Enjoy Your Money! How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It, J. Steve Miller, Wisdom Creek Press, 2009
There are a seemingly infinite number of personal finance books available in bookstores. This one is intended for people in their teens and twenties whose financial plans start and end with "become a millionaire."
Akashi, Antonio, James and Amy are your average high school students in detention, again. They meet with Mrs. Kramer, an eccentric, elderly teacher at the school, who teaches a course on money management. Every Saturday, they meet at a local fast food joint, where Mrs. Kramer takes the four into the world of money.
Have an emergency fund, equivalent to three or four months salary, in a savings account or money market account, accessible if needed. Pay off your debt as soon as possible, whether it is credit card debt, student loans or car payments. When you get some money in your pocket, it is tempting to buy a big-screen TV or fancy new clothes. Don't do it; live beneath your means; cut your expenses as much as possible. Is it more important that others think you are a rich person, or that you actually are a rich person?
It's also tempting to buy and sell stocks on a short-term basis, looking for a quick profit. Again, don't do it. Every time you buy or sell stock, your stockbroker makes money, not you. Research good quality, no fee mutual funds (especially index funds) that you can invest in for the long haul. Just because a fund had a good year last year, it does not mean they will have a good year this year.
A popular way to make money is by buying houses and "flipping" them. If that is not for you, and if you know the right people, think about "flipping" cars or motorcycles. People will always need decent, reliable transportation. The book also looks at buying a car (consult Consumer Reports and choose quality over flashy), insurance, knowing your way around a supermarket, investing in real estate, getting a job and keeping it.
This book is a goldmine of information. Written as a dialogue, this is very easy to follow for the person who does not want to read another "money literacy" book. This is highly recommended for every teenager and twentysomething who think that a million dollars will suddenly show up in their mailbox.
Showing posts with label miller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label miller. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Custer's Fall: The Native American Side of the Story
Custer's Fall: The Native American Side of the Story, David Humphreys Miller, Meridian Books, 1992
June 25, 1876 started with the killing of a young Indian boy who had found a box of hardtack by US cavalry troops. It ended with the worst defeat ever suffered by the US military at the hands of Native Americans. It is known as the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and this book tells the story of that day, but from the Indian perspective.
In 1874, gold had been discovered in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory, an area sacred to many tribes and that was supposed to be off-limits to white settlement according to the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. When the Indians refused to sell the Black Hills, the Treaty was set aside and the commissioner of Indian Affairs decreed that all Indians not in reservations by January of 1876 would be considered hostile. The intention on General Custer's part was to split up the 7th Cavalry, and come at the Indians from more than one direction, catching them in a pincer movement. The trouble is, Custer and his men didn't know just how many Indians there were. Custer intended to attack at night, but the shooting mentioned above was witnessed by a couple of Sioux boys who made it back to camp to raise the alarm. Custer was forced to move the attack to midday. Meantime, back at the Indian camp, many of the leaders knew that this was a day that would be remembered for a very long time.
Once the fighting got underway, there was no communication between the groups of cavalry, so there was no way for Custer to know that the first wave was being slaughtered by a numerically superior force of Indian warriors.
Custer found out for himself later in the day. A group of Indians were on one side of the Little Big Horn (a rather shallow river about twenty to forty yards across) facing a cavalry charge across the river. All of a sudden, the charge stopped and went back the way they came. The Indians didn't know they were facing Long-Hair (Custer) himself; the author speculates that the charge was reversed because this is where Custer himself was shot. The fight seemed to go out of the cavalry at that point; afterwards, it was just a mopping-up operation for the Indians. That night, while everyone else was celebrating their victory, Sitting Bull (later to join Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show) knew that Washington would send more troops and eventually overwhelm the Indians, like at Wounded Knee, several years later.
Over the years, the legend of General Custer has been built up to the point where one could be forgiven for thinking that, while grievously wounded, Custer singlehandedly held off the entire Indian "army". The author, in his many years of interviews with Indians who were there, gives a very different opinion. This is a fascinating book (perhaps best for historians and armchair military commanders) that is highly recommended.
