Yet, many of their membership fail to understand (accept) that the majority of the world can’t wrap its head around their delusion -- their heart held belief that they are actually “normal” in some way. . . again, a believe invented by today’s Mental Health industry and supposedly supported by Medical Science i.e. the claim that the brain of a trans person is “different” from the brain of a normal person.

Phil Donahue suggested this very same thing back in the 80s, as an explanation around why some folks are gay and others aren’t. . . it had a short shelf-life in actual scientific circles. Like the Donahue report however, it is darn near impossible to find supporting data to this claim by the Trans community that is not being posted on sites that are LGBT sympathetic on political & social levels. In other words, the claim seems to be what one would expect Exxon to say about how safe their products are for the environment or belief in “Clean Coal”.

Not understanding something does not mean you’re ignorant; I know a lot of well educated people that cannot understand the Trans scenario no matter how it is explained. I’ve been actively a part of the LGBT community for decades and until this past decade the Trans thing was never a major issue. It is my belief however, that it is trend just as coming out of the closet was used by young people to shock parents back in the 70s and 80s; it’s the next big step.

As a Rule I have no problem with 90% of the Trans community. But, if you are a zealot I will put you in your place. If you are a game player, I will charge you with rape because that is exactly what you’re doing and I bet a good D.A. could add “Hate Crime” to that charge. The thing is, I honestly don’t understand; especially those that want to change gender in order to become a gay man or lesbian -- makes no sense whatsoever -- simply supporting my belief that much of this is done for sake of shocking society and nothing other.

IN CLOSING. . . I grew up around real bigots including a rather infamous uncle that was a Grand Dragon of the KKK. I’ve seen and even experienced the extremes of bigotry, homophobia, etc. so I know what it means to be a “bigot”. I also find it curious that I’m condemned by aspects of my own community because of my honesty around the whole Trans issue. Especially given how appalled several notable figures in the local community are around the very issues I’ve listed here.

If the LGBT community continues to enable people to do whatever they want and defend them vs. chastising the bad players, I will gladly step completely out of that niche and work with those who, like me, want to see a positive representation of who and what we are, not Green Bay Quarterbacks in a dress and beard. . . such displays insult women that actually have facial hair and contradicts the gender claim of the Trans. . . at least in the view of most.

You will always attract more bees with honey so maybe it really is time to get our house in order along with priorities.

I live by very progressive points of view when it comes to society and politics with a hint of midwestern conservatism a.k.a. simple old fashioned common sense. I’m really good at seeing both sides of most issues. But do not condemn me or paint me into a niche, simply because I am incapable of supporting your delusions. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t protect you or defend your rights as a human being, I most certainly would. But I do not have to cosign things just because Hollywood is pushing it as an agenda.

Well, enough from me. I do hope this clarifies things with those that have lashed out at me on FB and elsewhere.

#getcraigbackonfb

0 notes

nancygduarteus · 7 years ago

Text

Answers to Every Possible Thanksgiving Health Question

In what has become an annual tradition, here are this year’s questions about human health and social well-being as they relate to the U.S. holiday known as Thanksgiving.

Can forcing a smile for an extended period of time cause a brain aneurysm?

It’s unlikely. It’s technically possible if forcing a smile means you’re stressed and your blood pressure is high. You’d have to be smiling and experiencing stress for a very long time, though, much longer than a day. Once formed, aneurysms can burst in moments of intense anxiety. But it’s very unlikely, and worrying about this doesn’t help.

A group of neurosurgeons at Cleveland Clinic reported that among male patients, aneurysm ruptures happen most often in late fall. This could be related to the holidays, though the researchers were more convinced by the onset of Ohio winter, writing that their finding “suggests that weather is causally related to aneurysm rupture in men.”

(I’m not convinced, because for women the most common time of rupture was early spring. And why break these groups down by gender? Possibly because when taken together, the data show no pattern of seasonality at all, and that’s not an interesting study to publish.)

Are piñatas a good way to relieve stress at a family event?

Yes. They can be filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.

Why am I apparently unable to digest entire kernels of corn?

There are starches in some corn that resist digestive enzymes. Even though they survive the small intestine, nondigestible starches and fiber can help with the movement of matter through the bowel and have a positive effect on gut microbes. Those that don’t pass all the way through can be fermented in the large intestine. So as we think more and more about feeding our microbes as well as ourselves, some scientists have argued that we should be getting more of these starches in our food.

