ECONOMICS: Forget gay marriage; is marriage over

Sunday, April 26, 2015

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/04/no_author/men-go-on-strike-against-marriage/

Why Men Won’t Get Married Anymore
Women complain chaps today won’t settle down. Sorry, ladies, but it’s all your fault, argues a wickedly provocative new book
By Peter Lloyd
Daily Mail
April 21, 2015

*** begin quote ***

When it comes to marriage, men are on strike.

Why? Because the rewards are far less than they used to be, while the cost and dangers it presents are far greater.

‘Ultimately, men know there’s a good chance they’ll lose their friends, their respect, their space, their sex life, their money and — if it all goes wrong — their family,’ says Dr Helen Smith, author of Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood And The American Dream.

‘They don’t want to enter into a legal contract with someone who could effectively take half their savings, pension and property when the honeymoon period is over.

‘Men aren’t wimping out by staying unmarried or being commitment phobes. They’re being smart.’

*** end quote ***

This is a scary trend. That will remake society.

It’s part of the trend that makes the woman rich out of any marriage. 

Palimony was just the first step.

Used be that divorce was a Hollywood thing.

Argh!

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POLITICAL: Make the FDA advisory, not dictatorial

Saturday, April 25, 2015

https://downsizedc.org/etp/fda/

Make the FDA advisory, not dictatorial.

All too often the FDA has been demonstrated to be in bed with Big Pharma. I believe the term is “regulatory capture”. It’s time to separate medicine and government!

Government’s proper role is prevent force or fraud on its citizens. Hence, the proper role is left to the courts for redress of damages. When government decides what’s “best” for individuals, that far exceeds it’s proper role.

The easiest way to fix this is to take the FDA out of the approval process completely and let the people decide. Since they will bear the brunt of the decision, I’m sure they will do a good job.

When the FDA delays or blocks, the victims have no choices.

That’s not the American way.

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POLITICAL: “Balance” means no change?

Friday, April 24, 2015

April 20, 2015
Mr. Ferdinand Reinke
1641 International Dr Unit 414
McLean, VA 22102-4831

Dear Mr. Reinke:

Thank you for contacting me about the National Security Administration (NSA) and the PATRIOT Act. I appreciate hearing from you.

In June 2013 details of two NSA programs were published in the media as a result of leaked confidential documents. News articles indicated that since 2007, under provisions within the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the PATRIOT Act, the NSA has monitored private communications in an effort to increase national security.

The primary mission of the U.S. intelligence community is to detect and prevent the very real threat of terrorism on our homeland. According to General Keith Alexander, Director of the NSA, and Robert Mueller, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the intelligence community has successfully used these programs to identify and thwart dozens of terrorist plots at home and abroad. Additionally, leaders from the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have defended these programs stating that they are transparent, lawful, and have been instrumental in defending our homeland.

Many have expressed legitimate concerns about the privacy implications of this policy. I believe we must balance the need for privacy with the need to maintain national security. I also believe there needs to be an open discussion about the limits of surveillance and the need for transparency.

In December 2013 the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies issued a report on “Liberty and Security in a Changing World.” The report recommended forty-six changes to our national surveillance programs, some executive and some legislative. In response to the report, in January 2014 President Obama announced a series of executive reforms, including the development of a blueprint for consumer privacy in the digital age, a commitment to declassify certain court opinions, and changes in the bulk collection of phone data.

On July 29th, 2014 Senator Patrick Leahy reintroduced legislation, the USA FREEDOM Act, to end bulk collection of the telephone records of Americans, to reform the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), and to improve transparency. On November 18th, 2014 a vote to begin debate on this measure failed to receive the 60 votes required to cut off a filibuster; the vote was 58-42. The updated legislation would have required the government to narrowly limit and define surveillance targets, enhanced transparency and reported how many individuals – including U.S. citizens – have had their information collected. On March 19th, 2015 Representative Mark Pocan introduced the Surveillance State Repeal Act, also designed to improve transparency and reform the targeting and surveillance of individuals.

I will continue to closely monitor future proposals and will work to ensure that efforts to improve our national security also protect constitutional rights in a balanced way. Thank you once again for contacting me about this important matter.

Sincerely,

Signature

Tim Kaine

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argh!

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POLITICAL: Prefer Entrepreneurs and Business over Gooferment politicians and bureaucrats

Thursday, April 23, 2015

http://keywestlou.com/a-busy-monday/

A BUSY MONDAY
Posted on April 21, 2015 by keywestlou

*** begin quote ***

Monday’s E-Blast carried an article re the Waterfront brewery remodeling. The property is city owned. It is being remodeled for the two tenants who will be occupying. A brewery and restaurant.

My concern is with over costs/over runs. Everything Key West does construction wise, involves the taxpayers getting hit with additional costs for alleged unexpected problems. The brewery thus far has run into two. An additional cost of $64,000. Not much, but more.

