I checked the markets this morning only to find everything tanking. Dollar down, stocks down, oil down, everything down, down, down. This week it's Italy causing the panic, last week it was Greece, next week who knows.

And the roller coaster of my future retirement savings continues...

All of which leads me to the fact that I've been reading more and more doom and gloom stories in the past few months. I've already avoided being laid off twice now. I'm not so sure I'll be as lucky a third time. This has led me to ponder all things money related and reevaluate my finances.

Now that I've hit 40 I've come to the realization that my supposed retirement isn't really that far away. Five years ago it was hardly a concern, now it's very much a concern. So I've been paying particular attention on how to accomplish financial freedom in my later years. I don't want to be one of those people forced to literally work until the day they drop dead. As it is, it's pretty pathetic that you spend three quarters of your life working just to enjoy your final few years. By which time your body is so wracked with aches and pains and various medical ailments there's not much enjoyment to be had anyway...

Still, you need to plan ahead. So how to achieve this?

Most experts, articles, and books advise you to save between 25% - 30% of your earnings each year. Which for me is rather hard to do when you're paying 50% in taxes, when gas goes up 25% every long weekend, food prices expected to rise 40% over the decade, property taxes rising, pensions non-existent, and wage increases a thing of the past.

With everyone else and their dog being a supposed expert on the subject I figured I'd chime in my with my 2 cents.

- Don't bother with a standard savings account. Interest is near zero and will likely stay that way for several years.

- Put your money into a RRSP if you pay a lot of taxes and put it into a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) if you pay less - or ideally put money in both. Try and save up for your RRSP over the course of the year so you're not forced to borrow in order to meet the deadline. Then put your resulting tax return back into your RRSP.

- Educate yourself. Most guys know what sports acronyms such as RBI or GAA mean or where their team is in the division standings, but couldn't tell you what the acronym EPS means or what the current prime rate is.

- Don't rely on others to manage your money as your best interests aren't always their priority. Most of the stocks and funds recommended to me by my advisors have done poorly while the ones I've chosen have done fairly good.

- As for credit cards, if you can't go a week or a month without using one to pay for something then you shouldn't have one. If they automatically raise your limit contact them and have them lower it. What are you going to do with a $50,000 limit? Buy a new car? (you can't, I tried) Also, most banks will let you setup automatic email or text alerts when you go over your monthly budget. If you have more than one card pay off the higher rate card first.

- Avoid the trap of needless consumerism (I'm bad for this). You probably don't need that latest gadget or gizmo. Save money by buying the previous generation. Look for people offloading them when they fall over themselves to acquire the latest and greatest. Figure out your hourly wage. When you go to buy something think of the cost in terms of how many hours you need to work to pay for it - and if the result is worth the effort.

- Make getting out of debt a priority. A $300 monthly interest charge on your $100,000 outstanding line of credit may not seem like a big deal but all these small charges add up and insidiously chip away at your savings. Pay things off now before rates rise from their historic lows. People were paying 20% on their mortgages in the 80's. Would you still have a house if that was today's rate?

I intend on following these few simple steps. Beyond that I'm as lost as the next guy. If anyone else has any thoughts or advice I'd love to hear it.

Now off to buy that lotto ticket...

With the routing of Gaddafi from the capital of Libya, let the Nato backslapping and high-fiving begin. Mission Accomplished!

But why was Libya attacked again? Why did Obama interrupt my evening months ago looking all stern faced and serious? Oh that's right, the West was spreading 'freedom' to the oppressed Libyan people.

I guess Obama (yes we can) was conveniently able to ignore atrocities by his own allies. Things like the killing of protesters in Bahrain [1], the routine torture in the United Arab Emirates [2], and people in Saudi Arabia being beheaded for the crime of being raped [3].

In the case of the Libya rebels, I guess the US government was ok with them being comprised of Islamic fundamentalists with ties to Al Qaeda.

For all his faults, Gaddafi was a sworn enemy of Bin Laden [4] and actively opposed Al Qaeda in Africa. Guess who is one of the top rebel commanders? A Jihadi who fought with Bin Laden in Afghanistan during the 80's and more recently was chummy with Al-Zarqawi. You remember Zarqawi right? The guy who enjoyed videotaping the beheadings of captured American soldiers in Iraq? [5] Best of all, those weapons in Libya are now being funneled to people bent on the destruction of the West [6].

So the next time an airliner is shot down over Europe it'll either be explained as equipment failure [7] or more likely used as justification for the continual erosion of freedoms at home in the name of the War on Terror. [8]

All of which leads me to the protest a few weeks ago in front of the White House by people opposed to the construction of the Keystone Pipeline. A pipeline which would bring oil from Alberta to refineries in the States.

