Back when I was teaching school we took the kids (3rd graders) to a facility that packages soft drinks. I watched as they simply changed the cans to a different "Brand" and kept filling them out of the same containers of product. That's when I stopped buying name brands.
Some people have weird fetishes, though, you know? And strange celebrity obsessions.
I kind of wonder how the people who do this for a living are able to sleep at night. But then again, I suppose it's not much worse than the guy in my neighborhood who digs through the garbage and sells stuff that he finds in there. His products just have less cache.
From the US Treasury FAQ:
"Both United States Notes and Federal Reserve Notes are parts of our national currency and both are legal tender. They circulate as money in the same way. However, the issuing authority for them comes from different statutes. United States Notes were redeemable in gold until 1933, when the United States abandoned the gold standard. Since then, both currencies have served essentially the same purpose, and have had the same value. Because United States Notes serve no function that is not already adequately served by Federal Reserve Notes, their issuance was discontinued, and none have been placed in to circulation since January 21, 1971."
You are correct the BEP prints all money, but it is done solely at the request of the Fed, as described in Section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act. There are many who feel that this is unconstitutional, but it has never (to my knowledge) been challenged. Even if it has been challenged, obviously it wasn't successful.
You are also correct that congress could bring in an alternative to the Fed at any time, but I really don't see that happening. They are to invested in it at this point.
Anyway, none of this is meant to detract from your post, which was great.
Yet another testament to the ridiculous, American Idle-addicted world we live in. I can almost hear my grandparents rolling in their graves. People, for Christ's sake - get a life.
I see this at Trader Joe's and wonder if it really works. We are trying to sell our house (almost 18 months now) and have plenty of showings. Because of this I have to keep the house perfectly clean all the time. I have a toddler at home I have been wanting to use a more health friendly cleaner. I will have to check this stuff out next time. Thanks!
I'm definitely a fan. Whenever I travel, I take along one bottle of the peppermint soap and use it to do laundry, dishes, take a bath, whatever. It is great stuff. I've also found, after going crazy with 409 at home, that I have some issues with chemical cleaners.
But I would note that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is part of the Treasury and not part of the Federal Reserve. It may be that the Federal Reserve is their only legal customer at the moment, but Congress could change that at any time.
In any case, I was treating the government as a whole. The constitution gives Congress both the power to tax and the power to issue money. They may delegate the different pieces of those powers to various different institutions, bureaus, and services, but I have considerable faith that they'll do whatever taxing and printing is necessary to make good on my treasury bills.
Just a minor correction. The US Government can not legally print money. This is all done through the Federal Reserve System at the request of the Treasury. The Fed can even deny the request (I don't know if they ever have).
From the Fed's FAQ:
"As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve derives its authority from the U.S. Congress. It is considered an independent central bank because its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branch of government, it does not receive funding appropriated by Congress, and the terms of the members of the Board of Governors span multiple presidential and congressional terms."
Another (very funny) quote:
"Although they are set up like private corporations and member banks hold their stock, the Federal Reserve Banks owe their existence to an act of Congress and have a mandate to serve the public. Therefore, they are not really "private" companies, but rather are "owned" by the citizens of the United States."
This is complete bull of course - each regional bank (there are 12) is run as a private corp and compete with the other banks for contracts from the Treasury.
Further down this is backed up by the following:
"Are Federal Reserve Bank employees considered government employees?
No. Employees of the Federal Reserve Banks are not government employees. They are paid as part of the expenses of their employing Reserve Bank."
Each bank is also responsible for certain specific tasks, for example the Dallas FRB is one of the banks which is responsible for the destruction of old currency.
My friend found a great bed (frame, mattress and all) on the sidewalk outside his house. Brought it in, slept on it, a week later: nasty case of scabies.
Back out on the sidewalk it went, this time with a sign warning the next frugal person of the dangers lying in wait.