Over costs seem to occur on every type construction Key West is involved in. Sometimes in the millions. I never ran into this situation in other areas. Key Wet calls them unexpected. I call them a series of screw ups by the city in not properly investigating and/or discovering the work initially.

Key West never seems to learn.

*** end quote ***

And you should ask “why is the Gooferment in the property business at all?”

Entrepreneurs, risking their own capital, will do a much better job. 

Think Donald Trump and NYC Central Park’s Wollman Ice Skating Rink!

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/06/nyregion/who-can-fix-the-wollman-rink-faster-city-and-trump-agree-it-s-trump.html

Argh!

Gooferment is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient.

Your examples of “overruns” is just more evidence that it is “bad news”.

Let the politicians and bureaucrats go into private business if they want to be developers.

Argh!

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JOBFINDING: CFO

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

2015-Apr-22

Good day,
.
I’m reaching out to advise you of a very special CFO opportunity. The Thor Group is assisting our client, a major state government authority, hire a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to replace their retiring CFO. Our client is one of America’s largest public authorities in terms of its construction and financing output. This Authority has been the top issuer of municipal bonds in the United States at one point, issuing US$3.16 billion of municipal bonds in one year. In 2006, this Authority was ranked fourth in the USA for municipal bond issuance. In 2005, the Authority’s construction expenditures topped US$1 billion. The Authority has the power of eminent domain to get construction projects built.
.
JOB OVERVIEW – Chief Financial Officer

In the capacity of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and reporting to the Executive Director the person selected would manage the accounting and financial side of this large Government Agency. This CFO serves in two capacities: as Chief Financial Officer responsible for all financially­ related operations and Information Systems of the Authority; and as Treasurer serving as a statutory Officer of the Authority. The CFO is responsible for Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable which disburses from $2 Billion to $5 Billion annually. The CFO manages the direct investment function for a Portfolio of $4 to $6 Billion. And, the CFO oversees a portfolio of 900 + construction projects totaling more than $6 Billion, 200 of which are active construction totaling $3.3 Billion. The construction projects are managed within their Oracle Primavera Contract Management I.T. system. To accomplish this the CFO oversees a department of 40 managers, accountants, and analysts, plus an additional 30 to 35 Information Services personnel and contractors.
.
ESSENTIAL SKILLS:

1. ESSENTIAL: Working knowledge of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and Governmental Accounting Standards Board (“GASB”) standards.

2. ESSENTIAL: Working knowledge of Internal Controls, Strategic Planning, Federal Tax Regulations related to tax exempt bonds, and debt issuance process

QUALIFIERS:

· Large staff management experience.
· CPA OR Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, Economics, or related field
· Experience in finance, consulting, or management within a major business or government enterprise and/or nationally recognized CPA or consulting firm.
· Experience with the preparation of financial statements,
· Exposure in the areas of financial management, debt capital markets, and investments
.
· PREFER (but not required): Knowledge of complex governmental operations, higher education and health care industries, current information technology, trends and strategy is strongly preferred.

· PREFER (but not required): Experience in construction or financial industries

.

INTERESTED – APPLY

To apply or learn more about this terrific full-time employment opportunity – I.D. #31123 – simply return this email to me with resume and your phone number.

.
….. Remember include your resume & phone number (___) ___-____…..
.
REFER a COLLEAGUE
If Job #31123 does not fit you – be a friend – refer a colleague – send them this email – or – forward their contact information to willm@thorgroup.com ……

.

Regards,

 

Will McElroy

The THOR Group

Dallas Regional Office

Direct Line: 214-547-1244

Office Line: 310-727-3089

E-mail: willm@thorgroup.com

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ECONOMICS: Pulling up the lower rungs of the economic ladder

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

http://cafehayek.com/2015/04/minimum-logic-maximum-straw.html

Minimum Logic, Maximum Straw
by DON BOUDREAUX on APRIL 18, 2015
in SEEN AND UNSEEN, WORK

*** begin quote ***

What minimum-wage hikes do unleash, however, is devastation upon a relatively small number of largely invisible workers – workers who are the least skilled and most disadvantaged.  Raising the minimum wage destroys jobs for many of these poor workers while making the jobs of other such workers more onerous.  But because these workers are so relatively few in number, their suffering, while very real, is easy to miss when looking at the aggregate data.  This fact explains why some – by no means a majority – of minimum-wage studies (particularly those that examine only short spans of time) find no negative employment effects.

*** end quote ***

Minimum wage “laws” are devestating to the poor, minority, low income, and senior citizens.

Why are they pushed?

Cui bono.

How many of the salaries of union and “public service” jobs are tied formally or informally to the minimum wage?

Of all the stupid legislation, this ranks right up there with the dumbest of the dumb (i.e., rounding off Pi; time zones; etc.).

Argh!

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INTERESTING: Ancient Roman Concrete was better than today’s?

