Rantr and Ravr on Tumblr

Simple truths about everything. But where is the "E"?

[hobieinland]

My Outback before I launch it, rigged and ready

Laurenz Baars

[allthecanadianpolitics]

B.C. fires: Homes destroyed in Puntzi Lake wildfire near Williams Lake

Dozens more properties at risk as uncontrolled wildfire burns in the province's Cariboo region

Multiple homes have been destroyed by an aggressive wildfire burning northwest of Puntzi Lake, about 300 kilometres north of Vancouver in B.C.’s Cariboo region.

The Cariboo Regional District said Saturday that a resort, two permanent homes, a seasonal home and multiple outbuildings on four properties were confirmed lost in the fire west of the small town of Williams Lake.

With the wildfire growing rapidly, an evacuation order along Puntzi Lake was expanded Saturday afternoon for the third time in three days.

When first reported on Wednesday, the fire was estimated at five square kilometres. That more than doubled to 12 square kilometres on Friday.But by mid-afternoon Saturday, officials said the fire had grown to six times that size, or 70 square kilometres. It is zero per cent contained.  

The Wildfire Management Branch describes it as a Rank 4 or 5 wildfire, meaning it may cause trees to candle and can spread by crowning or jumping through tree tops.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Continue Reading.

[unconsumption]

Despite the Basel Convention, an international treaty that came into effect in 1989 forbidding developed nations from carrying out unauthorised dumping of e-waste in less developed countries, demand to purchase gold and copper from vintage devices continues in Agbogbloshie.

Twenty miles away in Tema Port, 215,000 tonnes of second hand consumer electronics from mainly Western Europe and the United States still come through Ghana annually. These defunct products then get dumped at waste sites like Agbogbloshie, generating 129,000 tons of e-waste every year.

The Ghanaian government implemented a ban in January 2013 on the importation of second hand fridges because of the dangerous chlorofluorocarbon gas inside them, which has resulted in the confiscation and dismantling of British imports.

However, Agbogbloshie continues to serve 40,000 people, who earn $1 to $2.50 a day for their hard labour.

The rest here: Inside the World’s Biggest E-Waste Dump | Motherboard

— rw

[rantrandravr]

After all the so called “green” revolution and big talk we can see we are just as bad or even worse than ever before.  We pay disposal fees when we buy electronics, etc., and stories like this make it clear that these fees are only money grabs.   Words like reuse, recycle are just catchy phrases to appease the masses while corporations continue to rape the Earth, or mother nature as it were...

[rantrandravr]

Smoking Millionaires

If you smoke $15 worth of cigarettes a day (most smokers smoke more) about $456.25 of your money goes up in smoke on a monthly basis.  If instead you invested $456.25 per month over 40 years (which is about as long as a smoker lasts) at  6.5%, you would make over a $1 million and have a greater chance to live long enough to enjoy it.

[rantrandravr]

Credit Card Fraud

I read in a CBC news story that Canadians owe more than 80 Billion in credit card debt.   This means Canadians pay more than 16 Billion in interest even if we just use a modest 20% interest rate (almost certainly the true interest is closer to 24%).  That is after tax income Canadians do not spend on anything useful, entertaining or beneficial but just to line the pockets of already overly wealthy banks.  If Canadians save 20% and spend 80% of what they make, this robs the Canadian economy of more than $80 billion annually.

Now that is credit card fraud!!

[rantrandravr]

The best way to pay off credit cards....

The simple answer is to pay them off as fast as possible!  

If you have more than one cards to pay off, in the strictest financial sense it would be to pay off the highest interest card first.  A popular strategy  strategy is snowballing.  You make minimum payment on all cards and focus (make the largest extra payment) on the card with the smallest balance.  Once that card is paid off, you use all your available money to pay off the next card and so on.  This way you can feel the progress as you pay down the cards.

BUT WHICHEVER STRATEGY YOU USE, YOU MUST FIRST STOP USING CREDIT CARDS, OR ELSE YOU WILL FAIL!!!!!

[rantrandravr]

The best way to pay off credit cards

So what is the best strategy to pay off credit cards?

The answer to come soon!

[rantrandravr]

Credit Cards are Pure Evil!

Credit cards are the scourge of the land.  Do not ever use them, do not ever trust them, do not ever get them.  Banks lend money at loan shark rates and pretend they provide a service by providing a guaranteed loan.  Bull!  Those rates are simply criminal.  Of course they make it difficult to get a credit rating without one.  That is just to get you hooked.  Again criminal!  If you must use them to get a credit rating, do so but very carefully, remember that you are dealing with the devil.  Try short term small loans instead, it can be done. 

[rantrandravr]

A penny saved...

The old adage "a penny saved is a penny earned" is not true.  Money saved is more than money earned because you have already paid taxes on the money you have saved.