Is it actually healthy to celebrate Thanksgiving, though?

The holiday is predicated on the myth of an amicable arrangement between European colonialists and Native Americans. It promises a sort of absolution for non–Native Americans—from guilt in the taking of land, the genocide, and the slander and cultural erasure. This can’t be healthy. But recognizing the fallacy and refusing that absolution is probably a worthwhile exercise.

I meant because we eat a lot. Damn. Everything feels so serious right now.

You’re the one who started with a question about aneurysms.

Now my other questions feel trivial.

This has been a year of reckoning with our history, and which parts of it we want to continue to celebrate. It’s liberating, healthy.

Okay, well. What about cranberries?

Ah, right, as in, do they cure urinary-tract infections?

What? Why would they?

It’s a popular myth. It’s not true—the cure for urinary-tract infections is antibiotics—but regularly eating antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables like cranberries does seem to help protect people from infections generally.

I was going to ask what defines a “sauce.” Are there any actual health downsides to canned (the Jell-O-like stuff)?

Canned cranberry “sauce” was produced as far back as 1941 by the collective of growers that would become Ocean Spray. The advent of mechanical harvesting meant a lot of imperfect and crushed cranberries, and they could be canned as a gelatinous product, and then a lot of people came to prefer it to actual, good cranberry sauce. Ocean Spray now sells 86.4 million cans every year, despite vastly better options being very easy to make. The company says it does 80 percent of its “total sauce business” between September and December.

Are turduckens sandwiches?

No.

Why, if a woman sliced through her hand with a turkey carver and went to the doctor on Thanksgiving, would the first question she is asked be “When was the first day of your last menstrual cycle?”

The medical system tends to be predicated on a sex-gender binary in places where sex-gender is irrelevant, and oblivious of differences when they actually matter. Emergency departments will be filled with self-inflicted lacerations over the holiday. A good thing to know is that in most cases antibiotics are unnecessary.

Also, real question, is it okay if I let the turkey sit on the counter to warm it up before putting it in the oven? Or will that cause bacteria to grow faster?

That’s not okay. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends thawing turkeys in the refrigerator, in a sink of cold water (changed every 30 minutes), or in the microwave, I guess if you have an enormous microwave. The Department of Agriculture has specific instructions for all these methods.

But they clearly warn us to never thaw a turkey by leaving it out on the counter, naming the “danger zone” for bacterial growth as between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. This may even be the origin of the song “Danger Zone,” performed by Kenny Loggins for the Top Gun soundtrack. Though I have nothing to back that up.

Even if you’re the sort who’s attracted to danger, this isn’t the place to make a name for yourself.

To be clear, medium-rare turkey is not a thing, right?

It is, but I can’t recommend it. The CDC tells us to get the inside of the turkey to 165 degrees. If you hit that point, even briefly, all disease-causing microbes should be dead. That’s the number for everyone to keep in their heads.

Technically, antibacterial effects are a combination of temperature and time. So the same effect can happen at lower temperatures if cooked for longer periods. Recall the CDC also says the danger zone goes up to 140 degrees. Some chefs say they can hit the range between 140 and 165 and hold it there for a while, and they get a “sous vide” turkey that doesn’t sicken their customers.

Though a lot of people would find it to be a turnoff. Most people don’t like a gooey, shiny pinkness to their poultry. If a person who isn’t a professional chef served me a turkey that looked like that, I’d assume it was unintentional and offer to put it in the oven.

That’s potentially an awkward conversation, but you can say how you’re sure it was a safely cooked and artfully executed sous vide, it just happens not to be your preference. A host would rather have that conversation than 15 violently ill guests.

Has anyone’s stomach actually burst from eating too much?

Yes. Not a healthy person, though. Cases where this happens involve a blockage in the bowels that had been building up for a long time. I once sat in on a surgery to remove a bezoar, a ball of hair, from a young girl’s stomach. It was the size of a football. She had trichotillomania, an anxiety disorder in which she compulsively pulled her hair, and in this case ate it as well. Hair is made of indigestible fibers. Once it started to ball up in the stomach, the ball kept growing. Her stomach was visibly distended, and she couldn’t keep any food down.The wall of the stomach has three layers of muscle, and it’s much more common to see a rupture of the thinner walls of the intestines. If this happens, though, it might be referred to as the “stomach” in polite conversation.

