It certainly has made me think. (Always a dangerous proposition!) I may quibble about it as an OS. IMHO an OS brings bare metal to life. YouOS stands on the shoulders of whatever OS is installed on one’s hardware. Having said that, it “feels” like an OS. Maybe if I write an app, I may have another thought, or two. Certainly congrats and kudos are in order for an “interesting” implementation.
TECH: “YouOS” an “interesting concept”. Not really an OS, but something else. What I don’t know?
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
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Posted by reinkefj
LIBERTY: How to get the gubamint, and their “regulated” utilities, to respond … media!
Wednesday, August 23, 2006This morning on Jim Gearhart’s show on 101.5, he reported on the results of his airing of a listener’s trouble getting a utility pole repaired. Jim recounted the man’s ordeal trying to get help from JCPL, followed by attempt to get the BPU, who “regualtes” it, to do something. Ten months of frustration get fixed in one day due to Jim’s recitation. Everyone was falling all over themselves to get out of the limelight.
Lessons Learned: (1) Involve Jim sooner in your plight. Maybe eventually he’ll run for guv! (2) Recognize that the cozy relationship between the regulator and the regulated has NOTHING to do with satisfying you the taxpaying consumer. (3) There is no free market in regulated services. Just as we identify a tax by whether or not you can avoid it (i.e., tax unavoidable / fee avoidable), so to we can identify a free market as one in which you have a choice (i.e., any choice no matter how absurd or unpallitable is at least a choice). The interesting question is: If the gubamint madates that I have no choice, is that not in effect a tax? Sure seems that way to me.
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Posted by reinkefj
LIBERTY: “FREE TO CHOOSE” … … about the proper role of gubamint!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8058189042056883618&q=free+to+choose
Now hte internet is really demonstrating it’s power. Here’s a snapshot of Milton Freedman and in 1980 discussion predicts pretty accurately the expansion of government into all sectors and the loss of freedom we would suffer. True true.
I especially liked his description of the fate of minorities in elections. Everyone is force to conform to the majority. Where in the marketplace everyone is uniquely satisfied. He correctly finds that gubamint “takes over” corporations and politicians then “milk” them for contributions.
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Posted by reinkefj
MONEY: Well got another lesson in estate planning …
Monday, August 21, 2006… a friend dies with an estate, and the NJ state grave robbers will take 15%. When will people realize that this is grave side robbery. Proper estate planning should result in the deceased leaving nothing for the state to tax. Arghh, give it away, spend it, buy gold coins, whatever!
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Posted by reinkefj
LIBERTY: Another gubamint lie! You have some control … right.
Monday, August 21, 2006NYTimes.com > New York Region
For Benjamin Miles, 4, in Brooklyn, pushing for a green light is fun. But does it work? That’s another story.
For Exercise in New York Futility, Push Button
By MICHAEL LUO
Published: February 27, 2004
***Begin Quote***
For years, at thousands of New York City intersections, well-worn push buttons have offered harried walkers a rare promise of control over their pedestrian lives. The signs mounted above explained their purpose:
To Cross Street
Push Button
Wait for Walk Signal
Dept. of Transportation
Millions of dutiful city residents and tourists have pushed them over the years, thinking it would help speed them in their journeys. Many trusting souls might have believed they actually worked. Others, more cynical, might have suspected they were broken but pushed anyway, out of habit, or in the off chance they might bring a walk sign more quickly.
As it turns out, the cynics were right.
***End Quote***
It’s a small thing, but at the same time, a huge example.
Push the button, citizen! And we in the government will respond. Fooled you again sucker.
Can you ever envision WalMart doing that? No, they have phones around the store. Ever call one? An associate or a manager comes pretty promptly. Even KMart, has such a system.
Ever call teh gubamint? Yeah, that’s a snooze. Most people would rather go for root canal than endure that.
Small fib these sings? Yup.
BUT, part of the big lie!
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Posted by reinkefj
TECH: Getting organized … used the ACRONIS disk utility to create a “data” drive
Sunday, August 20, 2006I am getting organized. I’ve created a partition for my E drive and have begun moving all MY files to that drive. If I create it, then it’ll be there. Easy to backup.
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Posted by reinkefj
GUNS: “ballistic fingerprinting” is barabara striesand
Saturday, August 19, 2006http://news.bostonherald.com/editorial/view.bg?articleid=152684
Straight shooting for better gun laws
By James Alan Fox
Monday, August 14, 2006
***Begin Quote***
What is so wrong with ballistic fingerprinting Sure, I’ve heard the argument that gun barrels can be replaced or modified. As a parallel to actual fingerprinting, criminals sometimes wear gloves or alter their fingertips, but that doesn’t discourage us from collecting this kind of forensic evidence.
