FABLES: You’re a Congressman (Consultant!)

Monday, August 27, 2007

FROM MY FAVORITE LUDDITE:

I have seen this recycled a few times, mostly as a ‘consultant’, but I like this version better. :-)
———————————————————————————————————
A Montana cowboy was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, “If I tell you exactly how many animals you have in your herd, will you give Me a calf?”

The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, “Sure, Why not?”

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA Satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high- resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says: “You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.” “That’s right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,” says the cowboy. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the cowboy says to the young man; “Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?”

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, “Okay, why not?”

You’re a Congressman for the U .S. Government”, says the cowboy.

“Wow! That’s correct,” says the yuppie, “but how did you guess that?”

“No guessing required.” answered the cowboy. “You showed up here even though nobody called you; want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don’t know a thing about cows…this is a herd of sheep. Now give me back my dog “.

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ROFL~

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Posted by reinkefj

MONEY: gooferment created the real estate problem

Monday, August 27, 2007

http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSN2040778220070827?feedType=RSS&feedName=inDepthNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Flips, scams blamed in California housing decline
Mon Aug 27, 2007 3:08AM EDT
By Christelyn Karazin

***Begin Quote***

The Inland Empire, 50 miles east of Los Angeles, was a latecomer to the housing boom in California as buyers squeezed out of high-price coastal Los Angeles and Orange counties found large homes going up on the region’s vast supply of vacant land.

And it has been one of the most hard hit by foreclosures.

The Inland Empire’s combined Riverside and San Bernardino counties reported the fourth highest number of foreclosure filings of any of the nation’s 229 largest metro areas in July, behind Atlanta, Los Angeles and Detroit, according to market tracker RealtyTrac.

OWNERS GO ‘UPSIDE DOWN’

Survivors of Towne Square find themselves not only with unsightly, empty properties next door, but also with home values plummeting amid the fire sales on foreclosed homes.

So selling and moving to a better neighborhood is not much of an option because many owe more on their mortgage than they would get for the sale — what the industry calls “upside down.”

And real estate agents note that California’s market is likely to rebound as it has in the past, underpinned by high population growth.

***End Quote***

OK, the gooferment created the real estate problem with fiat currency that allowed artificially low interest rates to start with and followed it up by being up to its collective nose with “regulation” and interference the market.

Solution. The gooferment should exit stage left.

Tough, yes. But giving them a role in fixing it will bring even more “unanticipated consequences”. Some time it’s tough to take the right medicine but it’s better for us in the long run.

We know that the “tough love” solution isn’t going to work so what should we do?

* If you have an ARM, refi before you get ARM-twisted (i.e., have to refi when rates are “bad”).

* If you have property, consider refi in terms of your long term financial strategy. Rick Edelman makes a good case for having your estate pay of your mortgage so you have flexibility. Dave Ramsey makes a good case for being debt free. I won’t quibble with either one.

* If you are renting, look for “fire sale” bargains.

* If you are investor, look for absolute value bargains.

* Anticipate low rates for a while with tightening credit standards.

* Anticipate recession and declines in various markets.

imho

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Posted by reinkefj

RANT: The marketplace is Lady Liberty’s friend

Sunday, August 26, 2007

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/08/26/casinos_and_the_american_way/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+–+Jeff+Jacoby+columns

Casinos and the American way
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | August 26, 2007

*** begin quote ***

So it goes, year after year, in state after state: Entrepreneurs and investors who ought to have the same freedom to operate a casino as they would to open a shoe store or start a newspaper are forced instead to run an exhausting and expensive political gauntlet, often with no guarantee that casino gambling will even be permitted, let alone that they’ll win a license to build one. How many other peaceful businesses offering a popular form of entertainment face such formidable legal and political barriers to entry?

*** end quote ***

It’s that the politician want more “slush money”. Usually Jeff is more perceptive about motivations. Motivations of politicians are very transparent — more. More control of the people. More money to “do good”. Of course, if along the way a little change falls into the pockets of their friends, family, and themselves, so much the better.

