tdh|blog

Today I received a letter from the American Diabetes Association. The letter proudly proclaimed that it contained a nickel and showed the new shiny nickel in the envelopes address window. My first thought was someone should inform the ADA that should not send cash through the mail. Quickly followed by the thought maybe they believe I have diabetes and this is there support they are offering to sufferers of diabetes.

Upon opening the envelope and reading the accompanying letter, I discovered that a mere nickel is spend on Diabetes research per American per week (Math: .05 * 52 * 300 mil = 780 mil). Apparently the ADA thinks 780 mil is too much, since they are sending out nickels to people. On the other hand, maybe it is some new accounting rule or a way to embezzle money out of the non-for-profit organization (1 nickel at a time!). Either way it is silly. Stop wasting postage on sending a nickel. Keep the nickel in your coffers.

Now the question is, if I mail back the nickel can I claim the nickel as a tax deductible donation?

The United States passed 300 million people today. So what does this mean?
To a Senior Citizen it means more people paying into Social Security.
To a Capitalist it means more people to buy their goods.
To an Environmentalist it means increased urban sprawl.
To an Animal it means shrinking habitat.
To a Politician it means more voters he has to placate.
To a Priest it means more people to hear him preach.
To a gamer it means more people to frag.
To an extravert more people to make friends.

To me, more people to meet.

On Columbus Day, N. Korea has proven it is now a member of the “we got nukes” club. Remarkably little has changed. People still went to work (well those who didn’t have holiday), financial markets didn’t crash, and the US still refuses to meet with N. Korea one-on-one. The only change is China now appears open to UN Sanctions against N. Korea. It appears that investors around the world are not fazed by this development. I guess no one fears nuclear annihilation today. Here I was ready to start investing in companies that make fallout shelters in S. Korea, Japan, and San Francisco.

The only change I foresee is the political rhetoric from each party will focus on this development for the Mid-Term elections.