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Every week I write a weekly wrap-up of things that were going on here at Young Adult Money, a few personal updates/thoughts, and finally a few posts I read this week that I thought were worth sharing.
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Happy Friday everyone!
- Nutcracker – Last Saturday my wife and I went to the Moscow Ballet’s Nutcracker. We don’t typically go to theater, so it was fun to do something different. The show we went to was their third of the day. This is a group from Moscow and they have an intense schedule around the Holiday season throughout the United States. Despite the fact it was their third show of the day, the performers put on an incredible performance. Not gonna lie, I’ve had much more respect (and understanding) of dance since I started watching So You Think You Can Dance.
- Does the end justify the means? – I’m not trying to get overly political, but I simply have to make a comment about the “torture” report that was released this week. It was revealed that the CIA used “enhanced interrogation” tactics when interrogating terrorists. These included waterboarding (sometimes extensive waterboarding) and sleep deprivation.
The debate right now is whether or not these tactics were effective. While I’m very happy that the report concluded that these tactics were not effective, I think we need to take a step back and focus on whether the end justifies the means. Waterboarding is a terrible act of torture that should never be used. It’s dehumanizing to both the person doing the waterboarding and (obviously) the one being waterboarded. The end result of these terrible actions – however “good” they may be – cannot justify the actions.
Did I mention I used to be a political blogger?
Those are the only two updates I have now. I have a whirlwind weekend next weekend that will include a number of parties on Friday night, a bachelor party on Saturday night, and finally family Christmas on Sunday night. I just have to get through one more work week first. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly and various projects can be finished on time.
What’s new with you? Any exciting plans coming up?
Below are the posts we published this week:
- On Monday I explained Why an HSA is the Absolute Best Retirement Account
- On Tuesday I explained How to Accomplish Goals by using the “Financial Bridge” Technique
- On Wednesday Erin shared 7 Reasons Why You Should Track Your Spending
Posts of the Week:
As usual, here are 5 posts that I enjoyed this week from around the blogosphere.
Want to be featured? I pick blogs that comment on the site regularly, so stop by and leave a comment!
- John from Frugal Rules shared Another Year Has Gone By – What Do You Regret?
- Mark from Bare Budget Guy explained The Power of Asking
- Natalie from The Finance Girl shared 5 Strategies to Use When You’re Fighting With Your Partner About Money
- Shannon from The Heavy Purse shared 5 Holiday Mistakes that Put You on the Naughty List
- Jason from Islands of Investing shared Accountability – here I come!
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Anything exciting planned the next couple weekends? What are you doing for the holidays? And for those that care to weigh in – what are your thoughts on the “torture” report that came out?
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Photo by Singh
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Score! Thanks DC! And nice to see you are not hiding from your political roots. All I’ll say is that the end does not always justify the means.
I knew you majored in poli sci but I didn’t know that you used to blog about politics – very cool. And why not sprinkle that in here? I like it. That said, I have suite tickets from work to go see the Trans Siberian Orchestra the day after Christmas. I’m super excited for the free show – can’t beat that!
And thank you so much for including my post!! That’s what I initially meant to write and then got sidetracked by your content – not a bad thing, right?! haha. But seriously, thank you for the link love!! Have a great weekend.
I have SO much more respect for dancers as well since watching So You Think You Can Dance. I love that show!! I saw the Nutcracker with my grandmother when I was about 5 years old and I definitely did not appreciate it at the time. Now I would love to see it because I love the music and would love the dancing as well. This weekend my mother in law is coming up and we are hoping to get a trip into the city to see the tree. I love this time of year in NYC. I hope you guys have a great weekend!
I think the government plays the fear card all to often to justify whatever they want to do. Raise the alert to turquoise or whatever those colors mean and you can start wire tapping, waterboarding, whatever the play of the day is. But another topic for another day…..
We saw the Nutcracker last year, and it was impressive, but it did seem to get pretty long there toward the end. I guess I’m not culturally advanced enough to appreciate ballet! Have a great weekend.
Thanks for the mention DC, I appreciate it! I had heard that report came out and sadly it really doesn’t surprise me. Not that it’s at the same level by any means, but the spending bill that’s working it way through Congress right now is another ball of wax with the hidden campaign spending issue. At any rate, we’ve got a busy last few weeks of the year with clients not realizing there is a thing called a calendar. ;) But, we’ll be bottling our latest home brew tonight so I’m looking forward to that.
Mark@BareBudgetGuy Oh trust me if you followed me on Facebook or Twitter you’d know I don’t hide my political roots ;) I still use my Ron Paul 2012 mouse pad haha
theFinancegirl Yeah I started as a political blogger, both with my own site and a group blog. I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun at the show! I think it’s a good sign you were sidetracked by my content haha but no problem on sharing your post and hope you have a great weekend!
blonde_finance Yeah the discipline and training it takes to get to the level that the dancers are at in the Nutcracker is pretty crazy. These are some of the best dancers in Moscow, so I appreciated the show. Sounds like a great weekend!
Eyesonthedollar Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. I think most people in the pf blogging community would rather not comment on anything controversial (outside of “controversial” finance topics like should you pay down debt or invest money lol) so I always appreciate to hear other people’s views on political – and really human rights – issues.
I think the second act of the Nutcrackers feels long mainly because people only really know the first half of the story, or you really only think about that initial first act when you think of the Nutcracker and not everything that goes on in the second act. But hope you have a great weekend too!