Argh!

The marketplace is Lady Liberty’s friend. It makes everything transparent. If we had truly free markets in gambling, then the politicians would be able to steal from either your losings or your winnings. If we had a free market in drugs, there’d be no collateral damage. If we had a free market in products, everything would be cheaper. If we had a free market in money, there’d be no inflation tax. And on and on and on.

See the free market is like a global election with every small purchase. If we had free markets, how would politicians “save” us? They’d have to go find honest work!

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MONEY: The Inflation Tax

Sunday, August 26, 2007

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/014893.html

August 26, 2007
Top 8 Ways Hard Money Would Change Your Life
Posted by Chris Brunner at August 26, 2007 12:57 AM

***Begin Quote***

2. No more Inflation Tax for the poor

Inflation occurs when the Federal Reserve expands the money supply by creating more money. Each time this happens, and lately it’s been happening at a frighteningly rapid pace, the money that already exists – that is, the paper in our wallets and bank accounts – loses its value. This is why prices increase. Each time your money loses its value, it takes more and more of it to purchase the same goods. These guys literally make a living stealing our wealth and giving it to others. However, unlike Robin Hood, the recipients of this wealth tend to be people who are already wealthy, and the people who are hurt the most are arguably the poor. That is, the people who get screwed the most are the poor who can’t afford the rising prices – those on with minimum wage jobs or fixed-incomes. A hard money policy would put a stop to this by cutting off the Fed’s ability to inflate, or abolishing the Fed entirely.

***End Quote***

Never mind just the poor. What about me!

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INTERESTING: Open Door During Flight

Sunday, August 26, 2007

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294632,00.html

Passenger Arrested After Trying to Open Door During Flight
Sunday, August 26, 2007

***Begin Quote***

DENVER — A passenger tried to open a plane door during a Frontier Airlines flight on Saturday morning but was subdued by airline staff and passengers, an airline spokesman said.

***End Quote***

Duct tape to the rescue

We need Homeland security? No one is ever hijacking a plane again.

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Posted by reinkefj

TECH SERVICE: FACEBOOK has flaws

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Interesting that it would let you look up just one email address. You have to create a file that it can import and check. And, it doesn’t always do that correctly!

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MONEY: treat the USD as a depreciating asset

Saturday, August 25, 2007

http://thelibertarianforum.com/Videos/Ron-Paul-Federal-Reserve.html

Video: Ron Paul on the Federal Reserve – TheLibertarianForum
(Source: thelibertarianforum.com)
Ron Paul on the federal reserve bank.

Money is not a store as value as it is supposed to be. Ron give “Helicopter Ben” a rudimentary lesson in what is wrong with the current system.

* Congress unConstitutionally created a central bank and ceded all oversight of that bank to a private cartel to the detriment of the American people.

* The dollar is inflated year after year. This results in a 96% loss in purchasing power (Ron Paul’s number) since 1913. (Other statisticians say it’s 95% from 1970 to 2000). Regardless of whose numbers you believe the purchasing power of the dollar erodes dramatically impacting everyone , but especially the people least able to cope.

* Inflation is a tax. Hidden. Silent. This permits the Congress to spend without limit.

All financial planning must treat the USD as a depreciating asset. YMMV!

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RANT: Docs are not “gods among men”; just people who have seen a lot!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

FROM A POSTING:

*** begin quote ***

I am really, really skeptical and as of right now, I am scheduled to get vaccinated tomorrow. Honestly, I’m a little worried and I still think this may have been a screw-up. I’d prefer that they do the blood test again but I don’t want to seem like an asshole. I’m also not sure if that’s even an option.

*** end quote ***

Dear XXXX,

Please don’t worry about being an a double q!

(Us old fogeys are uncomfortable using rough language around ladies; any minute we expect the sky to open and one of the good Nuns or Brothers of our past to administer an “reminder” painfully somewhere on our anatomy!)

