BitCoin will go bust.

When people invest in something without fully understanding why it has value, that causes bubbles to happen. They see it go up in price and decide that they want in on it no matter what it is: tulip bulbs, tech stocks, Beanie Babies, etc. But if expectation of an increase in value is the only reason why people are buying an asset, there will come a point where the price reaches it′s peak and some speculators sell to take a profit. Then a lot of investors sell to cut their losses.

Right now, people are taking out mortgages and using credit cards to buy Bitcoin. It′s foolish to invest with money that you don′t have. This can have a huge and unfortunate ripple effect. When Bitcoin goes down in value, people will have all that debt with nothing to show for it. Watch for banks to use all those bad loans as a pretext for asking for another bailout. This is the kind of stupidity that causes recessions. Banks should not grant loans to morons.

If you own Bitcoin right now, sell it. Remember the mantra of ″Buy low, sell high.″ Gold is doing poorly low right now, so consider buying that. The worst time to buy gold is when you see TV ads encouraging you to buy it. Don′t buy it when everyone else is buying it. Buy it when everyone is selling it.

EDIT: I was asked what date this would happen by. I'm going with June 30th, 2018.

#BakeTheCake

This is a wedding cake. 

There doesn′t seem to be anything offensive about this particular pastry. Nobody could possibly feel disgusted by this cake. Except it was served at a lesbian wedding.

If a business offers cakes like this for sale, it should sell them to anyone who wants to buy one and is willing to pay for it. A business has to pay its employee, vendors, and credits. To turn away customers on the basis of who they are can doom a business.

There is a Supreme Court case being decided right now. The owner of a bakery insists that his 1st Amendment rights are being violated when his business is required to bake cakes for gay weddings. He argues that to force him to bake a cake for a gay wedding is to force him to say something that he doesn′t want to say.

He′s got the same right to spew hate that Fred Phelps did. If he wants to keep his mouth shut, that′s swell too. He can say that he will not put certain messages on cakes. But his business must still provide wedding cakes to anyone who wants to buy them.

We can all agree that symbols and text constitute speech. And I can understand if a business is uncomfortable with putting gay symbols on a cake, like rainbows or pink triangles. Just sell them the blank tiered cake and let them do whatever they want with it. Tomorrow they won′t have the cake anymore, but you′ll still have their money.

To allow a bakery to refuse to serve a gay couple will open many cans of worms. Will restaurants and beauty shops be allowed to discriminate as well? For that matter, how would they even know if someone is gay? Will I have to show that I′m attracted to women before I can place my order at Chick-fil-A? Investors will have to worry that the founder of a company is trying to make a point instead of a profit. Real businessmen want discrimination to be illegal. They don′t even want the option of turning down customers for the wrong reasons.

This court case is not really about free speech. It′s about making bigotry respectable again. We can only hope that the justices see through this ruse.

Writing FAQ's

Frequently asked writing questions:

Q: How do I get published?

A: Write something, then get it published.

Q: I already wrote something.

A: That′s nice. Now edit it.

Q: Already did that too.

A: Very nice. If it′s a short story, find a literary magazine and follow the submission guidelines. If it′s a novel, find an agent and follow their query guidelines. If you can′t find an agent, find a publisher who accepts unagented submissions and follow their guidelines. If you can′t find a publisher, use Createspace or Amazon KDP to self publish.

Q: How long should a chapter be?

A: As long or as short as it has to be. It can be one page long or even shorter. (If all your chapters are one page long, you probably aren′t trying.)

Q: Does anyone here want to be my co-author?

A: No. Ask someone you know to help you. If you don′t know anyone, learn to network more.

Q: I am a man. How do I create a female character?

A: Imagine a male character with breasts and no penis. Consider changing the hair and clothes.

Q: I am a woman. How do I create a male character?
A: Imagine a flat-chested butch lesbian with a penis who can lift heavy objects.

Q: What does a penis got to do with anything?

A: Absolutely nothing, unless you are showing your character having sex or going to the bathroom. Seriously, most of the things a man can do in a story, a woman can do as well. And this is fiction writing, so if you want to show a man giving birth or a woman commanding the 104th Terror Legion, go right ahead.

Q: How do I write a book?

A: Start by reading a book. Then read another. And then another. Now imagine the people who first typed those books and try doing what they did.

Q: How do I beat writer′s block?

A: Stay off Facebook for a couple days. Start working on the part of the story that you really want to be working on, even if you haven′t got that far yet. Or start working on a different story that you like better. The point is to keep writing as much as you can, for as long as you can.