POLITICAL: We don’t have “private industry”; we have witch’s brew of a mix

Friday, May 28, 2010

ORIGINAL POST

FJohn Reinke

“With the Gulf oil leak: the state was revealed, once again, as utterly incompetent at anything but taxing and making war, that is, stealing and murdering. It was funny to hear Progs urging Obama to seize personal control and fix everything. He doesn’t want the political responsibility, of course, but in any event, the… state employs no one with any such ability, and if it did, he would soon be useless, thanks to the environment of public property. All the state can do is grab other people’s money and use some of it to hire favored private contractors. Virtually all its millions of uncivil servants are good only at being busybodies, and armed ones at that.”

Sadly all too true!

>One Lesson of the Gulf « LewRockwell.com Blog http://www.lewrockwell.com
>With the Gulf oil leak: the state was revealed, once again, as utterly incompetent at anything but taxing and
>making war, that is, stealing and murdering. It was funny to hear Progs urging Obama to seize personal
>control and fix everything. …

RELOCATING A COMMENT

*** begin quote ***

I am offended!! Some of us are highly skilled workers (not me of course, but there are some) who are not only competent, but very, very smart (again clearly not me). Policy makers and political appointees are typically the poor performers because they have no subject matter expertise and if they do it is outdated since … See Morethey probably haven’t had … See Morereal world, boots on the ground experience in a long time. This is a very clear failure on the part of private industry, which as a dedicated libertarian (unlike Rand Paul who was a poster child until he stepped on his you know what) is who you want running the world. BP wanted the lead and they dropped the ball- now everyone wants the gov’t to clean it up. Can’t have it both ways- either private industry is capable or they need oversight.

*** end quote ***

>I am offended!!

GOOD! If we can get folks’ Irish up, maybe, just maybe, we can change the “barbara streisand”!

>Some of us are highly skilled workers

I think we have “workers” that highly skilled. Even for the Gooferment!

The workers, (even you), are NOT bad people.

It’s just that “the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall”. Like the drunk looking for lost keys under the street light as opposed to looking by the storied “dark by the front door where those keys were lost”. It’s that 100,000 foot plan that is wrong.

You can put the best workers on the job, but the problem is that the “job” is completely wrong!

Argh!

>Policy makers and political appointees are typically the poor
>performers because they have no subject matter expertise

I disagree. They get poor results because they are working but have started with a poor meme (i.e., gooferment force) and have poor paradigms (i.e., centralized command and control systems don’t have the price and market mechanisms to guide them in decisions).

Reference: http://mises.org/etexts/mises/bureaucracy/section2.asp

Bureaucracy by Ludwig von Mises (1944): Section 2 Bureaucracy

“Bureaucratic management is the method applied in the conduct of administrative affairs the result of which has no cash value on the market. Remember: we do not say that a successful handling of public affairs has no value, but that it has no price on the market, that its value cannot be realized in a market transaction and consequently cannot be expressed in terms of money.”

An entrepreneur has profit and loss to guide decision making. A bureaucrat doesn’t have that. So decisions are “political”; not profit seeking. The cost of capital, the business risks, and the size of reward are all available for the entrepreneur to guide, measure, revise, and quit.

>This is a very clear failure on the part of private industry

Unfortunately, the “private industry” had willing unindicted co-conspirators in: both political parties, Congress, States, various Administrations, and the main stream media. Campaign contributions, regulatory capture, and incompetent gooferment all loom large in this disaster. I read that the gooferment had a plan for a spill, but never bothered to buy the booms needed for the plans. SINCE 1968! ROFL!

We don’t have “private industry”. We have a gooferment – big company – big labor paradox.

>which as a dedicated libertarian

Will reject your assumption that we have “private industry”!

>(unlike Rand Paul who was a poster child until he
>stepped on his you know what)

I think he was attempting to make a very valid point. The reason we needed a “Civil Rights Act” at all was that governments were forcing segregation.

Take look into the famous Rosa Parks and bus story. You’ll find that there was no segregation on the buses run by greedy businessmen who wanted all fares regardless of color. The Legislatures voted in a law about “back of the bus”. And the bus owners lobbied AGAINST it. (ROFL, yes those evil capitalists!)

What he was trying to say was that the law should not have applied to private property. Gooferment property, access, and such is a fine target.

