I’ve finally nailed it down.  It wasn’t dwindling force at sea, nor poor finances, nor bad teeth, nor Yankee ingenuity or socialist health care, nor any series of actions/inactions by assorted kings/queens and prime ministers that brought the mighty British empire to its knees in the early 20th century.  Instead, they blew it with sports !   Yes, after soccer season, and after all the rugby players have overrun the hospitals with neck and head injuries, all the Brits have to look forward to is cricket season.    Cricket, as most civilized nations are aware, breeds sullen laziness and absolute madness, as the following commentary (ESPN) from this past week’s match between England and India at Old Trafford in Manchester will attest.

“A woeful batting display on the third afternoon meant India subsided to 161 and handed England victory despite Stuart Broad being in hospital with a broken nose.  India lost nine wickets after tea, including one period of 5 for 13 in 29 balls, and it was not the swing, seam, and pace that caused most havoc, instead it was Moeen Ali twirling and spinning his way to 4 for 39.  It took a little longer for India’s collapse to set in as Chris Woakes claimed his first wicket before tea, but their demise to 66 for 6 was in many ways more extraordinary given England were a bowler down, the sun was out, and the new ball had been weathered.  After waiting for the new ball, Jos Butler performed a lovely one to take their stand to 134 as both reached half centuries.”

Enough you say ?  Imagine hearing that gibberish on sports talk radio and in newspapers for months on end.  We in the USA have wonderful seasonal sports all year round, which keeps our men, women and leaders sane enough to take a break from  all the troubles in the world, and function effectively day-to-day.     No wonder the Brits are having trouble even keeping ahold of N. Ireland and Scotland.  Why else would you drink warm Guinness ?          WHAT THE HECK !

I was  relaxing today at the White House after my morning round of golf and massage,  just chillin’ with my fluffy white dog and watching Fox (my staff makes me do it one hour a week), when to my viewing  surprise is this woman claiming to be the mom of an ex-Marine named Andrew Tahmooressi who has evidently been in a Mexican jail since April 1.   The press claims he wandered into Tijuana with guns in the trunk of his car.  Come on, this has got to be an April Fool’s joke because nobody talked to me about it.

Let’s see, I can ignore the problem and it will probably go away, or people will forget about it.  That’s not working for me anymore.  Or I could take Air Force One down to the border, yell really loud across the Rio Grande and make a big scene and take advantage of a great photo-op.  Nah, I hear there’s too many kids wandering around there right now.  Too noisy.   I could send some lawyers ? Guess I could call President Nieto, or is it Pena-Nieto, whatever, and ask for a favor.  After all, we’ve been happy to take millions of his folks into the USA and turn them into Democrats.  And gosh, we serve their food at a bunch of eateries in every US city.  He owes us !

Maybe Nieto plays golf, and I can trade him 18 holes at Pebble Beach for Mr. Tahmooressi’s release ?   We’ll make it a threesome, now there’s a photo-op .   Oops, running late to get to my fundraiser in NYC tonight.   I’ll call Nieto when I get back to Washington.        WHAT THE HECK !

Never had the pleasure of being arrested, living the sedentary and peaceful life of a retired evil banker. I always thought my opportunity would come while harassing overpaid and underworked public employee union members while they were picketing.  But I was wrong !

A shopping mall in suburban Georgia has instituted a “no prayer” policy on its shoppers, preferring to protect even one person who might be offended at such a blatant display of faith and thankfulness.   A group of female joggers starts and finishes their runs at the mall, and begins and ends the runs with a simple prayer.  Nothing “in your face”, no megaphones, no proselityzing, just a silent group expression of thanks to God.   Mall security guards, backed by new written mall policies ,literally raced to the rescue of concerned non-believers to intercede and halt this abomination !

I thought the Constitution mandated freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.   I can guarantee that the first time a prayer of mine is interrupted and forbidden in public, those in charge will be dragging me away to the pokey.   Please come bail me out.     WHAT THE HECK !

If you watch the news regularly, it becomes apparent quite quickly how little good news there is, or alternatively how little of the good news gets reported.  I’m fortunate to know a couple in Mobile, Alabama that have served God faithfully for over ten years, reflecting His love to the youth of an area in Mobile (Pritchard) that is so bad it is hard to describe.  Talk about two strikes against you at birth !

After 8 weeks of Summer camp serving over 350 kids, my friends posted a few photos that reflect what can be accomplished by following God’s plan.  The attached picture is labeled “The Reason for Summer Camp”.  Wish there were angels in more depressed places that had a servant nature like my friends.   WHAT THE HECK !

