POLITICAL: If it’s “labor day”, let’s …

Monday, September 5, 2011

http://lewrockwell.com/williams-w/w-williams95.1.html

Race and Economics
by Walter E. Williams

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The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 broadened the number of workers covered by minimum wages, with negative consequences for black employment across a much wider range of industries. Good intentions motivate most Americans in their support for minimum wage laws, but for compassionate public policy, one should examine the laws’ effect. That’s seen by putting oneself in the place of an employer and asking, “If I must pay $7.25 an hour to no matter whom I hire, does it pay me to hire a worker who’s so unfortunate as to have skills that enable him to produce, say, only $4 worth of value an hour?” Most employers would view hiring such a worker as a losing economic proposition; therefore, a minimum wage law discriminates against low-skilled workers by reducing employment opportunity.

*** end quote ***

I’ve ranted before about the minimum wage law before. Obviously, I don’t like it.

If I was King or President, I’d nuke it.

It’s simple. It’s immediately productive. And, it requires no increase in Gooferment.

As a matter of fact, we can reduce the number of bureaucrats to take all these new “minimum” wage jobs.

And for those wanting to protect poor families, don’t we have the earned income tax credit?

That’s the way to celebrate “LABOR” day.

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RANT: Social Security and other “entitlements”

Sunday, September 4, 2011

http://biggovernment.com/armwilliams/2011/09/01/reawakening-virtues-social-security-and-the-virtue-of-saving/

Reawakening Virtues: Social Security and The Virtue of Saving by Armstrong Williams

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Let’s be clear. Social security is not an entitlement program. That is, unlike welfare and food stamps, the people who receive social security have contributed to the program over the course of their working career through payroll taxes specifically designated for the purpose of saving for retirement. They are therefore owed at least the amount of money they contributed.

However, problems started to arise when the Federal government, under both parties, began borrowing from the so-called Social Security trust funds to spend on other items in the budget. The trust funds are not like your traditional private trust funds that are fully funded. In fact these trust funds are empty. The government has borrowed every single dime that comes into the trust funds to spend on current expenditures. We have a problem now because our total national debt is approaching (and may have exceeded) our yearly gross domestic product. Most countries that have this level of debt do not enjoy the high credit rating and low borrowing costs that America currently does.

*** end quote ***

http://www.billoreilly.com/video

Now Playing: Social Security “entitlement?”

*** begin quote ***

Why do many in the media keep referring to Social Security as an “entitlement” program? That’s what a BillOReilly.com Premium Member asks Bill in this excerpt from our newest Backstage Conversation webcast.

*** end quote ***

There’s no money for anything.

An insurance executive, that did what the Gooferment has done (i.e., spent the insurance premiums and failed to pay claims), would be in jail. But politicians and bureaucrats get away with it.

So, if there’s nothing in the Social Security Insurance “lockbox” but IOUs “backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government”. That ain’t going to make for a safe and secure retirement unless you’re planning to work in the “mines” until you die!

Sorry to tell everyone. It’s welfare.

Watch for inflation while there is no COLA or phony rates published by “honest” Gooferment bureaucrats, higher taxes on “social security insurance” income (Yeah that was never supposed to happen!), and then just schedule “adjustments” (i.e., higher minimum ages; lower benefit amounts).

It’s worse than a Ponzi scheme because you don’t get NOT to participate. “Made-off” couldn’t MAKE you give him your money!

Argh!

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TECHNOLOGY: Plane boarding made better

Sunday, September 4, 2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14717695

31 August 2011 Last updated at 04:44 ET
Tests show fastest way to board passenger planes
By Jason Palmer
Science and technology reporter, BBC News

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The most common way of boarding passenger planes is among the least efficient, tests have shown.

The best method has been the subject of study for years but now various approaches have been put to the test.

Boarding those in window seats first followed by middle and aisle seats results in a 40% gain in efficiency.

However, an approach called the Steffen method, alternating rows in the window-middle-aisle strategy, nearly doubles boarding speed.

*** end quote ***

Not likely that the airlines will change.

And, “We, The Sheeple” will not comply.

I still like my idea of treating people like cargo. Load the plane like the cargo pod. In “long coffins”! Slide the pod on and off the plan.

In the old days, luggage was handled by hand. Now cargo goes in pods.

Why not people?

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RANT: Why are we still in the UN?

Saturday, September 3, 2011

http://bigpeace.com/stzu/2011/09/02/chair-of-house-foreign-affairs-committee-to-un-recognize-palestine-and-we-will-defund-you/

Chair Of House Foreign Affairs Committee To UN: Recognize Palestine And We Will Defund You
Posted by Sun Tzu Sep 2nd 2011 at 2:03 pm in Congress, Israel, Middle East, United Nations

*** begin quote ***

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and she has drawn a line in the sand for the United States. She has introduced a bill which would dramatically cut U.S. contributions to the United Nations if that body votes for Palestinian statehood next month. ”Chairman Ros-Lehtinen felt it was important to introduce the bill, which includes a title withholding U.S. funding to UN entities which upgrade the status of the Palestinian mission, in advance of the Palestinian Authority’s statehood push at the UN,” her spokesman told Foreign Policy. Democrats in the House, reports Foreign Policy, are opposed to the bill.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but the UN is an impotent disaster.