June 25, 1876 started with the killing of a young Indian boy who had found a box of hardtack by US cavalry troops. It ended with the worst defeat ever suffered by the US military at the hands of Native Americans. It is known as the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and this book tells the story of that day, but from the Indian perspective.
In 1874, gold had been discovered in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory, an area sacred to many tribes and that was supposed to be off-limits to white settlement according to the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. When the Indians refused to sell the Black Hills, the Treaty was set aside and the commissioner of Indian Affairs decreed that all Indians not in reservations by January of 1876 would be considered hostile. The intention on General Custer's part was to split up the 7th Cavalry, and come at the Indians from more than one direction, catching them in a pincer movement. The trouble is, Custer and his men didn't know just how many Indians there were. Custer intended to attack at night, but the shooting mentioned above was witnessed by a couple of Sioux boys who made it back to camp to raise the alarm. Custer was forced to move the attack to midday. Meantime, back at the Indian camp, many of the leaders knew that this was a day that would be remembered for a very long time.
Once the fighting got underway, there was no communication between the groups of cavalry, so there was no way for Custer to know that the first wave was being slaughtered by a numerically superior force of Indian warriors.
Custer found out for himself later in the day. A group of Indians were on one side of the Little Big Horn (a rather shallow river about twenty to forty yards across) facing a cavalry charge across the river. All of a sudden, the charge stopped and went back the way they came. The Indians didn't know they were facing Long-Hair (Custer) himself; the author speculates that the charge was reversed because this is where Custer himself was shot. The fight seemed to go out of the cavalry at that point; afterwards, it was just a mopping-up operation for the Indians. That night, while everyone else was celebrating their victory, Sitting Bull (later to join Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show) knew that Washington would send more troops and eventually overwhelm the Indians, like at Wounded Knee, several years later.
Over the years, the legend of General Custer has been built up to the point where one could be forgiven for thinking that, while grievously wounded, Custer singlehandedly held off the entire Indian "army". The author, in his many years of interviews with Indians who were there, gives a very different opinion. This is a fascinating book (perhaps best for historians and armchair military commanders) that is highly recommended.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Cerulean Blue
Cerulean Blue, Wray Miller, Miller Write Inc., 2003
This story is about a near-future Earth, totally changed by a new species of algae called Cerulean Blue (years are no longer denominated in AD - Anno Domini, but acb - after cerulean blue). Among its unique properties are the ability to slow the aging process for any animal, including humans, that ingests it. The algae also contains plenty of oxygen, so a person could live very easily in a vat of it, once they get over their drowning reflex. It also puts the person to sleep. Since Earth is on the verge of environmental collapse, a radical plan is hatched by Reginald Erlichmann, head of the United Nations Corporation. Much of the Earth's population will be placed in storage for 30 years, in order to give the Earth a chance to cleanse itself. The politically correct are eager to take part. The reality is very different.
Those who end up in a Type I facility are the genetically pure elite (sound familiar?) who will be resurrected in the future. A Type II facility is for those who will never be resurrected; perhaps they will be used for cloning purposes in the future. The vast majority of the population of "the West" (Asia and Africa pulled out of the U.N. years before) end up in a Type III facility. Think of a Nazi concentration camp with computer-controlled lasers to do the killing, instead of gas.
There are some who want no part of this new world; among them are neighbors Harold Womack and Greg Baldwin, and their families. Womack's daughter, Lynn, a scientist for UniCorp, accidentally discovers the truth, and is able to warn her parents just before UniCorp police come for both families, and just before she disappears. They take off to the South American jungles, where they undertake an active rebellion, not knowing if their daughter is alive or dead.
This is an excellent piece of near-future society building. It's interesting and plausible, it's a good story and it will give the reader plenty to consider.