This actually happened to a friend of mine. His father was very frugal and got some free paint from his buddy that worked at the County Road Commission. They painted their house with the yellow paint. A little bright looking, but it spruced up the house and best of all, the paint was free.
I went to pick my friend up that night. While driving down their dark street, his house stood out amongst the rest. Turns out the paint was the same fluorescent yellow used to paint the stripes down the sides of the road. The house glowed! So much for a bargain. They ended up painting the house again.
I have always been very thrifty. As a teenager, a friend told me you could use mayonaise as a hair conditioner. Just use a dollop on your scalp after shampooing and rinse. After drying my hair, it was greasy. I washed my hair several times with the same results.
Time was running out that morning and off to school I went with slimy hair. Being young, I told my friends about what I had done and all my teachers found out. And I was the brunt of jokes all day. As soon as I got home from school, I washed my hair several more times using the entire bottle of shampoo. Finally, the oil slick was gone. How much did I save after all the water and electricity I used; zilch.
I did an entire post on this as well. I have gotten rid of all my store bought chemically enhanced cleaning products and am using vinegar and water on almost everything from soap scum in the shower to glass & mirrors!! I am saving a lot of money on cleaning products and no more having to "come up for air" when I clean my bathroom! I love it!!
Back when I was teaching school we took the kids (3rd graders) to a facility that packages soft drinks. I watched as they simply changed the cans to a different "Brand" and kept filling them out of the same containers of product. That's when I stopped buying name brands.
uuummm gross?
people are ridculous
Cool tip. I didn't know that... sounds like a good idea.
I've actually used the body soaps for cleaning and they work well, but Sal Suds is probably best for household use.
that if you can think of it, it's already been done. Nothing shock me any more. Look out for '"celebrity used handkerchiefs" in the near future.
I see a lot of soaps on that site that seem to be about bathing - are those the same soaps you use for cleaning?
No, not even then.
Some people have weird fetishes, though, you know? And strange celebrity obsessions.
I kind of wonder how the people who do this for a living are able to sleep at night. But then again, I suppose it's not much worse than the guy in my neighborhood who digs through the garbage and sells stuff that he finds in there. His products just have less cache.
Of course most, if not all, of us here at Wisebread wouldn't buy trash stolen(?) from celebrities' trash cans...
...but I wonder what goes through the minds of the few who actually purchase the trash.
Aside from the jokes everyone will make, what could they possibly be thinking?
From the US Treasury FAQ:
"Both United States Notes and Federal Reserve Notes are parts of our national currency and both are legal tender. They circulate as money in the same way. However, the issuing authority for them comes from different statutes. United States Notes were redeemable in gold until 1933, when the United States abandoned the gold standard. Since then, both currencies have served essentially the same purpose, and have had the same value. Because United States Notes serve no function that is not already adequately served by Federal Reserve Notes, their issuance was discontinued, and none have been placed in to circulation since January 21, 1971."
You are correct the BEP prints all money, but it is done solely at the request of the Fed, as described in Section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act. There are many who feel that this is unconstitutional, but it has never (to my knowledge) been challenged. Even if it has been challenged, obviously it wasn't successful.
You are also correct that congress could bring in an alternative to the Fed at any time, but I really don't see that happening. They are to invested in it at this point.
Anyway, none of this is meant to detract from your post, which was great.
Kevin
it's at least a talking point Dan. But thanks for the comment.
It's the organic gardener's best friend - spray a little Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap and water spray on leaves and the bugs disappear.
Mama Says
Yet another testament to the ridiculous, American Idle-addicted world we live in. I can almost hear my grandparents rolling in their graves. People, for Christ's sake - get a life.
NO WAY ! That's disgusting, and the fact that people have money to waste on this shows what our world has come to.
Who cares?
John, there are homeless people in America...but my guess is that most of them don't read Wisebread. It's called a target audience.
