At a retreat I was at a few weeks ago, a speaker talked about the great temptation of today of just “checking out” rather than engaging in the world and its problems. You sit on the couch and watch worthless, stupefying cable television programming late into the night. A symptom of this disease: You know about Snuggies, the blanket with arms, advertised on such programming.

Most of us at the retreat laughed sheepishly because, indeed, we had seen the commercials for Snuggies, the type of mail-order product that garners the label, “As seen on TV!” in stores.

Fox might want Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, to write this on the chalkboard 100 times: “I will not use Bart Simpson to promote Scientology.”

There’s another option besides burial or cremations for a deceased loved one these days: diamonds. Companies will turn the ashes of the dead into diamonds, Reuters reports, and as technology improves, the demand is rising.

Artificial diamonds are created by subjecting carbon to huge pressure and temperature, a method started by General Electric in the 1950s. Diamonds can be made out of cremated bodies, deceased pets, or hair from a body to be buried.

Here's an investment tip for you: Invest in the Amish.

According to this NPR piece on banking in Amish country, Amish farmers don't default on mortgages, even though they have no credit history, let alone a driver's license.

In fact, Bill O'Brien of Hometowne Heritage Bank says none of his Amish clients have ever missed a payment. He has been banking for 20 years and is responsible for about $100 million in loans, with 95 percent of his customers Amish.