Free T.V.

Is the internet not wasting all of your time yet? Here's a new website where you can watch television channels from around the world, absolutely free. It's called TV Free 4U. Try the link, especially if you've been dying to know what Sri Lankan's t.v. culture is like.

Our Massive Debt

My friend Jim posted this link on Facebook. It is a cold dose of reality.

U.S. Debt Clock

Be sure to check out the last figure. It calculates the debt per citizen, what each of us owe some part of the world, probably China, which purchases our debt. This is why we will probably have escalating inflation in the future and why there are rumors of the world financiers wanting to no longer tie the dollar to oil.

This from U.S.A Today article in June, 2009.

The government's plan is to fight the sour economy now by spending money, and worry about the debt problem later. "If that's the price to keep from having the second Great Depression, it's a bargain," say Ken Goldstein, economist at The Conference Board.

Even ardent supporters of the government's plan, however, worry that massive U.S. debt could be inflationary. Every day, for example, the U.S. needs to borrow $15 billion to fund the deficit, says Axel Merk, portfolio manager of the Merk Hard Currency fund. "Someone has to buy all that," he says. More important, the U.S. has to repay it.

Inflation is a tempting choice to pay the nation's staggering debt, especially because the alternatives are to raise taxes or cut spending. Already, some economists are suggesting letting inflation take some of the bite out of government spending.

Kenneth Rogoff, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, gently told Bloomberg News that a bit of inflation might be a good thing. "I'm advocating 6% inflation for at least a couple of years," said Rogoff, now a professor at Harvard University. "It would ameliorate the debt bomb and help us work through the deleveraging process."

The effects of inflation are cumulative. After five years of 6% inflation, $1 trillion would be worth $734 billion, a 27% drop. Even a 2% inflation rate would be a cumulative devaluation of 81% over 30 years.

Unexpected Blessings

I apologize for the dismally light posting recently. Fact is, I've been tired! Homeschooling has started up, I've been busy with serving on the church council and various other activities which explains part of it, but really, I've been extraordinarily tired, and have in fact found the reason for the fatigue.

Last month before our family made a trip to Busch Gardens and a visit with David's brother and sister in law, Mark and Patti, I thought I ought to take a pregnancy test, just to rule out the possibility. Well, the results of the test did anything but! I jumped on the internet and scared myself with statistics of pregnancies in older women. My biggest concern was the greater possibility of miscarrying, but other concerns weighed heavily, particularly where we were going to add another family member in our cozy little house.

David came home and I shared the news. I was quite concerned about miscarrying, so we decided not to tell the girls yet, and we sat on the news for about two more weeks, just sure someone would figure it out by my not having anything to drink or my not riding much at Busch Gardens. The person who come closest to figuring it out was Berkley, our waitress at Annie Moore's who was stunned that I didn't order an Original Sin, which is my drink of choice at that establishment.

I finally couldn't stand it any longer. I just had to tell the girls, so David and I sat down with them on a Sunday morning before church. It was priceless to see their looks of surprise and delight. The news has been spreading ever since. Thankfully, almost everyone has been encouraging and supportive, and I can't adequately express how much that has meant to David and me.

We've had a few bumps. The day we told the girls, I had some bleeding. I spent most of the next several days pleading with God to save and protect this baby. I am a mama, you know....and he knows. The bleeding has subsided and I have had an ultrasound and seen and heard the heartbeat. How very reassuring! Also reassuring is my midwife who informs me that at age 42 and in good health, I should have a normal pregnancy.

I promise not all my postings will be about the new little one or the pregnancy, but I will write about them here and there, because this is big.

A new life.

We are so blessed.