Josh, it really is so easy to forget that those relationships we work so hard to maintain give us something back. Or, at least, it's easy for me ;)
I see this at Trader Joe's and wonder if it really works. We are trying to sell our house (almost 18 months now) and have plenty of showings. Because of this I have to keep the house perfectly clean all the time. I have a toddler at home I have been wanting to use a more health friendly cleaner. I will have to check this stuff out next time. Thanks!
Andrea, I look forward to reading it!
I'm definitely a fan. Whenever I travel, I take along one bottle of the peppermint soap and use it to do laundry, dishes, take a bath, whatever. It is great stuff. I've also found, after going crazy with 409 at home, that I have some issues with chemical cleaners.
But I would note that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is part of the Treasury and not part of the Federal Reserve. It may be that the Federal Reserve is their only legal customer at the moment, but Congress could change that at any time.
In any case, I was treating the government as a whole. The constitution gives Congress both the power to tax and the power to issue money. They may delegate the different pieces of those powers to various different institutions, bureaus, and services, but I have considerable faith that they'll do whatever taxing and printing is necessary to make good on my treasury bills.
Just a minor correction. The US Government can not legally print money. This is all done through the Federal Reserve System at the request of the Treasury. The Fed can even deny the request (I don't know if they ever have).
From the Fed's FAQ:
"As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve derives its authority from the U.S. Congress. It is considered an independent central bank because its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branch of government, it does not receive funding appropriated by Congress, and the terms of the members of the Board of Governors span multiple presidential and congressional terms."
Another (very funny) quote:
"Although they are set up like private corporations and member banks hold their stock, the Federal Reserve Banks owe their existence to an act of Congress and have a mandate to serve the public. Therefore, they are not really "private" companies, but rather are "owned" by the citizens of the United States."
This is complete bull of course - each regional bank (there are 12) is run as a private corp and compete with the other banks for contracts from the Treasury.
Further down this is backed up by the following:
"Are Federal Reserve Bank employees considered government employees?
No. Employees of the Federal Reserve Banks are not government employees. They are paid as part of the expenses of their employing Reserve Bank."
Each bank is also responsible for certain specific tasks, for example the Dallas FRB is one of the banks which is responsible for the destruction of old currency.
Kevin
http://technogeek.org/
My friend found a great bed (frame, mattress and all) on the sidewalk outside his house. Brought it in, slept on it, a week later: nasty case of scabies.
Back out on the sidewalk it went, this time with a sign warning the next frugal person of the dangers lying in wait.
Moral: Don't get your beds from off the sidewalk.
I have a wife and child that love me :) Sometimes I get so caught up in how much work they can be that I forget how happy I am to have them.
Also, working from home freelance over the Internet rocks too.
This actually happened to a friend of mine. His father was very frugal and got some free paint from his buddy that worked at the County Road Commission. They painted their house with the yellow paint. A little bright looking, but it spruced up the house and best of all, the paint was free.
I went to pick my friend up that night. While driving down their dark street, his house stood out amongst the rest. Turns out the paint was the same fluorescent yellow used to paint the stripes down the sides of the road. The house glowed! So much for a bargain. They ended up painting the house again.
Moral: Sometimes free isn't free.
I have always been very thrifty. As a teenager, a friend told me you could use mayonaise as a hair conditioner. Just use a dollop on your scalp after shampooing and rinse. After drying my hair, it was greasy. I washed my hair several times with the same results.
Time was running out that morning and off to school I went with slimy hair. Being young, I told my friends about what I had done and all my teachers found out. And I was the brunt of jokes all day. As soon as I got home from school, I washed my hair several more times using the entire bottle of shampoo. Finally, the oil slick was gone. How much did I save after all the water and electricity I used; zilch.
I did an entire post on this as well. I have gotten rid of all my store bought chemically enhanced cleaning products and am using vinegar and water on almost everything from soap scum in the shower to glass & mirrors!! I am saving a lot of money on cleaning products and no more having to "come up for air" when I clean my bathroom! I love it!!