Ever hear of the fable of the pig and the chicken? No! In a ham and egg breakfast, the chicken is involved, while the pig is committed. In this case, the doc is the proverbial chicken. Guess your role?

If you are in doubt, stop. It’s the Universe and your gut warning you that something is wrong. Humans didn’t survive long in the wild by not listening to your instincts.

You have every right to determine what gets done with your tush!

If you want a repeat blood test before proceeding, demand it! If the insurance doesn’t want to pay, pay for it yourself and fight with them later.

Get a second, independent opinion! Open the phone book, look up the nearest teaching hospital, call them, and get an appointment with the head chickenpox guy or the youngest girl doc in the department tomorrow! Don’t take the “barbara streisand” that there are no openings. I use the line “if your Mom was sick would he have an opening. Yes! Good news, your Mom’s not sick. Give me her slot!” :-) (It works once in each office!)

I’ve been thru a ton of stuff with my wife over the years. Docs are nothing more than “good guessers”. 95% of the time they are running fixed plays right out of the playbook. UofK, UCLA, Joslin, and Mayo even have their handy dandy diagnosis decision trees in pdfs on their website. When my wife was in real trouble, I printed the cardiology one from Duke and stuck it under her cardiologist’s nose and made him explain every thing again in little words. While not pleased, he did it. (She’s snoozing on the couch now rather than in a coffin!)

Please do what you need to assure yourself that your getting the correct treatment. If the doc kills you, or worse disables you (i.e., there are real horror stories about medical blunders), the doc will say “Ooops! Next patient!”. You’ll be cleaning up his mess forever.

I can NOT afford to lose any fellow XXXXX that know how to blog!

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RANT: federal, state and local governments are among the biggest employers of “illegals”

Saturday, August 25, 2007

http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070823/NATION/108230096/1002

Bush hit over jobs for illegal workers
By Stephen Dinan
August 23, 2007

*** begin quote ***

If President Bush is serious about getting tough on U.S. employers who hire illegal aliens, he can start with his own administration, which employs thousands of unauthorized workers, says the top Republican on the House immigration subcommittee.

A 2006 audit showed federal, state and local governments are among the biggest employers of the half-million persons in the U.S. illegally using “non-work” Social Security numbers — numbers issued legally, but with specific instructions that the holders are not authorized to work in the U.S.

*** end quote ***

You know how I love it when the gooferment looks foolish!

Like who’s the biggest polluter, yet we get the EPA. Like ICE raids businesses! Like ribbon cuttings aot maintenance.

Here’s one for that file!

Wake up sheep. The gooferment is the problem.

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INTERESTING: Look what happened to Blue Frog

Friday, August 24, 2007

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/15-09/ff_estonia_bots

When Bots Attack
By John Robb Email 08.23.07 | 2:00 AM
Feature
Hackers Take Down the Most Wired Country in Europe
Washington Ignores Cyberattack Threats, Putting Us All at Peril

***Begin Quote***

If you want to bring down a country’s information infrastructure and you don’t want anyone to know who did it, the weapon of choice is a distributed denial of service attack. Using rented botnets, you can launch hundreds of thousands — even millions — of infobombs at a target, all while maintaining total deniability. In this hypothetical scenario, a single attack launched by China against the US lasts only a few hours, but a full-scale assault lasting days or weeks could bring an entire modern information economy to its knees.

***End Quote***

This has been seen already in the wild. But the fix is on the horizon … IPv6.

In the meantime, one has to examine the paradigms and the mems around the Internet. Questioning the Internet service Providers and what actually are they providing.

Clearly, the all you can eat buffet for 19.99, 29.99, 39.99, 49.99 per month leads to “stuffing yourself”. That probably has to change.

Unlimited email with no postage leads to spamming. ISPs that deal with the end user probably have to move to a charging model with micropayments. That makes spam uneconomical.

