Child’s Play auction nite went well!

I wasn’t able to attend myself, but I heard from Kristin at Child’s Play Charity that the auction items I donated did well.  I’m waiting to hear how well.    

gb

Penny Arcade auction items are a go

The PA gang enthusiastically welcomed the things I had offered up for auction to benefit Child’s Play.   I’ve mailed them off up north, and now it’s in their hands.

Hope that stuff generates a ton of cash for the kiddies. 

Greg

Penny Arcade Child’s Play Charity items

I just fired off an idea to the Penny Arcade gang, via Child’s Play Charity. I have a bunch of old stuff from a variety of games I’ve worked on, and I thought it would be cool to auction those off for charity.

I could Ebay them all, but getting PA involved would put a big spotlight on the items since these things are totally for gamers. And the more people seeing it will mean more $$$ for the charity.

gb

Best games that never shipped – Fallout 3, Stonekeep 2, etc

I was going through some of my old boxes in the garage, and came across some old game materials I got a kick out of.  So, let me invite everyone to chime in with a few cool games that never saw (or at least haven’t YET seen) the light of day.

I’ll ring off a few I was looking forward to…

Fallout 3 (now in development by Bethesda)
Stars! Supernova Genesis (Empire Interactive squashed it – which was a bummer)
Stonekeep II: Godmaker (see image I dug up)

If memory serves me correctly, I think it was Vance Kovacs or Justin Sweet who painted that SK2 image back in the day.  I can’t recall if the SSG image was from Mare Crisium, or if the artist I worked with at Take 2 did it.

LaHaye & Jenkins talking Left Behind Eternal Forces game on YouTube

Lots of people ask me if the game has the authors’ support. I have met with Dr LaHaye, his wife Beverly, and Jerry Jenkins a couple of times, showing the game in detail. A video with their thoughts on the game is now on YouTube.

Left Behind movies on YouTube.com

Just a quick heads-up I placed several movies for the game on YouTube. These movies are from the Left Behind Eternal Forces “Pass It On” DVD being distributed to churches nationwide.

Here’s the main movie.

Greg

Left Behind: Eternal Forces has hit shelves

At long last, LBEF is out the front door. It has shipped to retail, and should be on retail shelves all over the country as of yesterday. As for today, I think I’m just going to gel. I’m beat.

gb

Social Security – a realistic opt-out solution

We are now in a situation where the ratio of workers to retirees is 4:1. It will soon be 2:1. So, now it’s down to…drumroll please…my family taking care of itself. What a surprise.

So, again I’m going to offer the government a deal. As of today, my wife and I are offering to personally fund my mother’s retirement.

The crux of the problem behind SocSec insolvency is the government cannot pay out what they are not receiving in. Hence, no one can opt out. But, my offer resolves this problem entirely.

My contribution + wife’s contribution = my mother’s benefits.

So, remove all three of us from the system. The math works and the desire is clearly there.

To whom do I address the letter we are sending to the Social Security Administration?

Comments welcome.
gb

Social Security is lame

Social Security is on my list of things to get rid of, and I have stated my desire to offer a gift to the USA to take me off the gubment cheese.  But I haven’t said why, yet.

Social Security is, at its core, a forced charitable contribution.  I believe in charity wholeheartedly – but forced???  That is downright pathetic.  Tithing – which is probably historically the biggest contributor to charity – is typically defined as 10%.  Yet, Social Security is 12.4% per worker.  I have a big problem with this.  Adding insult to injury, not only is this charity forced upon us – we don’t even get a tax write-off for it!!!

My wife & I both tithe consistently and give generously to those in need – locally,  nationally and worldwide.  Like many Americans we have a track record to back this up.  We are hardly unique in this aspect.

And, especially since we do give frequently and deeply, I resent the government intruding upon our lives and telling us which charities to contribute to.  That is our choice.

Ultimately, if I can receive 12.4% of my own personal income back – I can become more confident about my own retirement.  Being more confident about my own well-being, I certainly can then dig deeper to contribute more to charity.

As always, comments welcome!

Social Security – my gift to Uncle Sam

I previously illustrated basic facts about SocSec. They were pretty simple. So is the solution.

MY PROPOSAL:
I will…

1. Donate my entire 20+ year employment history of personal SocSec contributions.
2. Abandon all monies from my employer matching during those 20+ years.
3. Forfeit all right to future SocSec benefits – entirely

For this GIFT to the government, I …

1. ask to be completely forgotten from the Social Security program, forever.
2. agree to legally bind myself to contribution to a qualified 401k plan.
3. submit to a contract for personal disability insurance.

That’s a pretty sweet deal for Uncle Sam. That’s a whopping $80,000 in his pocket courtesy of yours truly. And, he doesn’t owe me a dime for my retirement some 30 years from now.

I’d make out well because I could then contribute to my OWN retirement from this point forward. Since we arevirtually guaranteed to get shafted otherwise, I like this arrangement.

More shortly.

gb