Take even a casual glance at American airport security and it’s clear that the TSA doesn’t care about passenger safety. Even the name “TSA” stands for “Transportation Security Administration,” having nothing to do with travelers and having everything to do with the objects that transport them; their behavior reflects this through the enigmas that are […]
I hear a lot of people talking about red states and blue states, often speaking of them as if it’s a set-in-stone phenomenon. Unfortunately, because American History taught in high school often glosses over 20th Century History (especially the political side), many people don’t know what really went on over the last 100 years. Let’s […]
Sometimes you need to send/receive money when you are abroad; using USA to Taiwan Western Union money orders are the best way to go. And not by some negligible amount. Even if your bank charges you very little for the international wire transfer to a Taiwanese bank account, you’re still probably better off going with […]
Anyone who reads my blog knows that I do a lot of compiling/analysis of data. Usually, it’s not directly related to me, personally: today, it is. I have my blog, which you’re reading, as well as my YouTube Channel. Feel free to check it out. My blog has been active since May of 2011, but […]
A lot of people freak out about how much money our elected government spends, often choosing to go the route of, “Let’s stop paying them and see what happens to their policy-making!” First of all, most Representatives/Senators/Vice-Presidents/Presidents made far more money in the private sector than they do in government. Beyond that, when they were in the […]
If you ask the average net-savvy American about internet censorship, they’ll often reference the Epitome of Internet Censorship on our planet: The People’s Republic of China. The PRC blocks so many sites, it’s freaky. We all know how things like Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and adult porn sites like videoshd.xxx are blocked, but they […]
I recently had some issues at ChinaTrust bank, finding information that would be relevant to foreigners in Taiwan. Hopefully, conveying what I learned can save you some time. My situation is a common one: I wanted to know how much money I could withdraw from my Personal Account using one of ChinaTrust’s ATMs. I don’t […]
Many people don’t really understand inflation, so I thought a simple explanation of inflation might help. One of the more interesting ways is to look at the history of inflation as it relates to the minimum wage, because while only 2% of Americans make minimum wage, almost all of us have been minimum wage employees […]
Let me give you an easy way to understand the USA’s budget by comparing their numbers to something more familiar to you. Here’s the numbers regarding the 2012 US income/budget/debt:But that’s not easy to understand and appreciate. Because it just looks like such an enormous amount of money. So how about we remove some zeros and […]
People talk a lot about World War Three. A few years ago, I realized that World War Three, the way we all imagine it to be, is not going to happen. Nations secure in economy and military have no reason to launch war in the manner seen in the 1940s – actions like that were […]
For those unaware, BTJunkie closed down a few days ago, “voluntarily,” which is to say they closed down before the US government could close them down. The more I look at it, the more I see it all as innevitable. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief a month ago, thinking there was some victory over […]
An Economic Timeline Regarding US Military Spending (in billions) 1942 $260 (estimated) 1944 $850 (estimated) WWII ENDS 1946 $556.9 1947 $52.4 COLD WAR BEGINS 1948 $103.9 1949 $144.2 1950 $141.2 KOREAN WAR BEGINS 1951 $224.3 1952 $402.1 1953 $442.3 KOREAN WAR ENDS 1954 $420.9 VIETNAM BEGINS 1955 $376.9 1956 $356.2 1957 $360.9 1958 $352.9 1959 $352.5 […]