The manufacturers have thoughtfully put one of those little holes in the back of the packaging that allows me to leave him, um, entombed in his original packaging, but still allows me to poke him in the back and receive His Message (and He does tend to go on…) That way, if He becomes a collectible one day, He’ll be worth more inside the sealed original packaging. Then again if this catches on, one day the world may be crawling with Talking Jesuses. (”Jesi”??)
I am tempted, however, to remove Him from the packaging because the box claims that He is “Fully Poseable”, which could provide hours of additional fun.
This is a pretty disturbing story from the FREAKONOMICS Blog at the NY TIMES. I have run into this phenomenon all through my career as an attorney/tax advisor/investor, and have also run into it all the time dealing with friends and family who are othewise intelligent and informed but virtually clueless regarding their finances. For some reason, even though there is a very good chance that (if you do it right) you will, in your lifetime, make more money with your investments than with all of your paychecks, people just don’t educate themselves on these matters:
Let’s begin with two questions:
1. Do you consider yourself financially literate?
2. If so, how did you get that way?
And now, a third question:
3. How important is widespread financial literacy to the health of a modern society?
Before you answer the first question, take this little quiz, borrowed from the website of Annamaria Lusardi, a professor of economics at Dartmouth who knows and cares more about financial literacy than anyone else you’re likely to encounter:
1. Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 percent per year. After 5 years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?
a. More than $102
b. Exactly $102
c. Less than $102
d. Do not know
2. Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1 percent per year and inflation was 2 percent per year. After 1 year, would you be able to buy more than, exactly the same as, or less than today with the money in this account?
a. More than today
b. Exactly the same as today
c. Less than today
d. Do not know
3. Do you think that the following statement is true or false? “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.”
Here’s a music video for a Russian heavy metal band–and which includes some scenes from a Russian zombie movie. Needless to say, I’m in Weird Music Video Heaven with this one: Russians, babes with cleavage, and zombies!
So McCain just chuckles and explains that he has his wife handle anything computer-oriented. Isn’t that cute? What is it about my parents’ generation (and, unfortunately, many in my own generation) that makes them think it is funny to be illiterate in some manner. (”Wow! I can’t read. Am I one stupid sumbitch or what? Hahahaha!”)
In this day and age, having computer-skills is as important as having English and math skills. One thing I promised myself when I retired this last year is that I would not embrace stupidity and ignorance, as I have seen my parents’ generation do: “Oh, I’ll never figure out those new-fangled things–that’s for the kids…” Just adorable…
From PC MAGAZINE:
John McCain, the oldest presidential candidate this nation has ever had, has now proven, by his own admission, that he’s not tech savvy enough to run this country.
I hate ageism. I really do. Assumptions made about people because of their age (young or old) drive me nuts, especially as I move firmly into middle age, a time in life where expectations are lowered and opportunities can wither.
Computing has turned age expectations on their head. Obviously, young people are the guides here. Just last week on my train ride home, I eavesdropped as a pixie-like 10-year-old girl tutored her middle-aged parents on the myriad features of her cell phone.
“How many pictures can it take?” asked her slightly bemused dad.
“Well, I’m not sure. Oh, wait,” she said. After a couple of clicks on her phone, she continued, “It says 417 out of 437. So, 437.” She continued this way for a time, pushing buttons and pointing out features to her seemingly technophobic father and mother….[Rest of article]
Many thanks to the anonymous blog reader who sent me the Talking Jesus action figure that I have just received.
