Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Countermotions
An opposing pair of motions in the Anglosphere. Britain is moving closer to sanity in energy AND education, while Australia marches closer to Satan in both areas.
In Britain, Cameron has replaced part of his Cabinet:
I've previously noted Britain's absolutely remarkable push toward discipline and common sense in education.
= = = = =
Meanwhile in Australia, Comrade Gillard doubles down HARD on the Carbon Crime, forcing many Aussies to freeze in winter.
And at the same time, Comrade Gillard roars backwards in education, pouring money into the worst schools and requiring teachers to have higher degrees in subject matter instead of requiring them to be good teachers. She's basically moving Australia into a pattern that America tried and rejected in the 1970's.
What an all-consuming fuckhead. ¶ 3:45 PM
In Britain, Cameron has replaced part of his Cabinet:
Owen Paterson, a member of Cameron's Conservative Party who was appointed Environment Secretary in the reshuffle, has hailed the potential economic benefits of shale gas...
John Hayes [is now] Energy Minister.... Hayes has been a vocal opponent of wind farms...
I've previously noted Britain's absolutely remarkable push toward discipline and common sense in education.
= = = = =
Meanwhile in Australia, Comrade Gillard doubles down HARD on the Carbon Crime, forcing many Aussies to freeze in winter.
And at the same time, Comrade Gillard roars backwards in education, pouring money into the worst schools and requiring teachers to have higher degrees in subject matter instead of requiring them to be good teachers. She's basically moving Australia into a pattern that America tried and rejected in the 1970's.
What an all-consuming fuckhead. ¶ 3:45 PM
Looking back on a stupid period
It's starting to get cold, so I looked in the closet to find more long pants.
While ruffling through the closet I found no less than FOUR winter parkas. Two of them are familiar, but I'd completely forgotten about the other two. This means the newest winter parka was completely unnecessary! I bought Parka #4 in 2009 after Parka #3 got torn up in the desperate and losing fight against heavy snow and ice dams. Obviously I didn't even LOOK in the fucking closet, because Parkas #1 and #2 are perfectly usable though a bit grimy. It's not like I have dozens of closets and hundreds of clothes; this is the only closet in the house and it contains exactly 14 items right now.
I was seriously stupid in 2008-2009. The stupidity was clearly caused by high blood pressure. I wasn't paying attention to things. That's how I got whomped by a SUV in Oct 2008.
After that low point I started to make changes. In chronological order:
1. Stopped smoking pipe, which I had started in 2006.
2. Unplugged the TV.
3. Went to doctor, started pills for BP.
4. Cut down trees, re-created back yard and sense of pride.
5. Increased exercise.
6. Changed diet.
Each step has led to better health, more brainpower, less stupidity, better attitude.
The only negative is a loss of something like creative drive. The high pressure (or maybe the tobacco?) caused me to output more graphics work with more imagination. Deflating the arteries seems to have dulled the imagination.Dull is better than dead.
While ruffling through the closet I found no less than FOUR winter parkas. Two of them are familiar, but I'd completely forgotten about the other two. This means the newest winter parka was completely unnecessary! I bought Parka #4 in 2009 after Parka #3 got torn up in the desperate and losing fight against heavy snow and ice dams. Obviously I didn't even LOOK in the fucking closet, because Parkas #1 and #2 are perfectly usable though a bit grimy. It's not like I have dozens of closets and hundreds of clothes; this is the only closet in the house and it contains exactly 14 items right now.
I was seriously stupid in 2008-2009. The stupidity was clearly caused by high blood pressure. I wasn't paying attention to things. That's how I got whomped by a SUV in Oct 2008.
After that low point I started to make changes. In chronological order:
1. Stopped smoking pipe, which I had started in 2006.
2. Unplugged the TV.
3. Went to doctor, started pills for BP.
4. Cut down trees, re-created back yard and sense of pride.
5. Increased exercise.
6. Changed diet.
Each step has led to better health, more brainpower, less stupidity, better attitude.
The only negative is a loss of something like creative drive. The high pressure (or maybe the tobacco?) caused me to output more graphics work with more imagination. Deflating the arteries seems to have dulled the imagination.Dull is better than dead.
Labels: coot-proofing
¶ 6:42 AM
Or, you could......
Via Science Daily:
I've got a better idea.
(1) Don't manufacture biofuel. Then you won't need gasoline to power the combines that are cutting corn for biofuel, and you won't need fertilizer made from natural gas, and you won't need diesel to run the trucks and trains that haul the fertilizer to the fields and the corn to the biofuel plants, and you won't need electricity to power the biofuel refinery, and you won't need gas for the cars of the employees of the biofuel refinery, and you won't need to cut down tropical forests to clear more land for corn, and you won't need to starve millions of people and create riots and revolutions because you're forcing corn to go into biofuel instead of human stomachs.
(2) Feed the corn to the livestock directly. Then you won't need to handle DDGS, you won't need to spend energy building and running the special DDGS waste-to-energy plants, you won't need to hire specialists to run the DDGS waste-to-energy plants, and you won't need gas for the cars of the employees of the DDGS waste-to-energy plants.
I know these are radical ideas. Nobody has ever thought of feeding corn to humans and livestock directly, but I'm betting it just might work. Why not try it?
