Damn interesting?

[charles royer]

The Dutch Tulip Bubble of 1637
The later part of the 20th century saw its share of odd financial bubbles. There was the real-estate bubble, the stock market bubbles, and the dot com bubble, just to name a few. In each instance of price inflation people paid exorbitant amounts for things that shouldn’t have been worth anything like the going price. And each time people stood around afterwards and said “What were we thinking?”

One has to believe that the same thought occurred to the Dutch in the 17th century when they settled down after their bout with tulipomania, wherein the humble tulip bulb began to sell for prices to make New York Realtors blanch.

As much as the tulip is associated with Holland, it is not native there. Rather it was introduced in 1593 by a botanist named Carolus Clusius, who brought it from Constantinople. He planted a small garden, intending to research the plant for medicinal purposes. Had Clusius’s neighbors been morally upright, the tulip might still be a rare exotic in the gardening world. Instead they broke into his garden and stole some of his bulbs in order to make some quick money, and in the process started the Dutch bulb trade
http://www.damninteresting.com/the-dutch-tulip-bubble-of-1637/
Just sayin!

[Patriot Ozzie]

Unfunded Liabilities 127 Trillion

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/01/17/you-think-the-defic...

Another link quoting 100 Trillion

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/americas-real-debt-shocke...

[jack ludwig]

ever since we have had insurance, pensions and social security we have had unfunded liabilities. That is what those three programs are, wagers that we will never have to pay off  more money then we have payees. When you are betting against longevity the scam will soon run out of money. 

[M]

Jack,

That's not true of SS. It was actually over funded until the mid 1970's, the real problem is the welfare excesses. We don't need to give welfare to illegals. Welfare seriously needs to be reformed. We also need to cut off ALL foreign aid, and stop the President from paying ransoms for captives.

[jack ludwig]

M that's because most were dying soon after retirement before 1970. Now the game has caught with the betters, most are outliving revenue calculation. The scam can't work unless we all volunteer to check out early.

[M]

No it wasn't. It happened because the Democrats decided to steal the funds and then increase what was to be a small subsidy for retirement not the high pay out it is today.

[charles royer]

Just off the top here is 589,430 people that won't collect benefits.

This annual report provides the estimated numbers of new cancer cases and deaths in 2015, as well as current cancer incidence, mortality, and survival statistics and information on cancer symptoms, risk factors, early detection, and treatment. In 2015, there will be an estimated 1,658,370 new cancer cases diagnosed and 589,430 cancer deaths in the US.  (Please note: The projected numbers of new cancer cases and deaths in 2015 should not be compared with previous years to track cancer trends because they are model-based and vary from year to year for reasons other than changes in cancer occurrence. Age-standardized incidence and death rates should be used to measure cancer trends.)  

Download Cancer Facts & Figures 2015

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus15.pdf#019

[jack ludwig]

Charles the  numbers of people that die early is always a shame but it is far less then it has been before all the advancements in medicine and science. We live much too long to have health insurance or SS. It cannot be sustained because it is a scam.

[charles royer]

Just opinion , there as far as i can see no statistics available.

[The Bull]

Agree

[The Bull]

[charles royer]

Can the 2016 election be rigged? You bet
A computer hacker showed CBS how to vote multiple times using a simple $15.00 electronic device.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/291534-...

[The Bull]