Economic Humor

More Financial Planners Serving Day Care Centers
Kansas City, Kansas--Now that each child born will have a $30,000 share of a runaway national debt, more and more financial planners are serving in day care centers nationwide.

"Kids need to get a head start on their payment obligations these says," said one center worker. "So it only makes sense to add a review of future tax obligations to the mix of activities day care centers have to offer."

One financial planner said he enjoyed providing the service, but noted "the crying can get to you after a while." Still, he said, "lots of kids eventually do come to understand the need to invest a portion of their allowances in flexible foreign funds."

When asked about her investment plan, one child, Mary Stennings, said "I like gold. And pink."

Associated article: PolitiFact

http://optoons.blogspot.com/2010/12/more-financial-planners-serving-day.html

Global Warming, Part 3

I am not opposed to the idea of climate change and I am concerned about the effects of carbon monoxide, and other gases, building up in the atmosphere. All lifeforms have an effect on their environment and certainly homo sapiens have a large impact.

However, I dislike the idea that "this is settled science". Science needs skeptics and there is nothing "settled".

Our Energy Secretary would like us to paint our roofs white to reflect heat and therefore reduce global warming. Meanwhile, global warming is causing ice to melt, releasing more moisture into the atmosphere which causes more rain and snow. And the snow reflects heat which causes global cooling. OK, now I see.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203513204576047741057676566.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLETopOpinion

Humor in Government

In Garden City, Idaho, 2 employees of DeBest, Inc heard some screams and discovered a person stuck in a collapsed trench, with dirt over his head. They jumped in an rescued the individual. Their reward? OSHA fined them $7,875 for not wearing a hard hat while in the trench and not fortifying the trench walls to insure against further collapsed. Unfortunately, the person saved was not an OSHA manager, apparently. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930913&slug=1720788

In Baltimore County, two men rescued a deer that had fallen through ice and was struggling. They were fined $90 each for not wearing a lifejacket while they paddled the inflatable raft in the rescue.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/local-government-stupidity-contest/

Merry Christmas to All

Every year at this time numerous conflicts arise regarding religion and society. Many people seem to believe that the law of the land is the separation of church and state and that this means that religion is barred from the public arena. There are at least two major problems with this view. The first is that the Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion nor preventing the free exercise thereof." The "separation of church and state" idea is from private correspondence written years later.

But perhaps the better argument is from Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was signed by the US.

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

Now, lawyers can probably shred this into meaningless garbage but I read it as allowing the public practice, worship and observance of religion. Religion was not meant to be practiced only in the privacy of one's own home.

Joke of the Day

Baltimore, Maryland--With the economy tanking and a record one in six Americans taking part in various government anti-poverty programs, the Six Flags amusement park announced the opening of it's latest roller coaster.

"It's called the Obamarator," said a park spokeswoman, who said it consists of a winding but ever low-spiraling ride in cars fitted with video screens showing the latest economic indicators.

"With the latest data showing Medicaid enrollment at record highs even before 16 million people are added by the ObamaCare law in 2014, a 50% rise in food stamp participants, a 400% increase in those receiving unemployment insurance, and an 18% increase in the welfare rolls," said the spokeswoman, "we didn't have to do much more to make this one of the most frightening Six Flags coasters ever."

One man who rode on the coaster's maiden run said "After the very first turn -- where you see that Medicaid costs have jumped 36% in two years to $273 billion, jobless benefits soared from $43 billion to $160 billion, and food stamp and welfare costs have risen 80% and 24% -- I almost lost my lunch."

http://optoons.blogspot.com/2010/12/six-flags-opens-new-obama-themed-roller.html

Oregon and Tax revenues

I was amused by the complaint from Oregonians about "Bush's tax break for the rich" (now to be known, I guess as "The Bush-Obama tax break for the rich"). Oregon had one of the least progressive "progressive" tax rates with individuals making $14,000 paying the same marginal rate as billionaires such as Phil Knight of Nike. Almost every other state had higher rates for wealthier individuals. But Oregon finally attempted to fix this.

"Oregon raised its income tax on the richest 2% of its residents last year to fix its budget hole, but now the state treasury admits it collected nearly one-third less revenue than the bean counters projected. The sun also rose in the east, and the Cubs didn't win the World Series.