Needless to say, nothing will change. Biofuel will continue to waste food and starve people and waste energy and cause riots and revolutions, as long as the grass shall grow and as long as the rivers shall flow and as long as the Iowa caucus shall happen in January. Well, actually only the last part.
A by-product of biofuel manufacture can power microbial fuel cells to generate electricity cheaply and efficiently.... The work could help develop self-powered devices that would depollute waste water and be used to survey weather in extreme environments.
Distillers Dried Grain with Solubles (DDGS) is a waste product from bioethanol production that is commonly used as a low-cost animal feed. Researchers from the University of Surrey incorporated DDGS together with bacteria-inoculated sludge from a waste water treatment plant in their microbial fuel cell....
I've got a better idea.
(1) Don't manufacture biofuel. Then you won't need gasoline to power the combines that are cutting corn for biofuel, and you won't need fertilizer made from natural gas, and you won't need diesel to run the trucks and trains that haul the fertilizer to the fields and the corn to the biofuel plants, and you won't need electricity to power the biofuel refinery, and you won't need gas for the cars of the employees of the biofuel refinery, and you won't need to cut down tropical forests to clear more land for corn, and you won't need to starve millions of people and create riots and revolutions because you're forcing corn to go into biofuel instead of human stomachs.
(2) Feed the corn to the livestock directly. Then you won't need to handle DDGS, you won't need to spend energy building and running the special DDGS waste-to-energy plants, you won't need to hire specialists to run the DDGS waste-to-energy plants, and you won't need gas for the cars of the employees of the DDGS waste-to-energy plants.
I know these are radical ideas. Nobody has ever thought of feeding corn to humans and livestock directly, but I'm betting it just might work. Why not try it?
Needless to say, nothing will change. Biofuel will continue to waste food and starve people and waste energy and cause riots and revolutions, as long as the grass shall grow and as long as the rivers shall flow and as long as the Iowa caucus shall happen in January. Well, actually only the last part.
Labels: Carbon Cult
¶ 3:58 AM
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
More Loughner Logic
According to all the Reliable Scientists and Experts, the current warm summer MUST be caused by KKKarbon because it's the WARMEST EVAHHHHH!
Okay, fine. How about 1936? At the time when people were living through it, 1936 was the WARMEST EVAHHHH! They didn't know that 2012 would beat their record. So why didn't the scientists of 1936 assume their WARMEST EVAHHHH was caused by Evil KKKarbon?
And how about 1887? At the time when people were living through it, 1887 was the WARMEST EVAHHHH! They didn't know that 1936 and 2012 would beat their record. So why didn't the scientists of 1887 assume their WARMEST EVAHHHH was caused by Evil KKKarbon?
If Evil KKKarbon always targets the most recent WARMEST EVAHHH, then 1887 should have been the Evil KKKarbon Summer, then 1936 should have replaced it, then 2012 should have replaced 1936.
= = = = =
Needless to say, the scientists of the '30s didn't attribute their warmth to any wacked-out apocalyptic religious "cause". Unlike today's murderous psychopathic Loughnerian pseudo"scientists", they were sane and humble men in full contact with reality.
I've reprinted the following passage from the 1938 WPA Guides somewhere around 78,216,983 times, but it still deserves the 78,216,984th reprint:
Okay, fine. How about 1936? At the time when people were living through it, 1936 was the WARMEST EVAHHHH! They didn't know that 2012 would beat their record. So why didn't the scientists of 1936 assume their WARMEST EVAHHHH was caused by Evil KKKarbon?
And how about 1887? At the time when people were living through it, 1887 was the WARMEST EVAHHHH! They didn't know that 1936 and 2012 would beat their record. So why didn't the scientists of 1887 assume their WARMEST EVAHHHH was caused by Evil KKKarbon?
If Evil KKKarbon always targets the most recent WARMEST EVAHHH, then 1887 should have been the Evil KKKarbon Summer, then 1936 should have replaced it, then 2012 should have replaced 1936.
= = = = =
Needless to say, the scientists of the '30s didn't attribute their warmth to any wacked-out apocalyptic religious "cause". Unlike today's murderous psychopathic Loughnerian pseudo"scientists", they were sane and humble men in full contact with reality.
I've reprinted the following passage from the 1938 WPA Guides somewhere around 78,216,983 times, but it still deserves the 78,216,984th reprint:
Recent years of almost unprecedented drought have led to the often expressed belief that the climate of Kansas is changing. Geologists and meteorologists, however, point out that weather runs in cycles, the most pronounced being about a third of a century in length. Conditions during a cycle are easily mistaken by laymen for permanent changes. Despite year by year fluctuations in temperature and precipitation, recorded evidence shows that general climatic conditions remain unchanged.
Labels: Blinded by Stats, Carbon Cult, Loughnerian Logic
¶ 6:54 PM
It was the best of ladies, it was the worst of ladies
Tale of two First Ladies, as told by their respective convention speeches.
Ann Romney made no fucking sense, as I noted here.
Michelle Obama makes all kinds of sense. Lately I've been saying many of the same things repeatedly.
