You Can't Silence Us

Retirees lose 1/4 buying power

For decades, the returns that one can expect from the stock and bond market have dictated how much a retired person can withdraw from their retirement savings without fear of running out later. That rule of thumb has been 4% per year. That is, a person with $400,000 in retirement savings could withdraw $16,000 per year and be comfortable knowing that their nest egg would last for the rest of your life (well, at least 30 years, which for most of us is the same thing).

Not anymore. The lower performance of the market has reduced that rule of thumb to 3.3%. This means that every retired person in the country just saw their retirement income drop by nearly 18%. That person with the $400,000 retirement fund can now only afford to withdraw $13,200.

Now couple that with inflation, officially at 6.22% for the 12 month period ending October 2021, and you see that the retired person with the $400,000 retirement savings now has seen the $16,000 they had to spend last October only able to buy $12,400 worth of stuff. That’s right, retired people have just lost a quarter of real purchasing power in just a year.

People who have read this post: 1,078
By Divemedic, ago

Veterans’ Day

Today is November 11, veterans’ day. As a veteran, I can tell you that I don’t need or want a holiday to honor what I did. I don’t even stand when places ask us to. My wife doesn’t understand why. I just don’t think that I did anything special. If you want to honor someone for their service, please wait for Memorial day.

People who have read this post: 641
By Divemedic, ago

Class warfare

For years, we have heard the communists on the left scream about the one percent. The one percent has been demonized for decades. Now that the left has fleeced that particular sheep for as much as they can get, it is time to lower the bar and come after the next target. They are calling it the “9.9 percent.”

Unlike one of the one percent, you probably know someone who is in the 9.9 percent. It takes surprisingly little income to get there, just $158,000 a year puts you into the top ten percent of wage earners in the United States. This is where you find all sorts of educated professionals: doctors, engineers, lawyers, and accountants, just to name a few.

This demographic has a fairly low net worth, too. This group has a new worth of as little as $1.2 million. If you own your own home, have a 401K, and don’t carry a lot of consumer debt, you are probably there.

So what does the left think of this demographic?

  • You are white or Asian.
  • You believe in the value of education
  • You had your children in a planned and responsible way (not at 16)
  • They think you have a “misguided belief that success depends on merit”
  • You claim to have a prejudiced free view of others, which is often a way of evading the economic privilege that is at the base of your success

This is pure class warfare with a racial spin. This is the basis of the communist belief system. They want people to believe that those who are successful did so because they had some kind of hidden advantage that is unavailable to those who are poor.

We have seen this time and again in history- those who would seize power would tell the public that it isn’t their fault they aren’t successful, it is the fault of those who are somehow cheating.

People who have read this post: 550
By Divemedic, ago

My muse

I could make all sorts of excuses as to why my post count is down this week: I have been watching the Rittenhouse trial every minute that I can, even while at work. I have also been working quite a few hours. I have several projects going on, etc.

But the fact of the matter is that I just haven’t felt like writing a whole lot. Maybe tomorrow.

People who have read this post: 535
By Divemedic, ago

Milestone

At the hospital where I work, for the first time since April of 2020, there are exactly zero COVID patients. Zip. Nada. Not one.

Someone congratulate Governor Desantis. Let me know how New York and California are doing, seeing as how they have mandatory vaccination, mask mandates, and other draconian measures in place.

People who have read this post: 699
By Divemedic, ago

List of Essential Meds

Terry Bradshaw says:

I understand ‘immunized.’ What you were doing was taking stuff that would keep you from getting COVID-19. You got COVID-19. Ivermectin is a cattle dewormer. Sorry, folks, that’s what it is.

The World Health Organization releases a list of essential medicines every two years. I am linking to the current one (2021) here. In fact, I am placing the WHO list on my page of training materials. This is a list of medications that the WHO considers to be essential for the treatment of human diseases and disorders. This is how the WHO describes the list:

The core list presents a list of minimum medicine needs for a basic health-care system, listing the most efficacious, safe and cost–effective medicines for priority conditions. Priority conditions are selected on the basis of current and estimated future public health relevance, and potential for safe and cost-effective treatment

Ivermectin is on that list (pages 6 and 24). So is hydroxychloroquine (page 55).

The reason that Ivermectin is being mocked as being a horse dewormer is the government of this nation is actively trying to prevent people from using it as a treatment for COVID to the point that any doctor prescribing it is at risk of losing his livelihood. It isn’t just Ivermectin. The Biden administration is using the power of government in cutting off other medications as well.

For this reason, people are being forced to turn to veterinary sources for medication to treat COVID.

Terry Bradshaw, who is just a stupid jock, needs to stay in his lane.

People who have read this post: 1,235
By Divemedic, ago

Consequences

One week ago, my employer announced that vaccines would be mandatory by November 24. A good number of employees have resigned. It started with non medical staff- the people who work preparing meals, cleaning, etc. A few medical professionals, and not many technical personnel. I don’t yet know why this is so, but the nutrition and environmental services departments are hurting.

People who have read this post: 1,414
By Divemedic, ago