***End Quote***
Immoral, ineffective, and inefficient
Immoral – RKBA! If there is a “right” to bear arms, then you can not do ANYTHING that infringes on that right. Fees, licensing, and “fingerprinting” are all infringements. You have no basis to do it.
Ineffective – Gathering data is inherently error prone. Gathering data by the gubamint is a joke in terms of accuracy. Who keeps all this data? When the gubamint collects the guns prior to genocide, all this data tells them where to go.
Inefficient – It has been shown that shooting as few as one hundred rounds changes the ballistic fingerprint. If ammo is a a few cents per round, then everyone can change their profile by a quick trip to the range. Hey and here’s a flash! Criminals don’t obey laws. So they won’t be submitting fingerprints voluntarily — personal or ballistic.
It’s a giant waste!
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Posted by reinkefj
LIBERTY: GUBAMINT SKOOLZ – the bigest problem – a well-thought out way out!
Friday, August 18, 2006http://www.mises.org/story/2216
Enterprising Education: Doing Away with the Public School System
by Walter Block and Andrew Young
[Posted on Saturday, August 19, 2006]
***Begin Quote***
All the arguments in favor of a public provision of primary education prove to be unfounded and/or incorrect. The failure of the state to provide a high quality service to all (its explicit goal) has rendered public primary education illegitimate; and the immeasurable waste of resources and rejection of consumer desires has left public education borderline immoral. As well, if an educated citizenry is to be considered necessary for the operation of the republican government, then it is an inexcusable conflict of interest when elected officials are the ones in charge of providing that education. Furthermore, the argument of externalities and nonexcludability fails to buttress the case for socialist education. The only ethical, reasonable system for the provision of primary education is the free market.
***End Quote***
Education is too important to have the gubamint involved at all. Just look at what we have: Immoral (based on theft from taxpayers), Inefficient (e.g.: corruption, vested interests, cronyism, political decisions, agendas galore, dropouts, and private & parochial parents pay for services they don’t want), AND Ineffective (e.g.: poor results, high costs, one size fits all, slows the brightest, too fast for the slowest, discriminates against males, and political control of content).
GUNS: Armed customer stops KFC robbery
Friday, August 18, 2006http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060818/NEWS01/60818008
***Begin Quote***
Maybe gun ownership isn’t so bad afterall…
***End Quote***
The writer, who nominated this link at REDDIT, may be rethinking “victim disarmament”. I hope that they do.
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Posted by reinkefj
MONEY: The pension was a great benefit. Right! (continued)
Friday, August 18, 2006http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/regulation/2006-08-17-pension-overhaul_x.htm
Bush signs massive pension overhaul
Updated 8/17/2006 1:51 PM ET
***Begin Quote***
With its hundreds of pages, the bill seeks to strengthen traditional defined-benefit plans and requires companies to tell workers more about the health of their pension programs. It also nudges workers into putting more money away for their own retirement.
It aims to boost the 30,000 defined-benefit plans run by employers that are now underfunded by an estimated $450 billion. Those plans must reach 100% funding, up from the current 90% requirement, in seven years.
***End Quote***
Hey sounds good right?
Now let’s look behind the curtain.
Defense contractors, exception. Two big airlines, big exception. Shortfallers get 7 years to catch up (or go bankrupt!). A little pork project to make it palatable and worthwhile for one representative to vote for it! Automatic 401k enrollments because your too stupid to make your own decisions. And, plans with over 120% funding can fund retiree healthcare (a little relief to Medicare?).
Whatta bunch of Barbara Streisand!
This is about helping out their friends in the Airline industry, Defense Contractors, and making sure that the federal Pension Guarantee doesn’t have to pay out too much.
It’s not about rectifying the mistake made in WW2 when the Federal Government winked so that Companies could pay more than the government’s published wage and price controls allowed. We’ve been paying for that mistake ever since.
Here’s a novel idea. Let people make their own decisions.
Pension plans should be “spun out”. Take the assets and divide it among the recipients. Allow them to decide what to do next. I am sure that the Insurance Companies, Stockbrokers, and Mutual Funds can help them with plans that they won’t have to worry about.
(Look up a Vangard Guaranteed Annuity, and see how little one has to pay in fees for that! Then see how everyone is being ripped off by the collusion of the politicians and the companies.)
Bet the airline pilots would have like to have that before those tow special airlines welshed on them!
Unintended consequences.
When the government “protects” me from something, why should I be afraid? I should just be terrified!
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