Every now and then even I surprise my self

I was reading an article on the Harvard Endowment found at the following link http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-20/can-timber-rebuild-harvards-endowment.  In the article there was a graphic that compared the Harvard endowment 10 Year Annualized Return to 7 of it peer endowments (Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, and Cornell).  The 10 Year period of comparison for this report was June 2001 through June 2011.   And as one would expect all of the Endowments achieved these results via the efforts of some very highly competent and compensated professional money managers.

Entity	10 Year Annualized Return
Yale	10.1 %
Columbia	9.9 %
Princeton	9.8 %
Harvard	9.4 %
Me	8.6 %
Brown	7.7 %
Dartmouth	7.0 %
Penn	6.8 %
Cornell	6.4 %
Annualized S&P 500 Return (Dividends Reinvested)	2.3 %

I added the 10 Annualized SP500 as an additional reference, one should have an impartial bench mark.  I suspect that the respective endowment manager report their portfolios relative progress versus this benchmark to their respective Universities.  The 10 Year Annualized Return for the SP500 used in this comparison was calculated using the calculator provided on the site http://dqydj.net/sp-500-return-calculator/

Granted I do not have all of the high price talent, connections and resources that they have, and I certainly pale in comparison as to amount of funds that I have to invest, but all in all I feel that I have done reasonably well in comparison considering what I do and don’t have or know.   My 10 Annualized Rate of Return was calculated by Quicken accounting program, so you might want to take it with a grain of salt.

The average 10 Year Annualized Return for this group of Universities for the period in question is 8.39 Percent.  This groups average and individual 10 Year Annualized Return when compared to the 10 Year Annualized Return for the SP 500 is remarkable (3 to 5 times that of the benchmark).  Then again it could be a very poor benchmark, I don’t know.  For the same period my Quicken calculated 10 Year Annualized Return was an impressive (Well I consider it impressive) 8.6 Percent, not bad for an old retired Physicists/Engineer.

All that I am claiming, if I am claiming anything is that I consider my self to be very lucky and fortunate.  I feel that I am just another data point in the tale of the old blind hog finding another acorn or truffle.

My portfolio is an equal blend of three different model passive portfolios (Aronson, Yale, and Second Grader) that all invest in passive index mutual funds that have low if not the lowest management fees available to the average investor.  The particular on the various portfolios can be found at the following site http://www.marketwatch.com/lazyportfolio.  I do owe a sincere debit of gratitude to Paul B Farrell who generated the articles, and marketwatch.com for publishing them.

Now for the obligatory verbiage I am not currently nor have I ever been nor is it likely that I will ever be an employee of the Marketwatch.com or any of subsidiaries, or controlling corporations.  I do not know, nor have I ever met Paul B. Farrell, and to the best of my limited knowledge I do not know or ever met any of his family.  I am not currently nor have I ever been, nor is it likely that I will ever be an employee of The Vanguard Group.  I do have vested interest in the various mutual funds that make up these model portfolios since I own shares in them.

Finally and most important past performance is no guarantee of future performance.  But you do have to be in the game if you ever expect to have any chance.

Can Mitt Think on his feet?

Several notable members of the press have proposed a theory that Mitt Romney is “rhetorically at his weakest when forced to improvise or handle unexpected questions or situations.” James Fallows national correspondent for the Atlantic being just one of the press/media cohorts make this claim.

I have been on this earth for some 60 years and to date from my limited, and yes poorly sampled study of one, it appears that most of my life I have been expected, required, and forced to improvise or handle unexpected questions or situations.

Is not the ability to improvise or handle unexpected questions or situations that is at the heart of what the POTUS is expected to do?  I do not know about you the reader, but for me this is the most salient issue that I use to determine who I want to vote for in this office or for that matter any other office.

Do “We the People” of the United States of America not expect and not require that the individual who we elect to be POTUS have the ability to handle unexpected questions or situations?  Again, I do not know about you the reader, but for me I do vote for the individual who I expect and require to handle these questions and situations.

Do we also not expect and require that these events be handle in a controlled, confident, and effective manner?  The short answer is YES.

Are not these tasks the 3 o’clock in the morning situations?  Again the short answer is YES.

Can one spreadsheet your way out of these situations?  Not to my limited knowledge.

Can one find the answer/solutions to these situations in books of case law review and/or cited precedent?  Again to my limited knowledge I believe the answer to be NO.

