I think people on financial news stations like to hear themselves say the word systemic.

Anonymous Asked,
Why do I hear the word Systemic almost everyday lately? I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard it over the previous 30 years. I doubt I have ever even used it in a sentence before today.

Now that you mention it, I must agree, I too seem to hear the word quite a bit lately. But mostly on the news when people are talking about the financial mess we find ourselves in these days. Typically though, the word Systemic is used more in medical terms when describing different systems of the body.
Here is the definition as given on Dictionary.com
sys⋅tem⋅ic 
–adjective
1. of or pertaining to a system.
2. Physiology, Pathology.
a. pertaining to or affecting the body as a whole.
b. pertaining to or affecting a particular body system.
3. (of a pesticide) absorbed and circulated by a plant or other organism so as to be lethal to pests
that feed on it.

I think you are referring to the fact that the word Systemic is heard repeatedly in the financial news. I have heard the word used by the President, several Congressmen and Senators, The Secretary of the Treasury, The Fed Chairman, and several talking heads on CNBC and Fox News. In this case the reference to systemic risk is about how certain things effect the entire economic system. Such as when a company is "To big to fail." The suggestion is, if we allow these monstrous companies to fail then they will bring down the entire financial system. Also known as systemic failure. Hopefully soon we will hear the word when discussing a recovery of the entire economic system, or maybe even a systemic change.

I heard some talk of creating a position for a Systemic Risk Regulator. I wonder if that person would report to the Economic Failure Czar. Check THIS out, and read what Fed Chairman Bernanke said during a March 10 speech. he certainly articulates an explanation of Systemic Risk better than I can.

"Systemic", It's kind of a fun word to say. It certainly sounds like an important word. I doubt I will have much opportunity to use it again after today.

This is what Mack thinks

I think purchasing a car is hard enough, but adding an Extended Warranty? Please "Just Say No"

Amy Asked:
I want to know if anyone ever has felt generally good after they purchase a car? What is the best way to go about this? And More importantly- what about the stupid warranty? Can I make myself feel better and think that maybe it could be useful down the line that I paid for this extended warranty? I just don't know. Lost some sleep over this one.


Buying a car is one of those dual feelings type of purchases. You get all excited you have a new car and that feels really good. But you cannot help but feel like you got screwed in the process. I personally have never walked out of a dealership feeling like I got a good deal, even when I went in knowing what I wanted, and left with the deal I imagined before going in. I still get a nagging feeling that I got taken some how. I don't know if I am alone in that thought, but I imagine I am not. Anyone that tells you they got the better of the dealer, is either lying, or they are a fool. The best thing to do is just enjoy your new car. If the salesman snookered you, ultimately that is his problem, not yours.

Now, let's talk about the "EXTENDED WARRANTY" ! You know how I feel about it. It's like insurance. and I hate the idea of having to have insurance. This is, in my opinion, the biggest rip off in retail. Granted some people may have a story about a time when something went wrong right after the manufacturers warranty ran out, (which if something is going to go wrong that is when it will happen,) and they saved money on repairs because they had the extended warranty, but I would bet they are few and far between.

Selling you an additional warranty is a method for dealers to make more money and it is often a big deal for them. The salesmen make a nice commission off of the extras they sell. Often more than what they make off the car itself. Ultimately I think you need to run the numbers and usually you will see that it is not really worth it to buy the extended warranty, especially if you roll it into the price of the car, and pay interest on it.

Now I don't want you to feel bad about your decision. Enjoy your car, and rest comfortably knowing that you are protected if something does come up down the road.

This is what Mack thinks!

Stimulus Shmimulas

Fran Roberts Asked:

So what do you think about the stimulus package?

First let me start out by saying I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat, I was listed as independent, but now they show me as non-affiliated. I do hate the way they play with words. I tend to be very central, neutral, maybe even a bit of fence sitter, on most issues. When it comes to economic issues I tend to fall to the right.

I think that the democratic leadership has taken the first steps towards dropping us down a deep spiraling hole. Quite an awesome task considering the hole this country was already in. Don't even get me started on Speaker Pelosi. It is my opinion that the democratically run congress contributed far more to the dyer economic state we are in than the previous president did. But that is a post for another day the question at hand is the "Stimulus Package".

I am not a fan a Big Government and this plan will add more volume & girth to the monster. I believe the less the Government is involved in the better. I do understand, and agree, that something had to be done. Extreme measures needed to be taken, and it still may not help. A Stimulus package was needed but this is not the right one. I disagree with the idea that putting something out there is better than doing nothing. I think the President should have pushed back a bit more, and eliminated some of the crap that was added to this package. I understand there are over 8000 pork barrel items in this thing. Every Senator and Congressman trying to get their little pet project paid for. Most of these items adding nothing of value, and will not contribute to the turn around of this economy. This was not the time or the place to pay for some of these things.

More needed to be done to put people back to work this year. They still have not resolved the housing problem. More attention from this package needed to go to solving those issues. This plan does offer some tax relief, but not nearly enough. The Republicans were right to try to push for more tax breaks. It's been proven over and over again that keeping the money in the hands of the tax payer is the best way to move the economy forward.

I hope I am wrong. I myself am in a position that can be hurt if we do not turn this economy around this year. I will spend a little time getting more informed about the Stimulus Package itself, and Re-Post a more articulate response to this question.

For now, This is What Mack Thinks.

I think scrabble questions can be detrimental to a relationship. So please be careful.

Thank you Pidge for throwing out the first question. Pidge Asked:

Bev and I have a constant debate over the use of the 2 and 3 letter word list in scrabble. According to the rules, these words are completely legitimate and great for your scores, however, I believe they are absurd and ridiculous to use in a friendly game. In a tournament, you should absolutely use them, but in a non-competition game amongst friends, they take away from the game.
Here are some good examples of the absurdity of what is allowable in competitive play: AA, AE, MI, MM (what kind of a word is that?!), UH, OUD, HEH, BRR, HM...the list goes on. These are not in my mind real words. Debate...

MM, I just ate a warm chocolate chip cookie. UH, my initial reaction to this question was to say "HEH, this is an easy one." But the more I pondered it, I had to stop and think, HM, maybe there is more to this question than I first thought. BRR, it suddenly got cold in here. MI,MI,MI, sorry had to prep my voice.

One rule of thumb might be, if you can use the word in a sentence then it should be allowed in Scrabble.

I don't know from competitive tournament Scrabble, but I think it's a bit strange that the official rules would allow words that are not in the dictionary to be counted. The way we have always played is the word must be in the dictionary, although I don't recall anyone ever actually checking.

One of my rules is, if you can come up with a reasonably agreeable definition for a word, then most people will allow it. (except maybe Carol.) But I digress. We are talking about 2 & 3 letter words here. Personally I feel the 2 & 3 letter words are the life blood of the game. Because most of the time that is all I can come up with when I play. I will admit though the "words" you gave as examples would never have occurred to me as acceptable in Scrabble. But, if the official rules state that they are acceptable, then I think you have to allow them.

If you are about to play a "non-competitive game amongst friends" (like there is such a thing.) Then I would suggest declaring, and agreeing, before the game starts that 2 & 3 letter words will not be allowed. If I were a regular player of the game, and was not involved in tournament play, then I would prefer to leave those words out and force the players (friends?) to think, and develop real words to keep the game more interesting. High score is not everything. (This coming from someone who has never been the high scorer.)

This is What Mack Thinks!

OH, this is interesting, my spellcheck only flagged AE, OUD, & HEH.