In 2009 the state legislature raised the tax rate to 10.8% on joint-filer income of between $250,000 and $500,000, and to 11% on income above $500,000. Only New York City's rate is higher. Oregon's liberal voters ratified the tax increase on individuals and another on businesses in January of this year, no doubt feeling good about their "shared sacrifice."

Congratulations. Instead of $180 million collected last year from the new tax, the state received $130 million. The Eugene Register-Guard newspaper reports that after the tax was raised "income tax and other revenue collections began plunging so steeply that any gains from the two measures seemed trivial."

One reason revenues are so low is that about one-quarter of the rich tax filers seem to have gone missing. The state expected 38,000 Oregonians to pay the higher tax, but only 28,000 did. Funny how that always happens. These numbers are in line with a Cascade Policy Institute study, based on interstate migration patterns, predicting that the tax surcharge would lead to 80,000 fewer wealthy tax filers in Oregon over the next decade."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704034804576026233823935442.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The most important part is the last paragraph. Although one could argue now that $130 million extra is better than nothing, what will happen over the next decade if this tax leads to 80,000 wealthy tax filers leaving the state?

The Public Pension mess

Private pension plans tend to be defined-contribution pensions -- in which the employer makes a fixed contribution to the employee's retirement account, rather than guaranteeing a fixed payout.

By contrast, nearly all of the more than 22 million federal, state and local public employees enjoy defined-benefit pensions -- with payouts fixed at some percentage of the individual's pay for the last year or two they worked (often including overtime and payments for unused sick or vacation days).

These public pension plans are a ticking time bomb, with an estimated $3.2 trillion in unfunded mandates, or $21,500 per household. (That is taxpayer household, not recipient household.)

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/facing_the_pension_mess_2x9CfnClQRu9usCxH5E1eO#ixzz18lqxkGci
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/facing_the_pension_mess_2x9CfnClQRu9usCxH5E1eO

State Budgets and Health Care

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS:
"If state Medicaid spending increases by 41 percent as projected by CMS, then by next year Medicaid could end up consuming nearly 30 percent of the average state budget. Medicaid would greatly exceed all other state priorities, including education, which tops state budgets at about 22 percent. In fact, state spending on education would experience certain cuts next year.

Presumably, the state spending increase is so high because the enhancement of the federal Medicaid match will expire at the end of 2010. CMS projects that federal spending on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program will decrease 7.1 percent between 2010 and 2011. The loss of federal funds will drive most of the increase in state Medicaid obligations.

Unfortunately, states have lost considerable flexibility to reduce Medicaid’s burden on their budgets. As a condition for receiving the additional federal dollars, both the stimulus bill and PPACA contain maintenance-of-effort (MOE) provisions that prohibit states from changing eligibility levels. "

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/12/20/how-obamacare-is-hastening-the-day-of-reckoning/

One of the promises of the Health Care "reform" is that the reform would "bend the curve" of medical costs and the Federal Government could actually provide health care to 30 million people at less cost than current. That made no sense but people bought it. And maybe it was true-Federal costs go down but state costs go up.

Wikileaks

To save time, the following is basically what is in the quarter million Wikileak documents:

Berlusconi likes girls.
Sarkozy likes himself.
Angela Merkel is boring.
David Cameron is more boring.
Hillary thinks Cristina needs a shrink.
Benjamin Netanyahu can’t stand Ehud Olmert.
Al Qaeda hates America.
Yemen’s president hates Al Qaeda
Ahmadinejad is Hitler
North Korea likes Iran.
Saudi Arabia hates Iran
Julian Assange is Dennis Kucinich.
PFC Manning will never see the sun again.
America needs a new president.

http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2010/11/30/wikileaks-as-seen-by-dolphins/

The lessons that I learned from this are:
1. We keep too many secrets
2. The is poor control over classified documents
3. Leaking this information is good-don't we want transparency?
4. People should be fired, for writing such stuff, for leaking such stuff, for managing such stuff, and for (not) controlling such stuff.

