John T. Reed’s news blog

On Sunday, the Rams Todd Gurley could have scored a TD in the last minute of their game against the Packers. The Rams led by two at the moment. Instead, he turned toward the middle of the field and got tackled without going out of bounds.The Packers had no time outs and the Rames got a first down so the game, in effect, was over. They could just take a knee on first and maybe second down and the game clock would run out.Did they get that idea from my book Football Clock Management? Yep. If you doubt that, tell...

When I was writing the second edition of my book on hyperinflation and depression, it occurred to me that timber REITs might be a good way to invest in a commodity that would hold its value during inflation.Maybe not.U.S. timber has lately suffered from a couple of big problems: federal government decided to encourage planting timber years ago and Hurricane Michael destroyed something like $1.6 B of living trees. The federal encouragement was too effective. Too many people simultaneously planted trees that are now full grown and due it be sold. The bulge in supply is depressing prices big time.Michael simply...

I just took my 8-year-old granddaughter to see the movie First Man. It is PG-13, but I figured that was because of a curse word, which it was. About wives and death But it was as much about the wives of the astronauts as it was about the astronauts. It was about what it is like being married to a man who has a very dangerous job: terrifying.It also reminds you that dealing with the emergencies that happen in flight including space flight is quite remarkable. These guys are supermen.Maybe their depiction overstates it. Vibration that blinds you because your...

Next year’s deficit is expected to be around $1T. That is an Obama-sized deficit. Not enough money in the world to pay all the politicians promises The U.S. government financial entitlement world is coming to an end. How certain? About 100%. When? Hard to say. It pisses me off when people ask those questions. What they want is to ignore the looming financial calamity.  Living within our means is not optional The U.S. federal government is not living within its means. Ultimately, it must. With each passing year, the amount by which entitlement spending must be cut will increase. Politicians...

I have Sunday Night Football on as background “music.”   Football offense has changed. I wrote a book in 2008 ago called The Contrarian Edge for Football Offense. Second edition came out in 2011. It pays to be different I complained in it that all the NFL teams were all running the same offense. And the plays were not as contrarian as they could be. Or as ju jitsu. My book is about both. The mindset seemed to be, “If I lose running what everyone else is running, I won’t get blamed. But if I am different and it does...