Proof?

Look who’s on their “Human Rights” Commission.

We need to sent this to “vault of bad ideas”.

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GUNS: Gun owner makes a bad mistake

Saturday, September 3, 2011

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110825/NEWS01/708259776

Published: Thursday, August 25, 2011
Arlington man who fatally shot burglar gets 12 years for murder
By Diana Hefley, Herald Writer

*** begin quote ***

EVERETT — In the end, a judge decided that the case wasn’t about a murder.

What Keira Earhart did was more akin to manslaughter, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Larry McKeeman concluded on Wednesday. He sentenced the Arlington man to a dozen years in prison — three years below the standard range.

Earhart shot Ryan Rzechula in the back on Nov. 16, 2009. Earhart, 39, encountered Rzechula about three hours after a break-in at his Arlington house, a quarter-mile away. Earhart had gone looking for the burglar and his wife’s missing jewelry. He suspected that Rzechula, 25, was responsible for the break-in and called 911.

*** end quote ***

“Shoot, shovel, and shut up” only applies if you can get to shovel without interruption. Humans generally attract more attention. Especially if you call 911.

If you call the donut eaters, you have to be happy with their “service”.

Plus pursuit is dumb since the perp may have acquired a bigger better gun.

That “three hours” is going to weigh against him.

Too bad since now we’ll have to listen to all the anit-gun propaganda.

“Gun control has nothing to do with guns and everything to do with control.” — Mark Steyn

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ADMINISTRIVIA: LULU coupon

Friday, September 2, 2011

Enter coupon code AWESOME305 at checkout and receive 15% off your order. The maximum savings for this offer is $25. Sorry, but this offer is only valid in US Dollars and cannot be applied to previous orders. You can only use this code once per account, and unfortunately you can’t use this coupon in combination with other coupon codes. This great offer expires on September 30, 2011 at 11:59 PM, so don’t miss out! While very unlikely, we do reserve the right to change or revoke this offer at anytime, and of course we cannot offer this coupon where it is against the law to do so. This coupon is good for self-purchases (i.e., Authors buying their own books) and/or it can be shared with Readers and Buyers. Lulu incurs the cost of this discount, so it does not impact the Author’s proceeds of the book. This coupon will work for multiple titles but savings cannot go past the maximum of $25. Finally, this coupon does not pertain to shipping costs or taxes.

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RANT: A smart guy is a liberal

Friday, September 2, 2011

http://www.keywestlou.com/2011/09/yesterday-morning-golf-terrific-time-i.html

My Life in Key West
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
Key West Lou

*** begin quote ***

Included topic wise will be some comment on the many CEO’s of major corporations whose pay is greater than what their companies pay in taxes. In most instances, the major coprporations pay no taxes.

Which…..proves the point that our tax system is out of whack and needs replacing. Too many loopholes. I say throw the whole thing out and go to a flat tax.

Another item to be discussed is the proposed law in California to require minimum wage to be paid adult babysitters. That does not bother me. Most babysitters are well paid. Much more per hour than minimum wage.

*** end quote ***

The correct corporate tax rate is ZERO! Corporations don’t pay taxes; only real human beings pay taxes. A corporation is a fiction. All it does it pass along its costs in its products and services. For real people to pay. The Gooferment loves this because it hides taxation. Buy a can of beans. How much tax did you pay hidden in that can? Don’t forget the gasoline tax to deliver those cans. You’ll never be able to figure it out and that’s exactly the point. If the corporation can’t cover its costs, it goes out of business. It’s a joke.

If people knew the true cost of Gooferment, it’d be the French Revolution all over again.

Minimum wage laws are dumb. If you and I agree on a wage, what right does the Gooferment have to tell us we can’t? It ensures that we have unemployment. When is “nothing” better than “something”? When the Gooferment can “give” welfare under the guise of “helping”. Argh! To preempt the argument of “living wage”, don’t we have the “earned income tax credit”? Argh!

Minimum wage is a tax on business which gets passed along in higher prices. Argh!

And, don’t forget inflation. The cruelest tax on people. Especially the poor, those on fixed incomes. Your wealth is stolen silently. And, don’t tell me there’s no inflation. Like 9% unemployment, zero inflation is a cruel Gooferment joke. Save your cereal boxes, write the price paid on the box, compare a few boxes. Watch the contents go down as the price goes up. Then tell me there’s no inflation.

Liberals are so naive.

September 1, 2011 8:56 AM

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And, as far as the Flat Tax or the Fair Tax, that’s just the politician’s smokescreen for MORE taxes.

Luddite and I squabble about this all the time. (Or at least every time he brings it up!)