Palin and the Main Street Media (Part II)

Recently Sarah Palin made the mistake of saying "North Korea" when she meant to say "South Korea". She quickly corrected herself. As could be expected, many in the media jumped on this as another example of her ignorance. In response, Palin wrote the following (see the link to get the links in her post):

"My fellow Americans in all 57 states, the time has changed for come. With our country founded more than 20 centuries ago, we have much to celebrate – from the FBI’s 100 days to the reforms that bring greater inefficiencies to our health care system. We know that countries like Europe are willing to stand with us in our fight to halt the rise of privacy, and Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s. And let’s face it, everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma and they end up taking up a hospital bed. It costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early, and they got some treatment, and ah, a breathalyzer, or an inhalator. I mean, not a breathalyzer, ah, I don’t know what the term is in Austrian for that … "

http://bigjournalism.com/taylorking/2010/11/28/media-matters-lies-about-media-coverage-of-sarah-palin-north-korea-slip/

This was followed by the media response which basically said that Palin was overstating the case and that the Palin slip-up was barely covered by the media. Ironically, that very night, Jay Leno had the following dialogue:
"Palin said that we should stand by our friend North Korea. This was followed by her stating that she was never good at geography".

Yeah, right. The media barely covered the issue.

High Speed Rail

I like train travel as much as anyone and wish that we had better service in the US. However, we just seem incapable of constructing lines properly. One project is a high speed line from Tampa to Orlando. These cities are 85 miles apart and the car trip takes 1.5 hours, Interstate all the way. I guess that a "high-speed" train, if it could average 170 mph could make the trip in 45 minutes (but estimates are that the speed will end up being around 60 mph due to slowing in urban areas, stops, etc.).

However, Tampa and Orlando are both sprawling cities. My condo in Redington Shores is about 45 minutes away from the proposed Tampa train station. Once in Orlando, there will be a 10 mile or so trip to Disney World (which requires a little backtracking to Tampa). So, driving my car 45 minutes to Tampa (there is no public transportation for this), going into city traffic, paying for parking, paying for the train, riding to Orlando, renting a car or waiting for public transportation to Disney World, then either driving or waiting for the Disney buses to get around. And then plan my departure around the train schedule.

Seems a lot more convenient, and cheaper and quicker, to just drive.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/16/AR2010111605823.html

Thorium as a fuel source

"If Barack Obama were to marshal America’s vast scientific and strategic resources behind a new Manhattan Project, he might reasonably hope to reinvent the global energy landscape and sketch an end to our dependence on fossil fuels within three to five years."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/7970619/Obama-could-kill-fossil-fuels-overnight-with-a-nuclear-dash-for-thorium.html

Sounds like a better use for federal funds than short term social programs.

Fiscal Conservatism

Optoon Cartoons (Click to Enlarge)




http://optoons.blogspot.com/2010/08/us-presidents-on-debt-click-image-to.html

How to look good with a bike

Try to get a bike that fits you, physically and symbolically

Commander in Chief

From Ann Althouse:

"That picture says so much: Obama is distracted by the trivial problems of taking his wife out somewhere expensive while the poor people of the Gulf are waiting and waiting for help. The disapproving glance of his wife gets more attention than the appeals of the hurricane victims. He's fortunate enough to have the kind of weather problem that can be solved by a simple umbrella, which wouldn't be any help at all in a hurricane. And yet his handling of an umbrella in a drizzle is incompetent, so how could he deal with a hurricane? The picture says: How can Obama understand/care/do anything about Katrina?"

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2010/08/drudge-is-giving-obama-hard-time-this.html

Go All Blacks

9/9/11-Start of the Rugby World Cup.

http://thebubble.msn.com/#/video/?id=606eccbd-b568-4e91-b68c-92f7034673a3

Education

I have a lot of problems with the educational system in this country. I tend to believe that teachers are overpaid (retiring with multi-million dollar pensions) and underqualified and seem to have no ability or desire to improve education. What changes have occurred in education in the last 200 years?

Bill Gates, richest man on earth, likes the FREE Khan Academy, a one man operation that places YouTube lectures on the internet for anyone, anywhere. When will educators start making use of technological advances?

Many students can be taught in self-paced computer-based learning programs, monitored by teaching aides, with some small group teacher supervised discussion groups. Perhaps guidance counselors, physical education, arts, etc, are the only teachers that we need.

http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/08/29/0456229/Bill-Gates-Enrolls-His-Kids-In-Khan-Academy

P.S. I am taking Yale classes through ITunes U for free. No credit but perhaps knowledge is more important than diplomas.