Unlimited byte transfer rates leads to similar excesses. BitTorrent and other P2P hogs that literally take over the local loop. So probably like the power company, we will probably have to pay for MegaBytes by a similar micropayment. That make caps and shaping unnecessary.

So perhaps the basic monthly charge for internet access is X per month with say 30k of email messages and 100 gigs of transfer. Additional use gets charge extra.

With that type of a meme, botnets would be quickly cleaned up or cut off.

imho!

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RANT: anything on whatever property he owns

Friday, August 24, 2007

http://south-brunswick.blogspot.com/2007/08/thank-you-planning-board.html

So you are suggesting that anyone be allowed to do anything, or build anything on whatever property he owns?

*** begin quote ***

Well, if it is not a deed-restricted community where the buyer was aware of the restrictions and agreed in advance, then yes. If it’s your property, then yes you can do what you want. You have to live with your neighbors so being a “good neighbor” is like the golden rule. In the Matrix situation, it’s the after the fact begging for the komisars to permit the serf to use the “common”. And you thought when you bought something, it was “yours”. Silly taxpayer! You’re just renting it from the gooferment and have to kow tow to their diktats. I feel sorry for all of us at becoming such slaves.

*** end quote ***

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RANT: Baseball needs a mercy rule … … for the fans

Friday, August 24, 2007

http://www.haloscan.com/comments/irisheagle/4732432862564584667/?a=40594

*** begin quote ***

I heard that result. Incredible. I was listening to the Met game and the announcer said “And, in Baltimore, Texas has added another touchdown – they missed the extra point – in the 9th to make it 30-3.

Baltimore was up 3-0 in that game after three innings. Hard to believe they scored all those runs in 4 innings (failed to score in the fifth and seventh innings).

*** end quote ***

And doesn’t everyone agree that (1) the ball is different; (2) the strike zone is smaller; (3) the players are on steroids; (4) the ball parks are smaller; (5) the pitching is poorer; (6) the bats are “livelier”; (7) the owners are raking it in; (8) so are the players; AND (9) the “stars” have a feeling and give off an air of entitlement. Makes me lot less of a fan!

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TECH SOFTWARE: OUTLOOK

Friday, August 24, 2007

Does anyone know how to work with Look Out (aka Outlook2003sp2) rule in any other way than the cruddy microsnooze user interface?

For example, when junk gets caught by LookOut or spam gets caught by CloudMark and I say “It’s OK”, they put it back in the inbox. Well my inbox is empty by design. I have rules that sort my inbound mail extensively. For example, if it’s coming from a known address, or to certain secret addresses, or has a secret word in the subject line, it gets sorted automagically to a specific folder. It allows me to allocate my time in priority order. But, when LookOut or Cloudmark just drop in the INBOX folder, the rules never execute against it. Argh! Help?

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TECH SERVICE:COLLECTIVE GROUPSITES for your own free social network

Friday, August 24, 2007

http://www.collectivex.com/intro

***Begin Quote***

What are Groupsites?

Groupsites make it easy for groups to share, communicate and network, by combining the best features of discussion forums, email lists, calendars and social networks.

Groupsites are powered by the CollectiveX platform; are FREE to set up; and can be configured to be public, semi-public, or private and secure.

***End Quote***

FREE social network?

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Posted by reinkefj

RANT: Two jokes but not on the comics page

Friday, August 24, 2007

http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708230320

POLICE BLOTTER

*** begin quote ***

NORTH PLAINFIELD

# DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED, 4:07 a.m. Aug. 12: Juan Cruz-Canterero, 27, of North Plainfield was charged with driving while intoxicated after police said they found him in a parked car at the Quick Chek parking lot and, upon questioning, determined that he was intoxicated.

MONTGOMERY

{Extraneous Deleted}

An officer traveling south on Route 601 and directly behind the car driven by Mertz detected the odor of burnt marijuana coming from the car

{Extraneous Deleted}

*** end quote ***

DUI of a fellow in a parked car?

Smelled from the car behind?

Either badly written or really stupid laws.