Under laying this situation is the fact that he or she has volunteered to run for the elected office in order to be allowed to perform these tasks with our blessing, acquiescence and or approval, provide they have duly won the election.  This is an important office and “We the People” require an individual who has the where with all (intelligence, composure, instinct, experience, and humanity) to handle the pressure and hazards of the office, to effectively represent us not just in good times but especially to effectively represent us in the perilous times.

Does it appear that Mitt has what it takes to be a corporate officer?  YES, a corporate officers scope and area of concern are by design rather limited, to what is good for the corporation, its management, and its shareholders.  On the surface Mitt appears to be spot on for this job.

Does it appear that Mitt has what it takes to be POTUS?  From my vantage point the answer is a resounding NO.  The scope and area of concern for this office appear to be too broad and too different from his past experience and skill set in business.

To answer the question first offered in the title of the little essay, “Can Mitt think on his feet?”  I would say that he like all individuals he has some abilities in the area, but if his and/or my life really depended on his ability think on is feet, I am not sure that we would survive.

Along the same line of thought, I am not sure that Mitt really understands the term “We the People”, to date most of his actions would indicate that he does not, he can talk a good game, but it appears that he has no muscle memory, which would imply that he has never practice it.  I feel that Mitt understands the term “We, some of the People”, and it would appear that he has a great deal of muscle memory, which would imply that he has practice this exercise a great deal.  Which might just be the reason that it appears that he cannot think on his feet.

Sometimes you just want to Scream!

After reading Allen B West Marketwatch.com Outside the Box (and this was outside of the box) post of  Sept 18, 2012 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-republic-cannot-survive-so-much-dependency-2012-09-18 which contain some very remarkable words from a man about dependence on the Government, this from a man who from all appearances has been dependent on the Government from birth in 1961.

His father was a career military, so he was suckling the breast of the People and the Government of the United States of America from his first breath on this planet.  His mother was a civilian employee of the United States Marine Corp, is that double dipping of dependancy, again another dependency on the People and the Government of the United States America.  His parents were receiving retirement checks from the time they either retired from the military or civil service until their deaths from the People and Government of the United States of America; it appears that for a significant portion of their lives they were dependent on the People and Government of the United States of America.

After graduation from college University of Tennessee (dependent on the People and Government of Tennessee, and indirectly on the People and Government of the United States of America), probably on an ROTC scholarship (unknown by this author and only speculation based on his dates in his biography), (Would that be another dependency on the People and Government of the United States of America?), but at the very least possibility enrolled in an ROTC program, joins the United States Army, and servers 22 Years before retiring after an Article 32 investigation, which results in an Article 15, rather than an Article 39. (Again is that another dependency on the People and Government of the United States?).  While on Active Duty completes a Master Program in Political Science (Kansas State University (dependent on the People and Government of the State of Kansas and indirectly on the People and Government of the United States of America) and a Master of Military Arts and Science (United States Army Command and General Staff Officer College) paid for by the People and Government of the United States of America, again is that another dependency on the People and Government of the United States of America?

In 2004-2005, while drawing his retirement pay (dependency on the People and Government of the United States of America?) teaches US History and coaches Track and Field Deerfield Beach High School (dependency on the People and Government of the State of Florida and indirectly on the People and Government of the United States of America ?).

In 2006-2007, while drawing his retirement pay from the United States Government (dependency on the People and Government of the United States of America?) works for Military Professional Resources Inc., a defense contractor (again dependency on the People and Government of the United States of America) support United States operations in Afghanistan.

In 2008, while drawing his retirement pay from the United States Government (dependency on the People and Government of the United State of America?) runs for United States House of Representatives, he loses.

In 2010 while drawing his retirement pay from the United States Government (dependency on the People and Government of the United States of America?) run for the United States House of Representatives, and wins.  Now joins the incoming class of Representatives in January 2011, start drawing another paycheck with benefits from the People and Government of the United States of America.

These are words from an individual who for all intent and purpose has been dependent directly or indirectly on the People and Government of the United States of America for all of his life.  It is a clear case of not eating what you kill, of what is good for the goose is NOT good for gander. A clear case of do what I say NOT as I do.

Only God knows if Allen B West would be where he is today if not for being dependent on People and Government of the United States of America.

To paraphrase Shakespeare Julius Caesar 

“Yet Allen B West say many of us are dependent on the Government; and Allen B West is an honorable man; so are they all, all honorable men;”

Buffalo soldier speak with forked tongue, you are the poster child for people dependent on the People and Government of the United States of America, to be honest sir we all are poster children of people dependent of the People and Government of the United States of America, that is the whole bloody point to Government.