Oikophobia

Oikophobia is the word of the day. It is a combination of the word for home and the word for fear. It means fear of traditional values. We see examples of this constantly in media regarding the "Ground Zero Mosque", California Measure 8, Obama's comment about "clinging to guns and religion", etc.

It is one thing to seek improvement on the inherent problems with traditional values; it is another thing to simply be opposed to those values on the grounds that seems to be fear and to either be nihilistic or support a worse value system. To quote from Wikipedia: "The paradox of the oikophobe seems to be that any opposition directed at the theological and cultural tradition of the West is to be encouraged even if it is "significantly more parochial, exclusivist, patriarchal, and ethnocentric".

Solar Storm and Doom

"Astronomers are predicting that a massive solar storm, much bigger in potential than the one that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month, is to strike our planet in 2012 with a force of 100 million hydrogen bombs."

"Similar storms back in 1859 and 1921 caused worldwide chaos, wiping out telegraph wires on a massive scale. The 2012 storm has the potential to be even more disruptive."


http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20100826/981/tsc-massive-solar-storm-to-hit-earth-in_1.html

The Problem with Liberalism

In my Facebook profile, I describe myself as a "Liberal RWNJ". (RWNJ=Right Wing Nut Job) What I mean by this is that I tend to hold a liberal personal value system. However, as a social scientist and someone interested in political philosophy, I am concerned about public policies that actually work. Yes, I am in favor of greater equality in wealth, extensive immigration, sexual orientation equality, elimination of bigotry, and all those liberal agenda items.

For example, we have a long line of political philosophical thought from Socrates, Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes, to Tocqueville, who have developed political systems that tend to work in the long term. While the idea of a philosopher king is appealing, that is only a short-term solution and the next philosopher king may not be quite as good. That is why I support systems of checks and balances, democratic inputs, etc. They limit and handcuff government but they also prevent abuse by those in power.

Similarly, I strongly believe that for a civilization to survive, you must have a moral tradition and appeal to cultural and social norms. A power elite that tries to progress faster than the culture will allow will result in a backlash. And a civilization that somehow rejects the moral traditions will have problems.

As to the social scientist, we have to be aware of not just the anticipated outcomes of a program but also the unintentioned consequences of our policies. People tend to react to policies in certain ways, based on their culture, social norms, and self interest.

The following article from the Economist (one of the most reliable magazines IMHO) illustrate the problem. In an attempt to open up home ownership and increase equality, the US embarked on series of policies which led to the current economic downturn. (And the current downturn is especially hard on the lower middle classes.)

"The problem, as often is the case with government policies, was not intent. It rarely is. But when lots of easy money pushed by a deep-pocketed government comes into contact with the profit motive of a sophisticated, competitive, and amoral financial sector, matters get taken far beyond the government’s intent."


http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/08/inequality_and_crash_0

Why Some Women Become Lesbians Later in Life - They meet the right woman, fall in love, then feel sexual desire

In his decision to overturn the voters' desires on marriage, the judge made the assertions that homosexuality was genetically based and not a matter of choice. He made this point on the basis of testimony that indicated that high percentages of gays and lesbians believed that they were born that way. Now, overlooking the fact that an opinion poll should in no way be considered the scientific proof, I questioned his conclusions. As a sociologist, I tend to believe that socialization has a lot of impact on our lifestyles. I have not studied the evidence recently and maybe the scientific evidence is piling up on the judge's side but I doubt it. For example, my gut feeling on lesbians agrees with this article: Women tend to seek love and affection and if another woman offers this love, a lesbian relationship will develop. Social needs trump genetics.

Why Some Women Become Lesbians Later in Life - They meet the right woman, fall in love, then feel sexual desire

Medicare Financing

Yesterday we heard reports that, because of Obamacare, Medicare was not much better off financially. The unwritten message was that all of those scare tactic articles about how Obamacare was going to bankrupt the country was misplaced. If you actually read the Medicare Trustee report you notice that the writers were the Secretaries of Labor, Treasury, Health Services and the head of Social Security. In other words, all the writers were political appointees of Obama.