The problem with the Obamas, of course, is that they say wonderful things but don't do much about them. Barack has said exactly the right things about banksters, Main St vs Wall St, manufacturing, and job training. But he hasn't changed anything in those areas. He hasn't placed any restrictions at all on the financial criminals. He just keeps handing them more trillions as reward for stealing trillions.
Obama genuinely departs from Bush/McCain/Romney in two ways: (1) He doesn't try to invade every country that displeases Israel. (2) He's allowing more domestic oil production.
Those are important, but not as crucial as the economic stuff. ¶ 3:07 PM
Ann Romney made no fucking sense, as I noted here.
Michelle Obama makes all kinds of sense. Lately I've been saying many of the same things repeatedly.
The problem with the Obamas, of course, is that they say wonderful things but don't do much about them. Barack has said exactly the right things about banksters, Main St vs Wall St, manufacturing, and job training. But he hasn't changed anything in those areas. He hasn't placed any restrictions at all on the financial criminals. He just keeps handing them more trillions as reward for stealing trillions.
Obama genuinely departs from Bush/McCain/Romney in two ways: (1) He doesn't try to invade every country that displeases Israel. (2) He's allowing more domestic oil production.
Those are important, but not as crucial as the economic stuff. ¶ 3:07 PM
Monday, September 03, 2012
No! No! Don't make me think about FOOD!
Another little observation along my journey away from mush.
The late lamented Jeff MacNelly once did a brilliant cartoon in his Shoe series. Shoe was in the Express line at a grocery store, carrying a few items in his Express basket. A friend beckoned to him from the next line, pointing to the sign above it: "MEN". Shoe joined the friend, who explained, "Men never buy more than three items, they always pay cash, they never use coupons, and they never negotiate or complain. So this is the fastest lane."
Until recently that was my attitude. Always buy the same stuff in the same order, always buy packaged stuff to minimize selection time. Roar through the aisles snatching items on the fly! Get out of this hellish place FAST! Don't spend any time thinking about FOOD! Room 101!
= = = = =
Switching away from processed food requires a whole different attitude, and I'm finding it's sort of fun. Selecting solid and healthy carrots and tomatoes involves the hands and eyes and mind. One more part of life returned from virtual to physical, one more bit of quality control reclaimed from the corporations.
I didn't do any of this during the '70s and '80s, my previous non-carnivorous period. In the '70s I bought frozen mixtures, which speeded the store trip but also caused waste. (The mixtures always included an item I didn't like, which went into the trash.) In the '80s I was working hard and making good money, so I mainly ate in restaurants. From 1990 until last year, it was back to frozen and canned stuff. So the whole fresh vegetable 'scene', from selection to slicing, is new.
The late lamented Jeff MacNelly once did a brilliant cartoon in his Shoe series. Shoe was in the Express line at a grocery store, carrying a few items in his Express basket. A friend beckoned to him from the next line, pointing to the sign above it: "MEN". Shoe joined the friend, who explained, "Men never buy more than three items, they always pay cash, they never use coupons, and they never negotiate or complain. So this is the fastest lane."
Until recently that was my attitude. Always buy the same stuff in the same order, always buy packaged stuff to minimize selection time. Roar through the aisles snatching items on the fly! Get out of this hellish place FAST! Don't spend any time thinking about FOOD! Room 101!
= = = = =
Switching away from processed food requires a whole different attitude, and I'm finding it's sort of fun. Selecting solid and healthy carrots and tomatoes involves the hands and eyes and mind. One more part of life returned from virtual to physical, one more bit of quality control reclaimed from the corporations.
I didn't do any of this during the '70s and '80s, my previous non-carnivorous period. In the '70s I bought frozen mixtures, which speeded the store trip but also caused waste. (The mixtures always included an item I didn't like, which went into the trash.) In the '80s I was working hard and making good money, so I mainly ate in restaurants. From 1990 until last year, it was back to frozen and canned stuff. So the whole fresh vegetable 'scene', from selection to slicing, is new.
Labels: Heimatkunde
¶ 5:27 PM
Sunday, September 02, 2012
Interesting perspective
Spokane paper runs a nice feature this morning on one of Avista's public-relations people. Her career is unusual because she actually moved up through the ranks at Avista. All their other public faces started in local TV, and apparently took refuge at Avista when they got tired of broadcasting. Can't blame them.
She described the hardest time in her career as the "energy crisis" of 1998-2001.
Interesting. I hadn't heard anyone refer to 1998-2001 as an energy crisis; it certainly wasn’t an oil crisis.
Had to look it up.
Turns out it wasn’t caused by a lack of supply. It was caused by an excess of suicidal idiocy in California’s government.
It began with Pete Wilson’s criminal deregulation to serve his Wall Street bosses, and continued with Gray Davis’s criminal ecoterrorism to serve his Wall Street bosses.
But it was all worth it, because super-rich New Yorkers got even super-super-super-richer both ways! BiWinning! BiWinning! BiWinning! USA! USA! USA! We're Number 1! We're Number 1! We're Number 1! Starving the poor and enriching the rich! That’s the whole purpose of life! That’s why God created us! Hooray!
She described the hardest time in her career as the "energy crisis" of 1998-2001.
Interesting. I hadn't heard anyone refer to 1998-2001 as an energy crisis; it certainly wasn’t an oil crisis.
Had to look it up.