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-technology/ten-amazing-inventions-ancient-times-001539

4. Ancient Roman Concrete was Far Superior to Our Own

Scientists studying the composition of Roman concrete, which has been submerged under the Mediterranean Sea for the last 2,000 years, discovered that it was superior to modern-day concrete in terms of durability and being less environmentally damaging. The Romans made concrete by mixing lime and volcanic rock. For underwater structures, the combination of lime and volcanic ash with seawater instantly triggered a chemical reaction in which the lime incorporated molecules into its structure and reacted with the ash to cement the whole mixture together. Analysis of the concrete found that it produces a significantly different compound to modern day cement, which is an incredibly stable binder. In addition, the ancient concrete contains the ideal crystalline structure of Tobermorite, which has a greater strength and durability than the modern equivalent. Finally, microscopic studies identified other minerals in the ancient concrete which show potential application for high-performance concretes, including the encapsulation of hazardous wastes. “In the middle 20th century, concrete structures were designed to last 50 years,” said scientist Paulo Monteiro said. “Yet Roman harbour installations have survived 2,000 years of chemical attack and wave action underwater.”

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Who would have thought that?

Never was mentioned in my strength of materials class back in Ingineering Skrule!

Hmm, what else don’t I know that I don’t know I don’t know?

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RANT: Repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard now

Monday, April 20, 2015

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150418/OPINION02/150419168&source=RSS

April 17. 2015 10:02PM
It’s time to repeal the costly Renewable Fuel Standard
Michael James Barton

*** begin quote ***

In a rare act of bipartisanship, Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., and Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., recently introduced a bill that would repeal the corn ethanol mandate in the Renewable Fuel Standard.

That’s good news for American workers and families.

Although Congress created the Renewable Fuel Standard with good intentions, it’s no longer workable. Instead of bolstering energy security as intended, the RFS is merely undermining the economic success of our recent energy boom while posing a threat to the environment and even raising food prices. It’s time for Congress to repeal the fundamentally broken RFS.

Congress created the RFS under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The intention was to simultaneously reduce dependence on expensive foreign oil while lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The act mandated that each year an increasing amount of biofuels be blended into transportation fuels.

*** end quote ***

Why should politicians be interfering in the pseudo “free market” anyway?

I do NOT stipulate their “good intentions” EVER!

When they first proposed this whopper, everyone said it will hurt the poor WORLDWIDE by raising food prices.

And, wow!, now they discover that the world has changed.

Argh!

Separation of Food and State, Energy and State, and whatever else we can separate.

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POLITICAL: A condemnation of Bill and thus Hillary I hadn’t realized

Sunday, April 19, 2015

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/04/david-stockman/class-president-of-a-failed-generation/

Hillary Clinton: Class President Of A Failed Generation
By David Stockman
David Stockman’s Corner
April 17, 2015

*** begin quote ***

Their job was to have at least the vision of Warren G. Harding. After all, he did demobilize the US war machine completely, eschewed the imperial pretensions of Woodrow Wilson and actually launched a disarmament movement which resulted in the melting down of the world’s navies and the Kellogg-Briand treaty to outlaw war.

Yet the opportunity at the Cold War’s end was even more compelling. There was absolutely no military threat to American security anywhere in the world. The Clintons could have drastically reduced the defense budget by mothballing much of the navy and air force and demobilizing the army. They should have cancelled all new weapons programs and dismantled the military-industrial complex. They could have declared “mission accomplished” with respect to NATO and made good on Bush’s pledge to Gorbachev to not expand it “by an inch” by actually disbanding it. And, as legatees of 1968, they were positioned to lead a global disarmament movement and to end the arms export trade once and for all.

That was their job—-the unfinished business of peace. But they blew it in the name of political opportunism and failure to recognize that the American public was ready to end the century of war, too.

So they capitulated to the pork barrel politics of the Pentagon, plunged into the lunacy of the Balkan wars, launched the misbegotten project to expanded NATO, failed to bring Iran back into the community of nation’s when its leaders reached out to Washington, and kept America in harm’s way by keeping our war machine in the Persian Gulf and extending the pointless campaign against Saddam Hussein that could only open the gates to hell in Bagdad.

*** end quote ***

I remember the discussion of the “peace dividend” when the USSR broke up. What happened?

Ike was right to warn us of the Military Industrial Complex!

So how does anyone be like Harding? (Who has moved up in my estimation with my being educated about his disarmament stance.)

I think a good start is to —as most good MBAs will assert — is to cut G&A 10% immediately.

That goes along with my wish to cut — a real bottom line cut; not the phoney “District of Corruption” cut to the rate of growth — 1% every year. (At least, until real people scream! Not astroturf people.)

One can only hope.

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dotcomeraden! https://reinkefaceslife.com/2007/10/23/fun-dotcomeraden/ Aprundlebreakhttp://tinyurl.com/34n533

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Over response?

Saturday, April 18, 2015

2015-Apr-18 1225

IMG 1095

Bus tapped bumper of little car. 3 cop cars, fire engine, ambulance, deputy fire marshal.

My tax dollars at work!

Well, it’s a nice day for them to be out and about.

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