I think what everyone needs to understand that the marketplace is a real-time ongoing election. You vote with your dollars. If there’s a racist business, then they will be at a competitive disadvantage. There competitors will eat their lunch. So the marketplace will “fix” the problem.

>Can’t have it both ways- either private industry is capable
>or they need oversight.

But we don’t have that either or. We have a muddle. With payoffs and a wink’n’nod!

>

Don’t forget that the “limited liability corporation” is a creation of the Gooferment!

For other examples, look at the FDA / Big Pharma. Look at Big Education and all levels of gooferment, politicians, and bureaucracy.

>

Don’t poke sticks in the little L libertarian’s cage! It’s not productive, doesn’t change anything, and annoys the Libertarian.

:)

# # # # #


TECHNOLOGY: When IT systems fail silently?

Friday, May 28, 2010

201005281516.jpg

Rofl?

Maybe they need an IT consultant?

May 28th, 2010 @ 1515 EDST

Argh!

# # # # #


GUNS: Old home owner 1, armed burgler 0

Friday, May 28, 2010

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2320350,home-invasion-suspect-shot-052610.article

Man, 80, ‘did what he had to do,’ killing home invader
Intruder had a history of drug and weapons convictions, records show
May 26, 2010
By KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporter

*** begin quote ***

An 80-year-old Army veteran shot and killed an armed man who’d broken in to the two-flat where he and his wife live in East Garfield Park early this morning and fired at him.

*** end quote ***

And, of course,t eh liberal press reports that the poor dead fellow was starting a new job next week.

Argh!

“God created man, Sam Colt made them equal.”

# # # # #


INTERESTING: Benford’s Law

Friday, May 28, 2010

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/25155

The Physics arXiv Blog
Friday, May 07, 2010
Benford’s Law And A Theory of Everything

A new relationship between Benford’s Law and the statistics of fundamental physics may hint at a deeper theory of everything

*** begin quote ***

In 1938, the physicist Frank Benford made an extraordinary discovery about numbers. He found that in many lists of numbers drawn from real data, the leading digit is far more likely to be a 1 than a 9. In fact, the distribution of first digits follows a logarithmic law. So the first digit is likely to be 1 about 30 per cent of time while the number 9 appears only five per cent of the time.

That’s an unsettling and counterintuitive discovery. Why aren’t numbers evenly distributed in such lists? One answer is that if numbers have this type of distribution then it must be scale invariant. So switching a data set measured in inches to one measured in centimetres should not change the distribution. If that’s the case, then the only form such a distribution can take is logarithmic.

But while this is a powerful argument, it does nothing to explan the existence of the distribution in the first place.

*** end quote ***

Haven’t heard about this since injineering skrool. (Thanks, Brother Barry Austin. Engineering Measurements 101. I’ll never forget the difference between “blunders” and “errors”. I’ve made a lot of both since.)

Still don’t know what to make of it.

Perhaps, it’s like “the Name of God” in the Indiana Jones sense. The Ark! The key to creation?

Still fascinating! After all these years.

# # # # #


GAMBLING: The Zen of Penny Slots

Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Zen of Penny Slots

① You can lose lots of “real money” at Penny Slots; the casinos have them for a reason. (Don’t fail to underestimate just how much you can lose “chasing rainbows”!)

② “Money management” is essential to winning. (Machine limits, session limits, day limits, trip limits) It’s not “winning” unless you take “their” money; that’s management!

③ Any currency that you put in a machine is at risk; includes green backs or the paper take out amounts. (If it’s in YOUR wallet, then it is NOT in the casino’s till!)

④ For your bankroll, think about how many plays you want; then decide how much to play. Decide what you will risk and lose it. When in a hole, STOP DIGGING!

⑤ Play the first half of your machine stake with as big a bet as you can stand. (That comes from the “jump in your grave” strategy.)

⑥ Play the second half of your machine stake with an eye to staying around for the big hit. (That comes from “you have to be in it to win it.”)

⑦ When you hit the “big jackpot” or have seen all the bonus games, leave with what you got. That machine session is over. (That comes from how rare the big payoffs are.)

⑧ Never, ever, put more currency into a machine. The big payoff is NOT just round the corner. “Just another twenty and it will hit” is a logical fallacy and a wallet buster!