Turns out it wasn’t caused by a lack of supply. It was caused by an excess of suicidal idiocy in California’s government.
It began with Pete Wilson’s criminal deregulation to serve his Wall Street bosses, and continued with Gray Davis’s criminal ecoterrorism to serve his Wall Street bosses.
But it was all worth it, because super-rich New Yorkers got even super-super-super-richer both ways! BiWinning! BiWinning! BiWinning! USA! USA! USA! We're Number 1! We're Number 1! We're Number 1! Starving the poor and enriching the rich! That’s the whole purpose of life! That’s why God created us! Hooray!
Labels: Carbon Cult, Natural law = Sharia law
¶ 3:07 AM
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Plug-n-play?
If the proverbial Martian anthropologist tried to form his impression of humans solely by watching our "local" "news" broadcasts, he'd conclude that humans come in two forms. These two forms appear to be the upper and lower parts of one complete creature. He'd theorize that the upper and lower parts sometimes get glued or clipped together, but the resulting complete creature is never seen on TV. Perhaps it becomes invisible, or perhaps it travels to private areas to spawn or die.
¶ 5:00 AM
¶ 5:00 AM
Weird little rainstorms
Twice this week I've been awakened by brief hard rainstorms, just after midnight. The first one was (I think) Tuesday night, and the second was just now. (Friday night/Sat morning.)
Both storms lasted just one or two minutes. The one on Tuesday registered as a tiny dot on the Weather.com radar, but this one didn't show at all. Neither was predicted, and neither showed on the NWS records. (Well, to be exact, the Fairchild AFB record shows -RA meaning light rain, but Fairchild shows -RA almost all the time and the NWS never seems to notice the problem.)
I'm starting to get that old Btfsplk feeling!
= = = = =
Bit later: Now Weather.com shows the 'spoor' of the rain. It wasn't big enough to be seen on radar as it passed over Spokane, but it grew as it moved north. If you backtrack at constant speed from the visible blob, you can see it would have been over the north side of Spokane at 12.
That's a relief. I wasn't just dreaming or misinterpreting a sound!
Both storms lasted just one or two minutes. The one on Tuesday registered as a tiny dot on the Weather.com radar, but this one didn't show at all. Neither was predicted, and neither showed on the NWS records. (Well, to be exact, the Fairchild AFB record shows -RA meaning light rain, but Fairchild shows -RA almost all the time and the NWS never seems to notice the problem.)
I'm starting to get that old Btfsplk feeling!
= = = = =
Bit later: Now Weather.com shows the 'spoor' of the rain. It wasn't big enough to be seen on radar as it passed over Spokane, but it grew as it moved north. If you backtrack at constant speed from the visible blob, you can see it would have been over the north side of Spokane at 12.
That's a relief. I wasn't just dreaming or misinterpreting a sound!
Labels: Heimatkunde
¶ 12:57 AM
Thursday, August 30, 2012
B & O, var & const
Another little variables & constants item.
Tinkerbell McKenna and Jay Inslee, the "two" "party" candidates for Wash governor, got into a fierce non-debate about their hate of a state income tax. One hated it, the other hated it more, the first doubled down on hating it, the other saw his hate and raised it, the first accused the other of obscenely insufficient hate, etc, etc, etc.
We must preserve our competitive advantage, must keep the job-creators here, etc, etc, etc.
Okay, Tink and Jay. Let's look at this.
Wash doesn't have a tax with the explicit TITLE of "Income Tax", but it does have the Business and Occupations tax. This is an income tax on businesses and corporations, which also applies to independent contractors. Thus it catches a good part of the population directly or indirectly.
I've been working in 'contractor' style and filing B&O tax returns for many years. So far I haven't had to pay anything, but the threshold is just above my typical yearly income, so I'll undoubtedly pay sooner or later. Either my income will rise above the limit, or the limit will slide down. Okay with me. This state provides pretty good service in general, and I don't mind paying for good service.
Now back to you boys. You say you don't want an "Income Tax" because it would keep businesses from coming to the state. Hmm. We ALREADY have an income tax SPECIFICALLY ON BUSINESS. If tax is the problem, this would already be the problem.
Therefore, our problem** is not income tax. It's other taxes and rules, especially environmental crap.= = = = = ** Actually, I'm not convinced Wash has an employment problem. It could be that our taxes and laws are giving us the type of business we want, while Idaho's taxes and laws are giving Idaho the type of business they want. That's how federalism is supposed to work. ¶ 5:40 PM
Tinkerbell McKenna and Jay Inslee, the "two" "party" candidates for Wash governor, got into a fierce non-debate about their hate of a state income tax. One hated it, the other hated it more, the first doubled down on hating it, the other saw his hate and raised it, the first accused the other of obscenely insufficient hate, etc, etc, etc.
We must preserve our competitive advantage, must keep the job-creators here, etc, etc, etc.
Okay, Tink and Jay. Let's look at this.
Wash doesn't have a tax with the explicit TITLE of "Income Tax", but it does have the Business and Occupations tax. This is an income tax on businesses and corporations, which also applies to independent contractors. Thus it catches a good part of the population directly or indirectly.