The stupidity of these people is staggering:

• I guess they'd rather oil be shipped by tanker. Besides the environmental cost of these ships sailing to and fro, what could possibly go wrong? [9]

• Because of their opposition to drilling in Alaska, the alternative was to permit more and more offshore drilling. That turned out great didn't it? [10]

• They conveniently overlook that the largest source of energy in the US is derived from dirty, polluting coal! [11]

• The idea that these environmental organizations are nothing more than mega corporations themselves is lost upon them. [12]

• Obviously they'd rather the US secure its energy by continuing to support repressive regimes overseas and in the case when those people can't be bought have them invade and overthrow the government to control their wealth. I mean, what's a few more 9/11's when there's money to be made? [13]

Which brings me full circle to charade of Libya...

• Not long ago the person responsible for the Lockerbie bombing, which killed 270 people was released back to Libya in exchange for better terms for British Petroleum. [14]

• Countries who were opposed to the invasion are being locked out of lucrative oil contracts. [15]

• Libya had previously nationalized it's oil industry and was in the process of switching away from selling oil in Dollars and also had the largest gold reserves in Africa. [16]

The last point is especially key. Iraq had done the exact same thing before the second Iraq war. A war which killed over 100,000 Iraqi citizens. Most recently, Iran has also changed from the Dollar to the Euro. Guess who's next in the crosshairs?

So you want to protest something?

Protest the continual slaughter in the name of energy security by your own fucking government!!!

[1]  - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366749/Bahrain-protester-shot-point-blank-head-5-killed-violent-clashes.html
[2]  - http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/may2011/righ-m03.shtml
[3]  - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1362512/Maid-faces-beheading
[4]  - http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/15984158
[5]  - http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/10186934-how-the-united-states-helped-alqaida-regain-power-in-libya
[6]  - http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/
[7]  - http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/09/14/swissair-investigation.html
[8]  - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/27/patriot-act-extension-signed-obama-autopen_n_867851.html
[9]  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill
[10]  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill
[11]  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2008_US_electricity_generation_by_source_v2.png
[12]  - http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/13/green-movement-hijacked-politics
[13]  - http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/08/9-11-2011-201108
[14]  - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6814939.ece
[15]  - http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=151339
[16]  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuqZfaj34nc&feature=player_embedded

"The fact that we're here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. Leadership means 'The buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit."

Barack Obama, 2006

Funny how things change when one gets in power...

For the past two weeks both Democrats and Republicans have been playing a game of financial chicken. At stake is the US Government defaulting and the embarrassment of the mightiest nation on earth not being able to pay it's bills. Thankfully an agreement was made yesterday and this scenario has been avoided by raising the debt limit ceiling. This in effect is the same as being maxed out on your Visa and instead of being able to make a payment simply asking the bank to raise your limit. However despite this agreement the markets have continued to tank and the likelihood of the US having it's credit rating downgraded almost a certainty.

For awhile now I've been monitoring various forums on the subject and have repeatedly noted the same rebuttals to any criticism of the Obama administration. The first standard reply is along the lines of 'He's just cleaning up Bush's mess'. So let's address that. Obviously someone coming in to power cannot change things overnight. However Obama is now more than two years into his mandate. At what point do his supporters continue this defense? 3 years? 4 years? If he manages to get a 2nd term, 8 years? As he said in his somewhat inconvenient quote, 'The buck stops here'. Ultimately he needs to be held accountable based on his own actions and not his predecessor's.

Furthermore, if you look at where all the money has been spent at first glance it looks like Bush racked up the debt 7 times more than Obama has. But it's important to realize that Bush was in power for 8 years! Crunch the numbers and the result is that Obama is spending at almost the exact same rate that Bush did. Change indeed.

So the first argument is completely false.

The second usual response to any criticism is usually along the lines of 'Oh, you're just a racist'. Wow, where to start with that one? It must be nice to go through life absolving oneself of any responsibility by playing victim and simply labeling others as being racist. How does one even defend against such an accusation? You can't. which is why this personal type of attack is the lowest of the low. And frankly cheapens instances of actual racism.

The second argument while being morally repugnant is also a cop out.

Ultimately both parties are to blame as are successive Presidents. Continuing to raise the debt ceiling is lunacy. The only way out of this is through a combination of spending cuts and of increased taxes. As for cutting spending, I'd suggest perhaps the US should stop spending more on defense than the rest of the world combined, stop formenting unrest overseas to further their geopolitical aims, and stop creating new bogeymen to justify continued and obscene military expenditures. Finally, I'd suggest Obama enable the change he promised millions of disaffected voters instead of continuing the status quo.