⑨ Never, ever, drink when gambling. (There’s a reason that casinos give out free booze to players.) Don’t gamble when you are tired or upset either. It’s supposed to be fun; not therapy.

⑩ Remember your vocabulary. It’s gambling; not investing. It’s a random number generator. There are NO patterns. Despite what you brain, heart, or other body parts tell you. Don’t be stubborn. (A big win is great; a big loss ain’t! Better a small gain taken quickly, smartly, and spritely. Even a small loss can be the best you can accomplish.)

# # # # #


QUOTE: Art Linkletter who made childhood gaffes funny

Thursday, May 27, 2010

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-us-obit-art-linkletter,0,634064.story

“Life is not fair … not easy.” Art Linkletter (Arthur Gordon Kelly; July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010)

# # # # #


INTERESTING: Wash your hands and forgive past mistakes?

Thursday, May 27, 2010

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100506141601.htm

Wash Away Your Doubts When You Wash Your Hands

*** begin quote ***

ScienceDaily (May 7, 2010) — Washing your hands “wipes the slate clean,” removing doubts about recent choices.

*** and ***

“It’s not just that washing your hands contributes to moral cleanliness as well as physical cleanliness, as seen in earlier research” said Lee, a doctoral candidate in social psychology. “Our studies show that washing also reduces the influence of past behaviors and decisions that have no moral implications whatsoever.”

*** end quote ***

What interesting people the Creator made. How weird is our wiring? I’m not sure to make of this, but I’m going sure start washing my hands more often.

OCD?

# # # # #


POLITICAL: O’Reilly vs. Weiner Over Gold Controversy

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4210901/oreilly-vs-weiner-over-gold-controversy/?playlist_id=87937

O’Reilly vs. Weiner Over Gold Controversy

I listened to O’Reilly interview Wiener about Beck and Goldline. Now there is no doubt that Goldline is not my choice for a gold coin vendor. I recommend KITCO. And there is no doubt that they and Beck are tight. Like the View (i.e., where the hosts do a live in program ad read that appears like content), the ads are becoming part of the show. And, there is no doubt that Wiener has an agenda. Wiener has a whole industry to target; they have a lot of ripoffs, but he picks out Beck’s sponsor. There is no doubt that the liberals and their willing dupes in the media are out to silence Beck. Either by criticizing him, by their boycott, or now by their smear. It’s a sad day when a sitting member of Congress from the House of Reps takes such visibly partisan swipe at a media comentator. You never see that from the other side. The liberal Press wouldn’t tolerate it. We shouldn’t empower these criminals in the District of Corruption to attack law abiding members of the media and their sponsors with impunity.

Bottom line: (1) The citizens, who can vote, should be ashamed of this man’s attempted use of force in their name. (2) Everyone one should be upset about this backdoor attack on the First Amendment.

imho!

# # # # #


MONEY: The Lost Decade may be the Lost Epoch unless we act

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

http://www.ricedelman.com/cs/pressroom/pressroom_detail?pressrelease.id=1161

The Lost Decade – The decade has been awarded a cute name, but it’s not very accurate

For Immediate Release

May 07, 2010

*** begin quote ***

As of December 31, 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 Stock Index, the NASDAQ and the EAFE were all lower than they were on December 31, 1999 — a lot lower. The NASDAQ itself is 44% lower than it was 10 years ago — you know, when you were worried about Y2K.

*** and ***

Such diversification proved its worth, as gains in some asset classes were able to offset losses in others.

Surely some might have exited the last decade with a lower net worth than when they started. They are likely lamenting the fact that they’ve “lost” 10 years of wealth creation opportunity.

But the bulk of our clients, by contrast, have more money today than they did 10 years ago, thanks to the smart dual strategies of continuing to invest and diversifying.

Who says you need a rising stock market to make money?

*** end quote ***

Unfortunately, the collapse in the market is going to cost the nation greatly in it’s mind. It has demonstrated several things that, like the Great Depression scared generation of people, (1) the total failure of Wall Street; (2) the corruption of politicians; (3) the ineptitude of bureaucrats.

That will hang like a millstone around our necks forever.

We have to address the National Debt, the Federal Deficits, the unfunded liabilities of Social Security, and the out-of-control Federal Gooferment, the fiscal crisis of the States, inflation, and the rape of the public treasuries.

We have several fundamental issues to “fix”: (a) welfare; (b) warfare; and (c) confidence.