When dealing with opinionated family members, how much alcohol is too much alcohol?

My Thanksgiving alcohol guidelines are a very personal thing. If alcohol brings out a mellow and introspective, even empathetic side, then good. If it brings out an argumentative and defensive side, then even a little bit can be too much. In that case I wouldn’t think about it like abstaining or foregoing the enjoyment of alcohol; your day might actually be a lot better without it.

Can I throw a frozen turkey into a vat of boiling oil? Please?

This is a question every year. It causes the turkey to explode. People are hurt every year.

My turkey has exploded.

So it’s too late for you. I hope you’re not burned badly. I’m not sure what to do about this. I used to think it was a problem of information. People just didn’t know this was dangerous. But at this point people must know, or at least have a sense. And they keep doing it.

Sometimes in health we make problems worse by warning against them. The famous example of this is the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) campaign in the 1990s. It was based on telling kids to “Just Say No” to drugs. Many experts now argue this motto actually made young people more likely to use illicit substances. It gave drugs an edgy appeal. The Danger Zone can be alluring.

Doctors and public-health advocates are now faced with the question of how to actually influence beliefs and behaviors. Sometimes information alone isn’t enough. Information isn’t going to change your uncle’s mind about how, for example, climate change is a hoax, or your cousin’s about how grabbing a colleague’s butt can be a funny joke if you weren’t so uptight, or your librarian’s about how everyone would be safer if everyone were carrying a firearm, but that when it comes to gluten we’re all better safe than sorry.

These are topics that tend to relate to people’s identities and sense of self. We call them “beliefs”—even though some positions are empirically more defensible than others. To attempt to change a person’s mind on these beliefs is to risk a sense of assault, to drive them only more deeply into themselves. There will be plenty of articles this week about how to argue with family members about politics, or how to respond to malignant, bigoted comments; when to engage and when to keep the peace. That all depends on family dynamics. But I’d keep in mind that questions can be more effective than facts. Ask more about the person’s beliefs and where they come from.

It’s bogus and dumb to suggest we all need to hear about arguments for why the Civil War wasn’t really about slavery, and that Donald Trump never groped women, and that Coldplay’s music is just getting better and better. At this point, these aren’t valid positions. They don’t deserve to be debated over dinner, or anywhere.

It’s worth going down the hole of interrogating those beliefs, though. There’s usually something to be learned about a thought process. Even if not, earnest inquiry could eventually lead a person to question their own positions, and to get to the point where they’re ready to talk about facts.

Happy Thanksgiving.

from Health News And Updates https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/11/thanksgiving-health-questions-2017/545516/?utm_source=feed

0 notes

ionecoffman · 7 years ago

Text

Answers to Every Possible Thanksgiving Health Question

In what has become an annual tradition, here are this year’s questions about human health and social well-being as they relate to the U.S. holiday known as Thanksgiving.

Can forcing a smile for an extended period of time cause a brain aneurysm?

Are piñatas a good way to relieve stress at a family event?

Yes. They can be filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.

Why am I apparently unable to digest entire kernels of corn?

Is it actually healthy to celebrate Thanksgiving, though?

I meant because we eat a lot. Damn. Everything feels so serious right now.

You’re the one who started with a question about aneurysms.

Now my other questions feel trivial.

This has been a year of reckoning with our history, and which parts of it we want to continue to celebrate. It’s liberating, healthy.

Okay, well. What about cranberries?

Ah, right, as in, do they cure urinary-tract infections?

What? Why would they?

I was going to ask what defines a “sauce.” Are there any actual health downsides to canned (the Jell-O-like stuff)?

Are turduckens sandwiches?

No.

Also, real question, is it okay if I let the turkey sit on the counter to warm it up before putting it in the oven? Or will that cause bacteria to grow faster?

Even if you’re the sort who’s attracted to danger, this isn’t the place to make a name for yourself.

To be clear, medium-rare turkey is not a thing, right?

Has anyone’s stomach actually burst from eating too much?

When dealing with opinionated family members, how much alcohol is too much alcohol?

Can I throw a frozen turkey into a vat of boiling oil? Please?

This is a question every year. It causes the turkey to explode. People are hurt every year.

My turkey has exploded.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Article source here:The Atlantic

0 notes