FrugalRules Unfortunately the report didn’t surprise me either. It upsets me how quick people are to defend “enhanced” interrogation techniques, though, and the general lack of understanding/respect/adherence to “the end doesn’t justify the means.” The spending bill is another issue and I honestly am a little uninformed about it and need to read up on it. Hope you are able to finish up all your work and the home brew sounds like fun! Another potential side hustle? ;)
The Nutcracker is one of the few things I love about Christmas. Sadly it hasn’t been in the budget for a couple years, but I have seen it many times! While I agree that those forms of torture are terrible and should never be used, I don’t see why people were shocked that this has happened. Did they not see Zero Dark Thirty? :) But in all seriousness, I doubt I would have the stomach to hurt another human like that, no matter how terrible they are. I do think we expect our government to do whatever it takes to take the bad guy, so we almost tend to turn a blind eye. Not saying it’s right, but I think we are naive to think there isn’t a lot of bad stuff going on behind the scenes.
We seriously considered going to the Nutcracker.. I think we are going to try and catch the Christmas Carol at the Guthrie. I always enjoy going to holiday shows. Have a good weekend : )
Thanks so much for the mention DC! Sounds like a pretty crazy weekend you have next week! Its awesome to know there’s just one more week of work, but I’m having probably the busiest couple of weeks I’ve had all year trying to wrap up a number of big projects at work – can’t wait for the holidays! Hope you manage to wrap everything up next week, and have a great weekend!
Beachbudget The Nutcracker definitely was not cheap, but I think it was worth it to go. I’m not sure I could justify going EVERY year, but it was fun to do something different. You’re right, most Americans do expect the government to do whatever it takes to take out the bad guy.
BudgetforMore That was the other show I was considering, but the fact that the group of dancers comes all the way from Moscow and the show has great reviews, I had to go with the Nutcracker. I know another local Minnesota group is doing (or did?) the Nutcracker, but the Moscow Ballet was only here one day. I hope you have a great weekend too!
Jason@Islands of Investing Hey no problem Jason! I hope you’re able to wrap up those projects quick, and hopefully I can as well. I hope you have a great weekend!
I’m with you on the torture issue. It’s one of the more disgusting news stories of the year, and makes me a little ashamed to be an American. We ought to be better than that.
Hey DC, believe you’ve mentioned a few times, maybe a few, that you are a political blogger ;)..
As for what’s new for me, did a 21km run today (Sunday aussie time) and although didn’t run a PB (Personal Best) what it’s made me realise is that I have a lot of work to be done.. Other than that nothing too special.. Only 8 work days left then off for 2 weeks, will be catching up with friends, family, doing some sport and working on a the side hustle a bit!
I don’t like to get into politics much either, however, this report was about the process used on known terrorists trying to find leaders. The information derived was how Bin Laden was found. I SERIOUSLY doubt that any of these “victims” of torture were very concerned about dehumanizing people when they flew planes into the Twin Towers. Wonder how dehumanized the people that decided to leap to their deaths rather than burn alive felt.
It is unfortunate that these methods were needed, but I don’t feel sorry for the ones they were used on.
I’m mixed on torture with terrorists. Being active duty military, I tend to have a stronger bias against terrorists, so initially I would say whatever it takes to get intel, but as a human being, no matter how terrible they are, it’s hard to justify a civil country using torture at all.
DonebyForty I agree 100%. We should be above that and hopefully policy changes in the near future, though I kind of doubt most of the politicians in Washington are motivated enough to make a difference, unfortunately.
mycareercrusade I saw that on Facebook, congrats! Half marathons can be pretty grueling, so congrats on taking the initiative and running one. I ran one a few years ago and the training and race really took a toll on me. I will stick to runs that are 5 miles or shorter.
Best of luck finishing the last 8 work days strong!
MomofTwoPreciousGrls I think you are sidestepping the central issue here. You are arguing that the end justifies the mean. Operating under that philosophy you could make arguments for all sorts of atrocities, such as nuking a nation that is filled with “known terrorists” because ultimately the US would be safer. I can’t subscribe to that moral philosophy, nor should anyone else.
MoneyMiniBlog First, thank you for your service. I think the “whatever it takes” mentality can be really damaging. It can lead to spending ourselves into oblivion and chipping away at personal liberties in the name of making our nation safer. I think it’s important for everyone in the US to think about what moral philosophy they prescribe to and whether “the end justifies the means” fits into that philosophy (and why or why not).
I just got back from San Francisco where we saw the Nutcracker with friends. It’s become an annual trip for us as one of my dearest friends lives up there. Thank you so much for the mention, DC! I really appreciate it and hope you had a great weekend!
DC @ Young Adult Money mycareercrusade Thanks DC, I can say that a marathon will be the bigger test and then I’ll keep pushing until I get to around 100KM run/race..
It’s been really crazy over here in Sydney over the last 24 hours with a cafe siege in a very prominent place here in the CBD about 500 meters from where I work.. Not sure if you’ve heard about it over there in the states but something like this happening has really sent a shock through the city despite the small amount of casualties..
mycareercrusade DC @ Young Adult Money Wow 500 meters? So crazy. Trust me we’ve heard all about it. I probably heard about it even a bit earlier as I’m active on Twitter and tend to get updates on things like that before others. It was all over the national news here, though, and continues to be. So sad to hear about the two casualties. Prayers for Australia.
It is but having said that given the situation and events in Pershawar at the moment at well pails in comparison :O..
Thanks DC, there’s been plenty of people buying flowers and placing them at the cafe..
At any rate, I still have complete faith that the world is a great place, made better by people like yourself who are presenting cool messages :)