We’re not going to have a “rising stock market” until we do. So we better figure out how to make money in a down market.

# # # # #


RANT: Libertarians are misunderstood

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

http://channel-surfing.blogspot.com/2010/05/about-that-progressive-agenda.html

Saturday, May 22, 2010

*** begin quote ***

*** end quote ***
>Libertarians are supposedly anti the Democrats and the Republicans

“Anti” is such a strong word. As a little L libertarian, I bear them no ill will. Unfortunately, they keep trying to impose their will, their vision of Plato’s “the good”, on all the rest of us by force. When they do, we’re a little more forceful than the Amish voicing our displeasure.

>they say a pox on the Ds and Rs.

I’d never wish ill on anyone. Like the Buddhist, we know that ill will comes back to haunt you. THe D’s and R’s are like children, who JUST don’t understand that bad things result form their initiation of force on other human beings. So us little L libertarians have to just patiently just have to keep explaining it. Over and over. Eventually they will get it. It’s human destiny to be free. Tyrants and dictators can’t bottle up the human spirit to be free.

>But their libertarian heroes are Ayn Rand Paul and Ron Paul, GOPers.

Us little L libertarians have very few “heroes”. Lysander Spooner, Thomas Paine, Gandhi, MLK, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and such come to mine. But no one is perfect.

>When it comes down to crunch time, libertarians (the 2 Pauls) choose to associate themselves with the evil Gopers.

In the rigged game that is the American political system, it’s impossible to mount an effective challenge. The two parties conspire to keep it just that way. Think a game of old maid where only two players can play because they set the entry rules impossibly high. When Ross Perot, who was in just to take votes from Bush, came surprisingly close, the duopoly quickly revise all sorts of rules to make it harder. SO you have to worm your way in and like a vampire or parasite, take one over. For example, Libertarian members of the Free State Project are infiltrating the D’s and running.

>Isn’t that precious.

It’s expediency!

>Libertarians are supposedly for freedom

Not supposedly. We forsake the initiation of force. That’s the platinum standard. Libertarians come in a vast number of flavors, but all adhere to that Zero Aggression Principle.

>they always end up being against unions and for the giant corporations

Sigh! Most libertarians have absolutely no problem with unions except in two cases: (1) they initiate force against others; or (2) if they are gooferment captives (e.g., the Post Office workers union; the teachers’ union). When the unions use force to prevent “scabs” from working, that’s immoral. When the teachers’ union, for example, exerts political power or uses children as hostages, that’s immoral.

>like BP, which killed 11 workers and Massey Energy which killed 29 miners.

In the examples cited, where was OSHA? Where was the Gooferment law enforcement? If the workers of BP took out an ad saying “don’t buy BP they endanger workers”, then who would buy from them? If they are so dangerous, why are people working there? Does BP chain their legs like a slave ship? No only the gooferment can do that; like in the military.

>In libertarian world, unions are evil blood suckers and >workers are a nuisance to be barely tolerated.

No, if you ever saw a libertarian world, then you’d see no need for unions. People could vote where they would work by the feet. Bad conditions or low wages, I’m outa here. No, the gooferment conspires with big biz and big labor to lock people in. With pensions and “benefits” and laws that supposedly protect them from bad treatment. Argh! Business doesn’t necessarily equate to a “limited liability corporation. That LLC is a gooferment creation to protect the monied interests.

>Those damn unions want good wages, good benefits, safe work >conditions and a voice in their employment conditions.

Please don’t make me laff and insult everyone’s iq. The unions have long since stopped representing the workers and are all about “the union”. Dues and handouts from the gooferment. Workers have to vote the right way. It’s not about good anything.

>serfs who lose their first amendment rights

“First amendment” ONLY applies to restrict the gooferment.

>Libertarians always end up being for the rich and powerful

NAH, WHERE DID YOU EVER GET THAT IDEA.

>private property more than they value human rights.

“Private property” is the essential human right. Your property is your past. It’s the sum of your past efforts. What gives you, any collection of “yous”, or the gooferment to steal it?

I’d suggest that you watch a little video about Liberty at https://youtu.be/muHg86Mys7I?si=ts0EsFVSkUFICnnv and tell us what you think. Essentially it says “we all own ourselves” and everything flows from that. It’s pretty good. And simple enough for even a D or an R to understand.

# # # # #