The net result will be the USA will have both a INCOME tax and a VAT. Just like in Europe.

Our problem is NOT taxation.

Our problem is the Welfare / Warfare State funded with dishonest fiat money.

“We, The Sheeple” are too stupid to understand that they are getting shorn, <synonym for the past tense of the procreation act>, and tattooed!

And when “they” are herding “us” on to the rail cars for a ride to the camps, everyone will be praising the politicians and bureaucrats for the “free vacation”.

Secession!

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Parents are too stupid to feed their children?

Friday, September 2, 2011

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/93908.html

Parents Aren’t Safe
Posted by Karen De Coster on August 30, 2011 05:12 AM

*** begin quote ***

Here’s another way for the government-media safety parade propaganda machine to sell folks on the dangers of biological parents and the “safety” of our government parents: thanks to parental negligence, kids bring “unsafe” lunches to school that are ripe for bacteria. As usual, researchers study something – anything – that is insignificant and turn the non-issue into a major safety issue to be chatted about endlessly by the gullible media halfwits. And this news leads to a media storm and suggestions for treating your kid’s lunch like an organ being shipped off for transplant.

*** end quote ***

I just shake my head. It’s a miracle that the human race can survive without “our betters in Gooferment” telling us how to feed children.

Maybe if “We, The Sheeple” didn’t mandate sending them to prison, then they could be safely fed at home while they are being home schooled. And, parents, who choose to send their children to school elsewhere than home, would take care of the issue of safe food.

Maybe there should be no food in school? Didn’t the media just tell us that the kids are too fat?

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INTERESTING: Self-plagiarism?

Thursday, September 1, 2011

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ithenticate-examines-the-ethics-of-self-plagiarism-in-new-white-paper-128586423.html

iThenticate Examines “The Ethics of Self-Plagiarism” in New White Paper

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“Self-plagiarism is one of the most potentially dangerous forms of misconduct in scholarly research due to the lack of understanding of the ethics involved in repurposing one’s own work,” said Robert Creutz, general manager of iThenticate, iParadigms’ plagiarism checking software for scholarly publishers and researchers. “This white paper offers a clear definition of self-plagiarism and how authors and publishers can avoid this issue and the costly retractions associated it.”

The pressure to publish, combined with an ever-growing body of scholarly research, makes it difficult for publishers and institutions to investigate and prevent cases of self-plagiarism. The issue continues to be a major source of misconduct and cause for retractions in scholarly research. Most recently, a noted Brazilian entomologist was forced to retract a paper for self-plagiarism.

According to the report, “self-plagiarism is defined as a type of plagiarism in which the writer republishes a work in its entirety or reuses portions of a previously written text while authoring a new work. Writers often maintain that because they are the authors, they can use the work again as they wish; they can’t really plagiarize themselves because they are not taking any words or ideas from someone else. But while the discussion continues on whether self-plagiarism is possible, the ethical issue of self-plagiarism is significant, especially because self-plagiarism can infringe upon a publisher’s copyright. Traditional definitions of plagiarism do not account for self-plagiarism, so writers may be unaware of the ethics and laws involved in reusing or repurposing texts.”

*** end quote ***

This definitely sounds strange to me.

I guess it’s possible if I sold the rights to something and then reused it.

I guess Paterson writing the Alex Cross series is guilty?

Makes no sense, unless in selling, I promised exclusivity?

Yet another concept I really don’t understand.

Good thing no one wants to buy my writing.

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JOBFINDING: Project leader

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Good morning John

I just got a note from a manufacturing client that they are looking for a Project Leader who can become the Director.

You can read his note as to what they need. If this is you or someone you could recommend please let me know so we can move forward quickly.

“As mentioned previously … we are in the process of consolidating 2 companies … and moving to a single ERP.

My immediate needs are for a project leader who will drive the ERP implementation in one of the business units.

This means working with all functions and getting their modules up and running and then training the personnel on the use of the ERP.

The skill set here is mostly PROJECT LEADERSHIP … good planning skill, excellent communication skills, experience in installing an ERP or converting to a new ERP, Manufacturing Experience, Understanding of Sale, Marketing, Customer Service, Production, Finance and Accounting, Logistics would all be valuable in this role.

Secondly, this person will be evaluated for the ultimate role of Director of MIS for the total business. So, IT background with experience in managing an MIS function, knowledge of Hardware, Software, Networks, Helpdesk, Communicatons would be needed.

Ideally, the candidate would be an energetic up and comer looking for a Director of MIS position who would be willing to prove his/her abilities by bringing the business onto a single ERP platform, managing that process and then walking into the Director’s chair.

Our business is global with sites in Italy, UK, US, China, Japan and soon India … so there are a lot of IT challenges and opportunities.

We need an effective Leader, Implementer, Very Organized, Team Player with excellent IT and Business skills.

Base Salary will be in the low hundred range with a bonus.

The area is very affordable as well.

Dan Spencer, CPC

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