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FUN: Dinner Badge

Friday, August 24, 2007

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dinner+badge&defid=2556447

Dinner Badge

*** begin quote ***

Dried stains of kebab juice, curry sauce or gravy all over your shirt from messy eating.

That’s an impressive dinner badge you’ve got there. What did you eat, pizza?

*** end quote ***

In this case, I am a highly decorated warrior in the fight against full food plates. ;-)

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RANT: Ron Paul Wins Five Straw Polls

Thursday, August 23, 2007

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/014853.html

August 23, 2007
Ron Paul Wins Five Straw Polls, Mainstream Media Remains Silent
Posted by Chris Brunner at August 23, 2007 05:28 AM

*** begin quote ***

Whether it’s Washington, Alabama, New Hampshire, or South Carolina, the message is the same. We want our freedom, our rights, our money, and our country back, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. Thousands are driving from all of their states to show support resulting in straw poll victories for Ron Paul with percentages as high as 81%. Dr. Paul has placed in a total of 16 straw polls now, tying him with Romney and thrusting him far beyond Giuliani in terms of visible support, and not a word about the trend can be heard from the mainstream media. To put this into perspective, there were over 4,800 articles in the mainstream media about the Iowa straw poll in which Mitt Romney spent over $200,000 ensuring his win, while there are a whopping 162 mainstream articles combined from all five straw polls in which Ron Paul was victorious. Most of these mentions are no more than a one-senence blurb incorporated into an article about a more general topic.

*** end quote ***

Argh!

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TECH SOFTWARE: Warning on Micorsoft Live Writer in blog updating

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Interesting that Microsoft Live Writer, when it takes an error, may post to a different blog than you expect. Extreme care need when using it!

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Posted by reinkefj

LINUX: Anything windoze does, it should do better?

Thursday, August 23, 2007

http://www.emperorlinux.com/mfgr/dell/tiger/?tab=overview

The Tiger (Dell Latitude D630) 5# Linux

*** begin quote ***

# Full Linux support: up to 15″ SXGA+ w/ X @ 1400×1050
# Full Linux support: 1667 – 2200 MHz Core 2 Duo
# Full Linux support: 512 – 2 G RAM, expands to 4 G
# Full Linux support: 60 – 120 GB Hard Drive
# Full Linux support: DVD+/-RW Drive, or DVDROM Drive, or CDRW/DVD Drive
# Specification: 5.2 pounds
# Full Linux support: up to 10/100/1000 Mbps ethernet
# Full Linux support: 802.11a/b/g (54Mbps) WiFi
# Specification: Linux Pre-Configured (dual boot available)
# Specification: EmperorLinux user’s manual
# Specification: Three year warranty & One year tech support

*** end quote ***

Getting ready to take the plunge. Only two real obstacles to plopping down Frau’s credit card.

(1) Critical: Can I use my existing VWBBie card and subscription?

(2) Moderate; Can it fax?

(3) Trivial: Can it support usb thumb and disk drives?

(4) Trivial: Printer support?

(5) Trivial: Anything windoze does, it should do better?

Did I miss anything?

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LIBERTY: Denying genocides is like defying gravity; it can kill you.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/08/22/no_room_to_deny_genocide/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+–+Jeff+Jacoby+columns

No room to deny genocide
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | August 22, 2007

***Begin Quote***

Genocide denial must be intolerable to everyone, but above all to those for whom “never again” is such a sacred principle. And at a time when jihadist violence from Darfur to Ground Zero has spilled so much innocent blood, dissimulation about the jihad of 1915 can only aid our enemies.

The Armenian genocide is an incontestable fact of history. Shame on anyone who refuses to say so.

***End Quote***

It takes gooferment to kill large numbers of people. Failing to recognize that fact is what enables it to happen.

I guess I was “fortunate” as a child to meet and talk with people who either survived or whose parents survived three of the major genocides — the Shoah, the Armenian killings, and the Irish Black ‘n’ Tans persecution. We were taught in school about the American Indian, the Russian Gualgs, Mao’s Starvation, and the Cambodian Killing Fields.