However, the end of the report contains a letter from the actual Actuary of Medicare who basically stated that the projections used in the report are somewhat questionable and optimistic.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/08/consider-the-source/61096/

Media Matters

We live in troubling times. We just don't know who to turn to for the unvarnished truth. Or rather we have to do much more work than most of us would like to do or have the time to do.
Perhaps I am being naive here but I would hope that you have a reasonable expectation of reliable information from journalists, educators, and judges. These people are, I thought, in the objective information business. Then we discover that these people are as driven by idealogy as anyone else.

Of course they are not, in total. So, who can we trust? One would hope that maybe the slew of self-professed truth tellers out there balance the field. The FactCheck.org, Polifact, and Media Matters are three organizations dedicated, they say, to the truth. All three have made some goofy statements and seem to support a certain agenda.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/media-matters-shirley-sherrods-glenn-becks-co-hosts-with-edited-audio/

Digital Education vs. the Ruling Elite

I am very proud to have worked in an industry that basically phased itself out. A handful of people do the job that once employed thousands and yet the same job is being done. But teaching has hardly changed in hundreds of years. A classroom of 20-40 with a teacher. Have educators heard of the internet? Of computers? Self paced learning? There is a better way. A cheaper way. But we won't get there until there is more pressure to modernize.

Digital Education vs. the Ruling Elite

Updates:

UK has an Open University. Low cost, lectures on ITunes and the internet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-10903088

Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. Saving money on books. Why pay $200 for a textbook that probably can't be sold back because of some minor changes in a newer edition?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-07-college-textbooks_N.htm?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Was the State Dept Supporting the Release of the Lockerbie bomber?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/white-house-backed-release-of-lockerbie-bomber-abdel-baset-al-megrahi/story-e6frg6so-1225896741041

Executive Power

The Economist is perhaps the most respected and objective publication in the world. People should pay attention to their comments. In the following story, the Economist appears to come to a conclusion that many of us have also come to: that Obama gives the impression that he is more concerned about outcomes rather than process and this impression will cause harm in the future.
Yes, many of us like the concept of a "benevolent dictator" or "philosopher king" who truly has the welfare of his people as his primary concern but we also recognize that this model is unworkable. Maybe one ruler will be a great leader but without safeguards the next ruler may be corrupt. Due Process and the Rule of Law must remain strong. There must be transparency. Efficiency is not the overarching goal in a democracy.
It is truly scary that some of Obama's supporters are in favor of more executive privilege to achieve desired results. Presumably these supporters were not in favor of executive privilege when exerted by GW Bush.
We do not want Vladimir Obama.

http://www.economist.com/node/16377269?story_id=16377269&source=features_box_main

Obama and Enemies, Foreign and Domestic

Every President developes a National Security Strategy and Obama recently came up with his. Some have described his policy as "Bush Lite" for while he wants to pull back from unilateral actions and pre-emptives strikes he does not disavow such actions. He just says that he will only undertake such actions as a "last resort" which, I would think, Bush actually thinks that he did as well.

But the scariest part of the "Obama Doctrine" is that for the first time,his National Security Strategy warns about "the security threat posed by “individuals radicalised at home”. Sounds like a return to the days of the House Committee on Un-American Activities and McCarthism. The only change will be who will feel the wrath of the federal government.

http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16243791&fsrc=rss

Public Pensions

The NY Times recently ran a story on public pensions in the city. 13 police officers retired at age 40 with annual pensions of $100,000 and up. And 9 additional officers were in the 30s when they retired with $100,000 annual pensions. And these pensions will go up annually, with inflation. (Curious if they will go down in the event of deflation.)

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/When-a-public-pension-is-a-trust-fund-94698759.html

Meanwhile, stiking teachers are complaining about proposed cuts in pay in California. These teachers are making an average of $100,000 per year. We have reports that public pension endowments are underfunded to the tune of $3 trillion.

There is a significant problem here. We are heading to a cliff, like Greece.

http://keithhennessey.com/2010/05/26/underfund-pensions/

Obama and His Role

Obama recently explained his role as President:

"My job right now is just to make sure that everybody in the Gulf understands this is what I wake up to in the morning and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about: the spill."