I've been working in 'contractor' style and filing B&O tax returns for many years. So far I haven't had to pay anything, but the threshold is just above my typical yearly income, so I'll undoubtedly pay sooner or later. Either my income will rise above the limit, or the limit will slide down. Okay with me. This state provides pretty good service in general, and I don't mind paying for good service.
Now back to you boys. You say you don't want an "Income Tax" because it would keep businesses from coming to the state. Hmm. We ALREADY have an income tax SPECIFICALLY ON BUSINESS. If tax is the problem, this would already be the problem.
Therefore, our problem** is not income tax. It's other taxes and rules, especially environmental crap.= = = = = ** Actually, I'm not convinced Wash has an employment problem. It could be that our taxes and laws are giving us the type of business we want, while Idaho's taxes and laws are giving Idaho the type of business they want. That's how federalism is supposed to work. ¶ 5:40 PM
Why an economy?
This morning I wrote a quick comment at Yves Smith's site that turned out to be a nice terse summation.
I've been making these points every day since 2006, but I don't think I've ever tied them up so neatly in one package.
Copying here with added context:
We shouldn't be asking whether we need more spending or less tax. We shouldn't be looking at GDP as the goal. We have to start by asking "Why do we have an economy?"
The answer is NOT "to increase a number." The correct answer is that we have an economy to improve the lot of humans. More specifically, we have an economy to provide decent jobs that ordinary people can do, and to provide decent stuff that ordinary people can buy.
America had an economy like that once. Roughly from 1945 to 1980.
Let's look at variables and constants.
At various times in those years we had high spending and low spending, high taxes and low taxes. So we know that spending and taxes are NOT the relevant forcing factors.
What did we have constantly during those years that we don't have now? Most importantly we had strong restrictions on financiers and banks. Second, we kept a firm hand on corporations. Third, we kept a firm hand on foreign trade. All trade treaties were strictly bilateral, none of this WTO/NAFTA shit. We weren't afraid to charge tariffs. ¶ 4:57 PM
I've been making these points every day since 2006, but I don't think I've ever tied them up so neatly in one package.
Copying here with added context:
We shouldn't be asking whether we need more spending or less tax. We shouldn't be looking at GDP as the goal. We have to start by asking "Why do we have an economy?"
The answer is NOT "to increase a number." The correct answer is that we have an economy to improve the lot of humans. More specifically, we have an economy to provide decent jobs that ordinary people can do, and to provide decent stuff that ordinary people can buy.
America had an economy like that once. Roughly from 1945 to 1980.
Let's look at variables and constants.
At various times in those years we had high spending and low spending, high taxes and low taxes. So we know that spending and taxes are NOT the relevant forcing factors.
What did we have constantly during those years that we don't have now? Most importantly we had strong restrictions on financiers and banks. Second, we kept a firm hand on corporations. Third, we kept a firm hand on foreign trade. All trade treaties were strictly bilateral, none of this WTO/NAFTA shit. We weren't afraid to charge tariffs. ¶ 4:57 PM
"Journalism" = Incurable Evil
KREM, the most irresponsible and constantly wrong of the local media, is following the old evil Rodney King recipe for starting a riot.
Compare the text and the tape. The text describes a small incident at the STA terminal. One man is hassling another man. The security guard stops the hassler from boarding the bus along with the hasslee. The hassler then tries to pull the guard's hand away. At that point the guards move in and subdue the hassler.
In other words, it's a perfectly rational and proper police action, attempting to protect the public from a man who insists on being vicious.
The video, in true Rodney style, starts at the moment when the guards move in on the hassler. We don't get to see why the guards felt the need to move in.
Shame, shame, shame, shame, shame. ¶ 4:04 AM
Compare the text and the tape. The text describes a small incident at the STA terminal. One man is hassling another man. The security guard stops the hassler from boarding the bus along with the hasslee. The hassler then tries to pull the guard's hand away. At that point the guards move in and subdue the hassler.
In other words, it's a perfectly rational and proper police action, attempting to protect the public from a man who insists on being vicious.
The video, in true Rodney style, starts at the moment when the guards move in on the hassler. We don't get to see why the guards felt the need to move in.
Shame, shame, shame, shame, shame. ¶ 4:04 AM
Cute redefine
The Randian talkers are pulling a cute trick.
Non-Randians (including me) have been accusing Vulture Romney and other corporate types of being disloyal to America.
The meaning of loyalty is fairly obvious. When you're loyal to an institution or a government or a set of people, you do everything in your power to make sure it succeeds. Specifically, when you have the power to move money around, when you have the power to move jobs around, we can objectively measure your loyalty by watching where you put the money and jobs.
Corporate heads in modern times, including Romney, are putting their money in offshore havens, paying zero tax, and moving jobs to China. By objective measurement, they are disloyal to America. They are doing everything in their power to make sure America fails.
This wasn't always the case. In the aftermath of WW2 there was plenty of opportunity to move jobs overseas. Europe had millions of highly skilled workers who were desperate for food and would have worked for nearly nothing. But American corporations DIDN'T offshore jobs to Europe.
Now the Randians are saying "No. Patriotism does not mean paying more than you need to pay. It means paying as little as you can get away with."
Really? REALLY? Loyalty means doing less for the country than ordinary citizens do????????