As such, I know no matter what gooferments would like to pretend it happened.

If paradigms are the way we see things and meme are our ideas, then the cooperation paradigm as implemented in the meme of gooferment is very dangerous. Like playing with fire, gooferment can burn us.

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TECHNOLOGY: Free education in an unlikely place

Thursday, August 23, 2007

My meme for job search is like this:

** Doctrine — why are we turkeys — thinking about thinking — how do I value things — how will I measure success or failure.

** Methodology — the process of job search — what do I have to do — what should I want to do. — effectiveness & efficiency.

** Strategy — the big picture — what am I peddling? (UVE USP) what can I sell at what price? what is my roi? Where are my customers? What are my expectations?

** Tactics — machine gun mass mailing, shotgun all in a some subset, rifle shots at key targets, pistol shots up close and personal.

** Technology — internet, computers, manual methods, mail, fax, web, phones

Under “doctrine”, I see EDUCATION as so much cheaper than EXPERIENCE. So one of my values is to seek education whenever I can get it. Free education is even better. I like to say, “You don’t have to pay tuition for every lesson. You can learn from mistakes. And, you don’t even have to make every mistake yourself!”

So here is a strategy to get some free education. Join the Telegraph’s free “Business Club”. They have some videos and stuff that is educational.

http://www.telegraphbusinessclub.co.uk/default.asp?p_id=masterclass#

*** begin quote ***

Ten minutes is all it takes! Now you can learn from the experts – the easy way.

Business Club has worked with Experts Online to film interviews with business specialists talking about topics we judge to be of key importance to ambitious entrepreneurs and the top management staff of small and medium sized enterprises.

But we know you are busy running your business. So we have edited all the content to ensure that each MasterClass covers the key points you need to know – but does not last more than ten minutes.

*** end quote ***

Ignore that it’s from the UK. (Americans are too US centric anyway.) Ignore that it’s usually by some one peddling something. BUT do distill the lesson from it.

For example, here’s one there:

*** begin quote ***

How SMEs can compete
in the technology race

Alexandra Bottomley
Head of Marketing Operations, BT
Frank Shaw
Foresight Director, Centre for Future Studies

Seventy six percent of SMEs are sleepwalking into major business problems because they fail to invest in technology, according to research by the Centre for Future Studies. This Masterclass examines the report’s contents and explores how BT can help businesses compete more effectively.

*** end quote ***

And here’s what I took away.

* Many small players are at technology disadvantage that magnifies over time.
* People select the cheapest solution aot the best value.
* tendency to overinvest in current technology.
* Key: What do you want to achieve? How can technology help reach that goal?
* People want service and support they can trust to answer a phone call.
* “I make it my job to communicate with my Customers at least once per month”.
* The telephone is part of a technology plan.
* “A small business can use technology is incredible effective ways a relatively low cost.”
* Future-proof
* “Do you know what it is that your children will be able to do in 15 years time, that technology can’t”
* “What skills do we need to be teaching our children today to prepare for the future?”
* “What skills <that you are selling today> will be gone?
* How does one gain competitive advantage in a global world.

I think these things are great. YMMV!

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INTERESTING: Wally Wallington should be an American icon

Thursday, August 23, 2007

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/014842.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCvx5gSnfW4

August 22, 2007
The Amazing Wally Wallington
Posted by Lew Rockwell at August 22, 2007 09:15 AM

***Begin Quote***

A Michigan construction worker shows how Stonehenge might have been built. (Thanks to Porter Davis.)

***End Quote***

Ever since I visited it, as an injineer, I was impressed with how smart the prehistoric people were. We think we’re so smart. You move a big rock into a position like at Stonehenge. We are taught that these massive structures were built by gobs of people. But maybe there are simpler explanations. Wally demonstrates that a PhD is not required to solve problems. In some respects, it’s probably a detriment. Gooferment education has dumbed us down and the whole intellectual environment has atrophied our brains. We need more Wallys and Wally-like thinking by real people; not “leaders”, “educators”, and “experts”. We need common sense.