It'd be nice to be able to just look upon these events with amusement, but unfortunately what happens in the States inevitably affects us here. If the US is downgraded they'll have to raise interest rates, which will force us to raise interest rates and the Canadian dollar will shoot even higher - threatening our recovery. While these idiots down south continue bickering and pissing away Trillions of dollars I and every other Canadian will be paying the price.

My first reaction upon hearing the news of Bin Laden's death was one of shock. After years of him being the bogeyman 'out there' somewhere the news just sounded odd to me. I was of the opinion that he had probably long been dead.

As I watched images of the people gathering outside the White House celebrating and chanting 'USA! USA! USA!' I completely understood the outpouring of emotion.

But lost amongst all the patriotic fervor is the fact that this changes nothing. For a nation not able to retain anything past the latest sound bites being fed to them, once again no one is asking why 9/11 happened in the first place.

Bin Laden did not wake up one day and decide to attack on a whim...

Unfortunately he is the most horrific example of Blowback over US foreign policy. People seem to forget that in the 80's Bin Laden was a friend. The CIA funded him, trained him, and supplied him with weapons to fight the Soviets. In short, the US created him.

History is replete with instances of the US arming, supporting, and funding dictators, despots, and fundamentalists in order to advance their geopolitical aims. And inevitably it comes back to haunt them.

Immediately after 9/11 there was global goodwill towards the US. Sadly that goodwill was quickly squandered as American troops rolled into Afghanistan and Iraq, as bombs fell on Pakistan, as revolutions in Yemen, Somalia were covertly funded, and as successive Presidents rolled back hundreds of years of rights and freedoms.

Bin Laden may be dead, but he 'won' a long time ago. Recent events in Libya have shown that the US has learned nothing in the past decade and sadly new Bin Laden's are being created each and every day.

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it"

I hate Daylight Savings Time (DST).

I finally get used to waking up to glorious sunlight and then wham! I'm suddenly back in December SAD mode. Getting up is once again a chore, having to drive to work in blackness depressing the hell out of me.

And for what?

Because some pinhead from a century ago thought it was a good idea and that it would save energy? Except that a number a studies have shown that in fact it actually increases energy usage. [1]

Then there's the annoyance of our computers and cell phones never knowing what time it is because the dates and number of countries and provinces observing DST is constantly changing. [2]

Even worse, you're 10% more likely to have a heart attack in the week following the Spring time change. [3] For me personally, that's somewhat of a concern.

And even worse than that, because Canada recently aligned ourselves with the US, DST now comes three weeks earlier for us. So the problem is compounded even more. Why? Because like the mindless lemmings we are, we simply copy what the States does.

As much as I like to take cracks at Saskatchewan, because of their refusal to follow this idiotic time scheme in this regard they have shown they are much more advanced than the rest of the Country.

Wonder what the weather in Regina is like this time of year...

[1]  - http://www.physorg.com/news187946326.html
[2]  - http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/14/ios-daylight-saving-time-woes-continue/
[3]  - http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=daylight-saving-time-spring-forward-2008-10-29

A new year means there's lots I have to bitch about...

I could go on about the turmoil in Egypt and the hypocrisy of the US media, the need for a 'castle doctrine' here in Canada, or how the F35 fighter is the wrong fighter for Canada and why the government's justifications ring hollow.

I could go on about these and other issues but I won't.

Because recent events have made me reflect upon what's really important in life.

After my last visit with the heart specialist I found out that I'm once again no longer in rhythm. Last month I was but now I'm not. It's frustrating because after two years of fighting this condition I'm right back where I started. At this point my doctor has basically given up and is out of ideas as to a permanent cure. There's an outside chance this might be caused by sleep apnea and I'm waiting to get tested for that. But regardless, I'll never be 'normal' again. I'll either be taking highly toxic medication to try and control my heart or I'll be sleeping with a mask hooked up to breathing tubes - for the rest of my life.

In addition, Lindsay's grandmother Norma passed away suddenly a couple weeks ago from a heart attack. She was only in her early 50's...this is the first time Lindsay has experienced such a loss. Having lost my grandparents and my uncle I know the pain she is going through and I feel horrible for her. Norma was my de facto mother in law for several years. She was always nice to me and still kept in touch even after I broke up with Lindsay's mom. In fact she would send me a Christmas card every year including this past one. Each time I would feel guilty for not writing her and promise to do so next year. Well that will never happen now.

Every new year people make their resolutions - usually about such mundane things as losing weight or being more successful. I think mine will be to try and not take things for granted. Because there may not always be a tomorrow or next week or next year. I'm also going to try and not get worked up about things I can't control or that aren't really that important in the grand scheme of things. Finally I'm going to try and take joy in the simple things in life. Things we don't give a second thought to because we are busy or distracted or simply blind to. Despite whatever trials or complications might arise later on, ultimately any day you wake up is a good day. It's important to remember that.