This story is about a near-future Earth, totally changed by a new species of algae called Cerulean Blue (years are no longer denominated in AD - Anno Domini, but acb - after cerulean blue). Among its unique properties are the ability to slow the aging process for any animal, including humans, that ingests it. The algae also contains plenty of oxygen, so a person could live very easily in a vat of it, once they get over their drowning reflex. It also puts the person to sleep. Since Earth is on the verge of environmental collapse, a radical plan is hatched by Reginald Erlichmann, head of the United Nations Corporation. Much of the Earth's population will be placed in storage for 30 years, in order to give the Earth a chance to cleanse itself. The politically correct are eager to take part. The reality is very different.
Those who end up in a Type I facility are the genetically pure elite (sound familiar?) who will be resurrected in the future. A Type II facility is for those who will never be resurrected; perhaps they will be used for cloning purposes in the future. The vast majority of the population of "the West" (Asia and Africa pulled out of the U.N. years before) end up in a Type III facility. Think of a Nazi concentration camp with computer-controlled lasers to do the killing, instead of gas.
There are some who want no part of this new world; among them are neighbors Harold Womack and Greg Baldwin, and their families. Womack's daughter, Lynn, a scientist for UniCorp, accidentally discovers the truth, and is able to warn her parents just before UniCorp police come for both families, and just before she disappears. They take off to the South American jungles, where they undertake an active rebellion, not knowing if their daughter is alive or dead.
This is an excellent piece of near-future society building. It's interesting and plausible, it's a good story and it will give the reader plenty to consider.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Sky Bounce
Sky Bounce, Deanna Miller, (self-published), 2003
In a different plane of existence, Hesper the Alula and Tristan the Boytaur are secret friends, even though their species are supposed to have nothing to do with each other. Late at night, they like to go flying, with Hesper and her wings supplying the wing power, and holding on to Tristan, a four-legged centaur. The leaders of Hesper's people find out, and, as a punishment, Send Hesper to the human plane. The barriers between the planes of existence are weakening, and the only way to fix it is to Send Alulas to the human plane. The downside is that those who are Sent lose their wings, and all memory of their previous lives.
A year later, Hesper is your average high school student. One day, she meets an interesting boy in a wheelchair who likes hang gliding. Tristan has found a way to travel between planes and keep his memory. He just had to give up some other part of his body, like use of his legs. Hesper is reluctant to accept that she may have had a previous life with wings, but accept she does. The two travel to another plane, called the Barren Plane, where supposedly nothing lives. They meet a race of light beings called Dyaphinees, who tell Hesper that the Sending of Alulas to the human plane, is not the solution, but the problem. Hesper also discovers, to her shock, that her friend Tristan is not exactly who he says he is.
This is a young adult novel that is not just for young adults. It's fresh, interesting, very easy to read, and well worth the reader's time.
In a different plane of existence, Hesper the Alula and Tristan the Boytaur are secret friends, even though their species are supposed to have nothing to do with each other. Late at night, they like to go flying, with Hesper and her wings supplying the wing power, and holding on to Tristan, a four-legged centaur. The leaders of Hesper's people find out, and, as a punishment, Send Hesper to the human plane. The barriers between the planes of existence are weakening, and the only way to fix it is to Send Alulas to the human plane. The downside is that those who are Sent lose their wings, and all memory of their previous lives.
A year later, Hesper is your average high school student. One day, she meets an interesting boy in a wheelchair who likes hang gliding. Tristan has found a way to travel between planes and keep his memory. He just had to give up some other part of his body, like use of his legs. Hesper is reluctant to accept that she may have had a previous life with wings, but accept she does. The two travel to another plane, called the Barren Plane, where supposedly nothing lives. They meet a race of light beings called Dyaphinees, who tell Hesper that the Sending of Alulas to the human plane, is not the solution, but the problem. Hesper also discovers, to her shock, that her friend Tristan is not exactly who he says he is.
This is a young adult novel that is not just for young adults. It's fresh, interesting, very easy to read, and well worth the reader's time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)