I always thought laying siege to a country and looting its treasures counted as an act of war, not an act of patriotism.
Obviously I was wrong. Obviously then, Lincoln was loyal to the Confederacy, Hitler was loyal to France, Israel is loyal to Gaza.
Non-Randians (including me) have been accusing Vulture Romney and other corporate types of being disloyal to America.
The meaning of loyalty is fairly obvious. When you're loyal to an institution or a government or a set of people, you do everything in your power to make sure it succeeds. Specifically, when you have the power to move money around, when you have the power to move jobs around, we can objectively measure your loyalty by watching where you put the money and jobs.
Corporate heads in modern times, including Romney, are putting their money in offshore havens, paying zero tax, and moving jobs to China. By objective measurement, they are disloyal to America. They are doing everything in their power to make sure America fails.
This wasn't always the case. In the aftermath of WW2 there was plenty of opportunity to move jobs overseas. Europe had millions of highly skilled workers who were desperate for food and would have worked for nearly nothing. But American corporations DIDN'T offshore jobs to Europe.
Now the Randians are saying "No. Patriotism does not mean paying more than you need to pay. It means paying as little as you can get away with."
Really? REALLY? Loyalty means doing less for the country than ordinary citizens do????????
I always thought laying siege to a country and looting its treasures counted as an act of war, not an act of patriotism.
Obviously I was wrong. Obviously then, Lincoln was loyal to the Confederacy, Hitler was loyal to France, Israel is loyal to Gaza.
Labels: Metrology
¶ 2:14 AM
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Terse
It's well known that terse writing takes more skill than verbose. Twitter puts the truism to the test. Most journalists fail, but one anonymous local writer at KXLY has a real knack for fitting it all into 140.
A couple of items from today:
Idaho couple holds fundraiser for daughter who they said has leukemia. The problem is the girl never had leukemia.
Man shoots shotgun @ bulletproof glass, confirms it's bulletproof. Ricocheted shotgun pellets confirm he's not.
Those are just plain elegant, damn near poetic.
¶ 1:23 PM
A couple of items from today:
Idaho couple holds fundraiser for daughter who they said has leukemia. The problem is the girl never had leukemia.
Man shoots shotgun @ bulletproof glass, confirms it's bulletproof. Ricocheted shotgun pellets confirm he's not.
Those are just plain elegant, damn near poetic.
¶ 1:23 PM
Misteromney's neighborhood, 5
Sequel to previous Vulture Romney pics, this and this and this and this and this.
As Polistra wrote earlier,
There's some personal resonance as well. Five times I've seen the devastation when Mitt types took over businesses where I worked, or colleges where I studied. In each case the business or college had a solid set of traditions that kept it going, kept its employees and customers/students in harmony. The institution had a SOUL.
In each case the Mitt type, the Numbers Man, the Turnaround Man, the Efficiency Expert, took over as CEO and destroyed the tradition, destroyed the harmony, destroyed the SOUL. The Mitt type ruled purely by NUMBERS, looking only at the bottom line and systematically tearing down the family-like connection that made the place worthwhile for its workers and customers. In each case there was a brief burst of profit, then a rapid decline as workers and customers/students abandoned ship.
America has been suffering the same fate for 22 years now, and it will get much worse if Mitt takes over. Bush and Obama are not expert criminals, and they don't know all the tricks of the Wall Street Mafia. Mitt is an absolute expert in cracking safes and cracking souls.
¶ 5:20 AM
As Polistra wrote earlier,
There's some personal resonance as well. Five times I've seen the devastation when Mitt types took over businesses where I worked, or colleges where I studied. In each case the business or college had a solid set of traditions that kept it going, kept its employees and customers/students in harmony. The institution had a SOUL.
In each case the Mitt type, the Numbers Man, the Turnaround Man, the Efficiency Expert, took over as CEO and destroyed the tradition, destroyed the harmony, destroyed the SOUL. The Mitt type ruled purely by NUMBERS, looking only at the bottom line and systematically tearing down the family-like connection that made the place worthwhile for its workers and customers. In each case there was a brief burst of profit, then a rapid decline as workers and customers/students abandoned ship.
America has been suffering the same fate for 22 years now, and it will get much worse if Mitt takes over. Bush and Obama are not expert criminals, and they don't know all the tricks of the Wall Street Mafia. Mitt is an absolute expert in cracking safes and cracking souls.
¶ 5:20 AM
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
It's an Essex Lion!
I finally gave in to modernity, bought me one of those new-fangled digital cameras.
And as soon as I tried it out with a snapshot through the front door, I caught a terrible monstrous creature, stalking my neighborhood!
It's an Essex Lion! Prowling around the street, knocking down fence posts, devouring trees and rocks!
= = = = =
Just a few hours later, the horrifying Essex Lion was gone, presumably returned to his normal habits of stalking squirrels and birds.
But the same front-door view is now filled with a different kind of orange monster:
The city has started building a sidewalk on the opposite side of this block. It's a needed improvement: the nearby school has a crosswalk that spills directly onto that side of the block, and the kids have worn a 'deer trail' through the grass. A real paved walk would be easier for the neighbors to shovel in winter, and less ambiguous for the kids and parents.