Proglibocrats (Progressive – Liberal – Democrat) never see a tax they don’t like.  It’s just in their nature, but now they have crossed a personal line. Authored by Proglibocrat Representative Rosa DeLauro, representative from Connecticut (D) and co-sponsored by two other losers with nothing else to do with their D.C. staffs, the so-called SWEET Act introduced in Congress last week seeks to impose a 1% tax on every 4.2 grams of caloric sweetener added to beverages.  Come on, I’ve had to give up cigars, McDonald’s fries, chocolate candy bars, creampuffs, and numerous other delicacies and staples of life, but I’m able to hang onto some semblance of my taste buds enjoying diet Coke.  Now I’m supposed to feel dirty about it .  WHAT THE HECK !

Good planners those Oakland A’s of baseball fame.  They trade popular outfielder Yoenis Cespedes today just before the league’s trading deadline, forgetting the 10,000 T-shirts recently purchased for a promo fan giveaway night in Cespedes’ honor on Saturday.   Maybe they can charge $10 instead of $9 for a beer for a few games to make up the loss.       WHAT THE HECK !

No wonder Average Joe finds it hard to comprehend the investing landscape, and just how he/she will cope with buying a new house, or funding college, or prepping for retirement.  On the heels of a great Q2 GDP number on Wednesday, and expectations of another good jobs report tomorrow, the DJIA plummets over 300 points today (nearly 2%), wiping out all the gains of 2014 in one 6 1/2 hour trading session.    The reasons are many, mostly involving the consequences of government fiscal policy, but to the newbie investor who just added to the equity fund in his/her retirement fund,   WHAT THE HECK !

As my friends and family members know, I am a big chicken when it comes to owning stocks these days, given multiple worldwide political hotspots  and a job-starved, regulation-happy, debt-burdened domestic economy.  Oops,  forgot to mention the lack of leadership in Washington.    My trepidations have thus rendered me rather useless in helping others take care of their retirement planning, as several will quite willingly attest.

A finance prof at a small Philadelphia college (Wade Pfau) and a Virginia-based financial adviser (Michael Kitces) have turned my thinking upside down and maybe provided me with a window to be more effective.

99% of financial advisers will tell the newly retired  to put 50% to 70% of liquid net worth into stocks of some form, tapering that exposure as the retiree ages.  That strategy has never made common sense to me, even with dollar-cost averaging entry, given the volatility in worldwide equities and risk of major loss during the first ten years of retirement.  What in the world would I do now if I had to go back and make an honest living, having taken a 35% net worth hit a few years into retirement ?

Pfau and Kitces suggest cutting equities exposure back to 20-25% at retirement to preserve the sound financial basis for your retirement decision, and to become accustomed to the household retirement budget, then gradually adding to that exposure in each of the first ten years.  The idea is to protect your capital early in retirement, avoiding major hiccups that make for sleepless nights, then use dips in the market  to slowly add exposure thereafter.    Makes more common sense to me than the standard plan pushed by the 99% of advisers mentioned above.    WHAT THE HECK !

Two local Tampa boys make good.  QB Aaron Murray from H.B. Plant High School went on to set SEC career records for completions, TD passes and passing yards during his four years as a Georgia Bulldog, before being drafted by the NFL in May of this year.  Aaron’s games in his senior season were watched by TV audiences ranging from 1.5 million to 3.5 million per game.

Brother Josh, a budding baseball star from Jesuit High School, washed out in six years of minor league play, posting a .213 career minor league batting average in six seasons at the single A level, retaining his good looks but very little family dignity.  Ah, but here’s the rub.  After a grueling season, Josh emerged victorious last night in wooing the adoration of Ms. Andi Dorfman on the finals of the Bachelorette reality TV show.   Over 7.5 million  viewers endured the three hour finale (including my wife).

So, who is the more famous Murray brother now ?  Hint: can you even name the team that drafted Georgia football star and emerging NFL QB Aaron ?   WHAT THE HECK !

Let me be clear, it saddens me to hear that children are dying in Gaza.  They don’t deserve to be used as human shields by the animals who have no problem sacrificing women and children to gain the sympathy of our Proglibocrat-ruled media.

But after watching the endless coverage of the cruelty afforded these children by their bloodthirsty parents on CNN and MSNBC and in our own Tampa Bay Times, wouldn’t it be nice to mention the 2123 reported worldwide Christian deaths solely due to their faith in  2013 (data from non-denominational Open Door),  primarily in Syria, Nigeria and Pakistan. Or the tens of thousands of Christians literally uprooted at gunpoint and evacuated from Mosul and surrounding Iraqi cities in recent weeks by the terrorist ISIS wackos.  Or could the press maybe mention the estimated 50-75,000 Christians presently interred in concentration camps and prisons in North Korea ?

What possible drugs are being used by our left-leaning press that makes them weepy over Palestinian sacrificial lambs, but fail to give a hoot about obvious hate-filled religious injustice ?  WHAT THE HECK !