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Posted by reinkefj

GUNS: The Return of the Pocket Pistol

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

http://www.dillonprecision.com/docs/Sept_07_Return_of_pocket_pistol.pdf

This fellow makes a good argument for the 380 “girlie gun” as represented by the Argentine Bersa. I’ve never seen one, but it looks smooth.

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Leave a Comment » | LIBERTY | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

TECH SOFTWARE: Yahoo! Music Jukebox

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Can you beleive this response?

***Begin Quote***

From: Yahoo! Music Jukebox [mailto:migration-support@cc.yahoo-inc.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 7:53 PM
To: Reinke’s Catch All Email
Subject: Re: Musicmatch Migration issue (KMM102549845V28118L0KM)

Hello ,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Music Jukebox.

To correct this issue, please uninstall then reinstall Yahoo! Music
Jukebox.

First, uninstall the Yahoo! Music Jukebox:

1. Make sure to exit the Yahoo! Music Jukebox. If you don’t, the uninstall will fail.

2. At the bottom left of your Windows screen, click the “Start” button.

3. Depending on your Windows version, select “Settings” and then ‘Control Panel’, or just look for ‘Control Panel’ in the menu shown when you click ‘Start.’

4. Open ‘Control Panel.’

5. Double-click or select “Add/Remove Programs.”

6. In the list of applications, select “Yahoo! Music Jukebox” and click the “Remove” button.

7. Click the “Next” button, then “Finished.”

If you see an error that the uninstall process failed, you will need to install the Yahoo! Music Jukebox following the instructions below and then uninstall the application by performing the above steps again.

Once the Yahoo! Music Jukebox is successfully uninstalled, you will need to reinstall. Note that uninstalling and reinstalling the Yahoo!
Music Jukebox is free, and does not affect your Yahoo! Music Unlimited account. You will simply need to sign in using your Yahoo! ID at the completion of the install process; you will be prompted to add in the music files already on your computer, and your subscription music (if any) will be automatically populated.

1. Close all running applications except for Internet Explorer.

2. Please then visit your respective URL:

U.S. Version:

http://us.dl1.yimg.com/download.yahoo.com/dl/music/ymj/us/ymjsetup.exe

Canadian Version:

http://us.dl1.yimg.com/download.yahoo.com/dl/music/ymj/ca/ymjsetup.exe

2. “Save” the program (please do not “Run” it) and download it to the desktop.

3. From the desktop, run the installer file that you downloaded and follow the onscreen instructions.

4. Please Note: Download time can take anywhere from 1 to 25 minutes and
18 MB of free space is required to install the Yahoo! Music Jukebox.

5. After installing, click the icon on your desktop to start the Yahoo!
Music Jukebox. Sign in using your Yahoo! ID.

For more information about troubleshooting with the Yahoo! Music Jukebox, go to:

http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/music/jukebox/troubleshoot/index.html

Thank you again for writing Yahoo! Music.

Regards,

 

Yahoo! Customer Care
57994239

New and Improved Yahoo! Mail – better than ever!

 

Original Message Follows:
————————-

Mail-Id: 1187621904-6907
“Name:” : reinkefj
“Yahoo! ID:” : reinkefj
“Email Address:” :
“Current Operating System:” : Windows XP “Subject:” : Musicmatch Migration issue “WMP Version:” : Not set by user “If yes, check here:” : Not set by user “Additional Information” : Don't know what WMP version, Script error; workaround doesn't work. Argh!
While Viewing: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/music/jukebox/troubleshoot/troubleshoot03.html

Form Name: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/music/general.html

Yahoo ID: reinkefj : Yahoo id from cookie “https://amt.yahoo.com/amt/dosearch?.token=5y.Tu0qEPLfejWEUKFW_NSx14saef
_rBHh3JD_Or”

Other ID:

Browser: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6)
Gecko/20070725 Firefox/2.0.0.6

REMOTE_ADDR: 68.87.100.77

REMOTE_HOST: 68.87.100.77

Date Originated: Monday August 20, 2007 – 07:58:24

——-

***End Quote***

Yuck!