= = = = =
Two days later: They're just about done. The process was more distracting than I thought it would be. Constant rumbling of trucks, diesel fumes, banging and tamping and scraping, all within 50 feet of my front door. No chance to do any mental work. Still, it's always interesting to watch people who really know what they're doing. They don't bother to build complete forms; they just dig a precise trench and use a single line of 2x4s to hold the top edge, then shape driveways and curbs by hand.
= = = = =
Three days later (Friday morning): All done. The contractor left ropes to block it off while the concrete dries and cures.... but the ropes didn't last. One neighbor got tired of parking his car elsewhere, pulled down the rope in front of his house, and drove into his garage. I can't blame him; the contractors had clearly treated him with contempt and disregard. Then some kids came along and couldn't resist trying out the new walk. Whoops, there goes the rest of the rope.
Good to see small acts of rebellion.
= = = = =
Update 9/4: First day of school today. An unexpected difference: Typically about a dozen cars park in this block on the first morning, as some parents feel the need to "see off" their kids. Today, one or two cars. Does the sidewalk give the parents more confidence that their kids can walk safely? Or is this just a random data point? I'll never know, but the difference from a well-established pattern is dramatic. Anything that causes more walking and less driving is GOOD!
And as soon as I tried it out with a snapshot through the front door, I caught a terrible monstrous creature, stalking my neighborhood!
It's an Essex Lion! Prowling around the street, knocking down fence posts, devouring trees and rocks!
= = = = =
Just a few hours later, the horrifying Essex Lion was gone, presumably returned to his normal habits of stalking squirrels and birds.
But the same front-door view is now filled with a different kind of orange monster:
The city has started building a sidewalk on the opposite side of this block. It's a needed improvement: the nearby school has a crosswalk that spills directly onto that side of the block, and the kids have worn a 'deer trail' through the grass. A real paved walk would be easier for the neighbors to shovel in winter, and less ambiguous for the kids and parents.
= = = = =
Two days later: They're just about done. The process was more distracting than I thought it would be. Constant rumbling of trucks, diesel fumes, banging and tamping and scraping, all within 50 feet of my front door. No chance to do any mental work. Still, it's always interesting to watch people who really know what they're doing. They don't bother to build complete forms; they just dig a precise trench and use a single line of 2x4s to hold the top edge, then shape driveways and curbs by hand.
= = = = =
Three days later (Friday morning): All done. The contractor left ropes to block it off while the concrete dries and cures.... but the ropes didn't last. One neighbor got tired of parking his car elsewhere, pulled down the rope in front of his house, and drove into his garage. I can't blame him; the contractors had clearly treated him with contempt and disregard. Then some kids came along and couldn't resist trying out the new walk. Whoops, there goes the rest of the rope.
Good to see small acts of rebellion.
= = = = =
Update 9/4: First day of school today. An unexpected difference: Typically about a dozen cars park in this block on the first morning, as some parents feel the need to "see off" their kids. Today, one or two cars. Does the sidewalk give the parents more confidence that their kids can walk safely? Or is this just a random data point? I'll never know, but the difference from a well-established pattern is dramatic. Anything that causes more walking and less driving is GOOD!
Labels: Heimatkunde
¶ 2:41 PM
Monday, August 27, 2012
Sleepless roaches
Poor sleep tonight... For some reason I started pondering economic matters, still trying to wrap my mind around the Islamic prohibition of interest.
Why does this seem important? Because the rest of that system is so obviously accurate, based on real observation of real human behavior. None of the more recent economic theories come anywhere close to reality.
The banning of interest is a key part of Mohammed's pragmatic and logical system. If I can't see it, I must be blinded by my literal vested interest in earning interest.
Finally got up and started reading various sources. Got it pinned down in a form that I can understand, so I'd better write it out before it slips away!
Essentially, interest is a form of counterfeit. Money exists as a portable representation of labor, so any money that does not come directly from your own labor, or from your direct enabling of someone else's labor, is counterfeit. It's value that doesn't represent labor. Derivatives and options and Bugsy's "quantitative easing" are even more transparently counterfeit, since their "value" is assigned arbitrarily. Same with the "value" that comes from a bubble, such as housing "equity" that increases with no real change in the house or neighborhood.
All those counterfeits are a form of theft. They lower the value of each unit of currency, thus they steal value from people who earned it with their own labor.
= = = = =
Along those lines, bumped into a fairly obvious rule:
"The profit of an individual or a group should not involve a loss to others."
Think Romney. Think outsourcing, leveraged buyout, profiting by theft of jobs, profiting by stealing a company that was built by the labor of others.
Hmm. The Randians and Libertarians are always chanting that everything should be permitted as long as it doesn't harm others. But they stop chanting when it comes to private equity, Free Trade, and outsourcing. Those forms of theft are just fine with Libertarians.
Well, it's not hard to see why. Libertarians are aristocrats. From their haughty perspective, Losers and Takers and Moochers, i.e. vulgar untouchable commoners who actually work for a living, are not human. It's perfectly all right for Atlas to squash commoners in the pursuit of infinite profit and infinite power for Atlas. Just like squashing cockroaches to keep your kitchen clean.
Why does this seem important? Because the rest of that system is so obviously accurate, based on real observation of real human behavior. None of the more recent economic theories come anywhere close to reality.