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1 Comment | SOFTWARE | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

MONEY: the real estate market exploded

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/20/bcnswiss20.xml

Top Swiss banker attacks US lending standards as ‘unbelievable’
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Yvette Essen
Last Updated: 12:15am BST 21/08/2007

***Begin Quote***

Switzerland’s top banker has warned of massive losses from the unfolding credit crisis, describing the collapse in US lending standards as “unbelievable”.

Jean-Pierre Roth, president of the Swiss National Bank, said market turmoil was far from over as tremors from the sub-prime debacle continued to rock the world.

“We’re certainly not at the end of the story. There are question marks surrounding the development of the American economy,” he said. “Something unbelievable happened. People who had neither income nor capital got credit with very attractive conditions. Now reality is striking back,” he said.

***End Quote***

No money down, low interest rate, no documentation.

Was it any wonder that the real estate market exploded. One way to avoid inflation, (i.e., the counterfeiting of money), is to buy real estate.

And I am sure the local komisars were not unhappy with the run up. In New Jersey, property taxes are based on “value”.

What a joke!

And, are we hurting America’s productivity by having people locked in a location by home they are tied to. That, as opposed to a rental apartment, where if they found a job in a different geography, moving was not out of the question.

Can anyone not in a city ever walk to work? Or, perhaps telecommuting is going to make a big comeback?

Having said that, perhaps now is the time to find bargains?

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Leave a Comment » | MONEY | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

LIBERTY: how good it will be if we just get the right people in office

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

FROM A FACEBOOK exchange:

Daniel Buk wrote 56 minutes ago
re: Joe Biden for President ’08

***Begin Quote***

Actually, he admitted he made a mistake. He quoted Neil Kinnock before in his speeches and always attributed. However, he made a mistake once in which he forgot to attribute quotes to the British politician.

As for calling him a ‘statist socialist’, he is not. None of the candidates are socialists. However, if you point specifically to what you think is “socialist” in Biden’s record, then I could properly address those issues. Nevertheless, I assure you that Biden is not a “statist socialist.”

***End Quote***

He still has no executive experience. And, he is a Big Government Democrat. (A duplication in terms.) I think all the candidates with the exception of Ron Paul are socialists. Not one of the others seeks to reduce the size of the government. With out being nasty, these candidates are just more of the same stuff. (I leave it to the imagination what kind of stuff I think they are full of.)

IMHO All you really need to ask is one question. How does the candidate stand on gun control? It’s the litmus test of freedom and liberty. If they are for gun control, then they want to be able to control the people. If they are against it, then they trust the people.

As I see it, there are either of two memes: (1) people are basically good; or (2) people are basically bad. If they are good, then we only need a small government to protect our freedoms from force or fraud. If they are bad, then we want a small weak government because when bad people get in control of it we will be oppressed.

Either way, we need a much much smaller government. I’ve been working for a number of years and the government has continually taxed me heavily for services that I neither want, nor asked for. When the taxes are confiscatory, rebellion is the only answer.

Over the years, the government has become adept at hiding how much we are paying. I’ve seen estimates between 40% and 100%+. (The hundred per centers attempt to calculate the inflation tax paid by anyone holding dollars or things denominated in dollars. Hence your savings are being silently confiscated!) Even if we take a low number like 50%, when I say some one takes from me by threat of force (Taxes are NOT voluntary!) half of my production, am I not half a slave?

When Biden recants his Big Government voting record, then we can have another conversation. Until then, I’m immune to their siren songs of how good it will be if we just get the right people in office.

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Leave a Comment » | LIBERTY | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

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