The banning of interest is a key part of Mohammed's pragmatic and logical system. If I can't see it, I must be blinded by my literal vested interest in earning interest.
Finally got up and started reading various sources. Got it pinned down in a form that I can understand, so I'd better write it out before it slips away!
Essentially, interest is a form of counterfeit. Money exists as a portable representation of labor, so any money that does not come directly from your own labor, or from your direct enabling of someone else's labor, is counterfeit. It's value that doesn't represent labor. Derivatives and options and Bugsy's "quantitative easing" are even more transparently counterfeit, since their "value" is assigned arbitrarily. Same with the "value" that comes from a bubble, such as housing "equity" that increases with no real change in the house or neighborhood.
All those counterfeits are a form of theft. They lower the value of each unit of currency, thus they steal value from people who earned it with their own labor.
= = = = =
Along those lines, bumped into a fairly obvious rule:
"The profit of an individual or a group should not involve a loss to others."
Think Romney. Think outsourcing, leveraged buyout, profiting by theft of jobs, profiting by stealing a company that was built by the labor of others.
Hmm. The Randians and Libertarians are always chanting that everything should be permitted as long as it doesn't harm others. But they stop chanting when it comes to private equity, Free Trade, and outsourcing. Those forms of theft are just fine with Libertarians.
Well, it's not hard to see why. Libertarians are aristocrats. From their haughty perspective, Losers and Takers and Moochers, i.e. vulgar untouchable commoners who actually work for a living, are not human. It's perfectly all right for Atlas to squash commoners in the pursuit of infinite profit and infinite power for Atlas. Just like squashing cockroaches to keep your kitchen clean.
Labels: Natural law = Sharia law
¶ 2:14 AM
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Nearly perfect
Montreal needs to rename one of its landmarks. One altered vowel will do.
Nuff said. ¶ 3:48 AM
The photo-shoot was part of a global trend to 'Trash the Dress' where brides do stunts to destroy their wedding dress after they get married, The Daily Mail reports.
While she was being photographed with her feet in the water the dress became saturated with water, leaving her unable to stay above water, police said.
The woman yelled 'I'm slipping, I'm slipping, I'm slipping,' before falling off the rock she was perched on for her wedding pictures.
Sgt. Ronald McInnes of the Quebec provincial police said her body was recovered about four hours after she slipped from a rock and fell into Dorwin Falls in Rawdon, north of Montreal. She had chosen the site as the backdrop for her wedding pictures.
Nuff said. ¶ 3:48 AM
Saturday, August 25, 2012
.
“… The next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”
¶ 1:36 PM
¶ 1:36 PM
Bad idea
I don't have a dog in the Apple/Samsung fight at the moment, since I don't own any of those devices. Never even handled one. My phone has a cord and a handset. Still, the verdict strikes me as a very bad idea for the 99.99999999% of Americans who do own those devices.
Compare with automobiles. What would we have if Apple-style design patents had been upheld in the early days of autos? At first we'd have four or five conflicting ways to drive a car. Some brands would have the driver in the middle, some on the left, some on the right. Some would have steering wheels, some would have levers, some would have foot controls. When you got your driver's license you'd have to test on one brand, and you would then be more or less stuck with that one brand. It wouldn't take long for the more popular brand to become the ONLY brand, because everything from roads to licenses to traffic signs would be designed with the more popular method in mind. The less popular brands would have no legal way to adopt the more popular method, so they'd simply go out of business.
We did have those variations in cars at first, and the most popular brand (Ford) did in fact set the standard in most ways ... but there was no patent lawsuit involved. Standardization happened naturally and quickly, and all companies were able to pick up the standard without having to pay royalties or penalties.
Patents for the innards of machines or software make sense. There are many ways to design an engine, many ways to code an action. Some of those ways are more efficient, some more precise, some easier to maintain. Distinct companies can find ways to derive distinct advantages from their own methods.
Patents for ergonomics on a widely used consumer device don't make sense. They simply guarantee a monopoly.
Of course Polistra prefers the non-standard! ¶ 5:25 AM
Compare with automobiles. What would we have if Apple-style design patents had been upheld in the early days of autos? At first we'd have four or five conflicting ways to drive a car. Some brands would have the driver in the middle, some on the left, some on the right. Some would have steering wheels, some would have levers, some would have foot controls. When you got your driver's license you'd have to test on one brand, and you would then be more or less stuck with that one brand. It wouldn't take long for the more popular brand to become the ONLY brand, because everything from roads to licenses to traffic signs would be designed with the more popular method in mind. The less popular brands would have no legal way to adopt the more popular method, so they'd simply go out of business.
We did have those variations in cars at first, and the most popular brand (Ford) did in fact set the standard in most ways ... but there was no patent lawsuit involved. Standardization happened naturally and quickly, and all companies were able to pick up the standard without having to pay royalties or penalties.
Patents for the innards of machines or software make sense. There are many ways to design an engine, many ways to code an action. Some of those ways are more efficient, some more precise, some easier to maintain. Distinct companies can find ways to derive distinct advantages from their own methods.
Patents for ergonomics on a widely used consumer device don't make sense. They simply guarantee a monopoly.
Of course Polistra prefers the non-standard! ¶ 5:25 AM