Think about that. This is amazing. He thinks that when he gets people
"to think about him and how much he's thinking about what he thinks they think he should be thinking about, his job is done", according to a Wall Street Journal article.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704596504575272542364164212.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLETopOpinion

In the book, Atlas Shrugged, a government official is infuriated that a train is stopped in a tunnel by a problem. Rather than try to understand the problem and help work toward a solution, he DEMANDS that the train continue on its way, ignoring the problem. And the train is destroyed along with everyone on it, as well as the tunnel.
" 'God damn these railroad people!' said Kip Chalmers. 'They're doing it on purpose. They want to ruin my campaign. I can't miss that rally! For Christ's sake, Lester, do something!' "

The scene is reminiscent to Obama's response to BP's oil leak. The problem is that it is extremely difficult to stop the leak and Obama believes that simply issuing orders is all that he needs to do. Obama is the one who approved this well. Obama is the one who wanted to expand off shore drilling around Florida. Complain all you want about deregulation and Palin's "drill baby drill" to obfuscate the issue.

US heading to calamity like Greece

The Governor of the Bank of England sees similarities between the fiscal situation in Greece and the US.

The problem with Greece is that the government can no longer afford the generous benefit packages that it's citizens get and now must borrow heavily as well as make significant cuts in the benefits.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/edmundconway/100005657/us-faces-same-problems-as-greece-says-bank-of-england/

Race Relations

Harvard professor Henry Gates, of the famous "Beer Summit", with President Obama and the Cambridge police officer who arrested him, has an interesting book out. In it, he writes that 90% of all slaves brought to the US were captured by other Africans and sold to European traders for export to the US. It is about time that the role that Africans played in the slave trade is discussed rationally.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/henry-gates-deflates-the-reparations-balloon/

On an unrelated note, it appears that people who study racial or ethnic studies have a lower respect for members of other racial or ethnic groups. Who knew? People who study discriminatory histories tend to discriminate.

http://www.mindingthecampus.com/forum/2010/05/a_down_side_of_racial_awarenes.html

Freddie Mac Needs another $8 billion

The government has bailed out Freddie Mac with $61 billion. This corporation is supposed to be self sufficient. $10 billion in loses over the first 3 months of 2010. What is going on here?

And, perhaps more to the point, why am I reading about this in a BBC report. Where is the mass media coverage? Like the questions about General (or Government) Motors paying off the government loans 5 years early, with interest. Is this true? Or did GM just borrow from another government account to pay off the other government account? Or did the US government just buy equity in GM to give them the money to pay off the loan. Rumors are that the US owns 61% of this losing company, which puts it in the same mess as Freddie Mac.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10099793.stm

"Hi! My name is America and I am a Spender"

The first step to solving a problem is to admit that you have a problem. We have a spending/deficit problem in the US. And both major parties contribute to it. Bush wanted prescription drug benefits and waged wars without wanting to pay for them. Obama wants to add billions to government subsidized medical care, expand wars, and who knows what without paying for it.



As much as people like the idea that the top 2% pay for everything such an approach is probably not very sustainable and leads to feelings of entitlement from the 98%.



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704464704575208040125742672.html

Arizona and Immigration

I am a little baffled by this new Arizona state law that seems to just mean that Arizona state and local law enforcement will enforce a federal law. I thought that all law enforcement enforce all applicable laws.
Currently, federal law enforcement is stopping all traffic on roads close to the border, including I-10, and interviewing everyone. Presumably they are making decisions on a person's status at that time. Nobody seems to be complaining about this. Now the state wants to do the same thing. And there seems to be a problem.

While I am very disturbed by the idea of just targetting people of amerindian features I am also concerned about laws not being enforced. Law enforcement should be properly trained to look for the behavior and tendencies of illegal immigrants and question people based on that behavior. And not on any racial characteristics. Obviously, illegal immigrants come in all colors.

People are often accused of following idealogy and not science. Science can teach us the likely behaviors of people engaged in criminal activity and lead to more efficient targeting of suspects. And obviously not all odd behaviors mean criminal activities and the human judgement is required. And terminate any law enforcement officer who has a problem with this.

Effective law enforcement has always focused on behaviors. I have been stopped numerous times when I was doing something deemed odd. Like looking at my GPS while standing by a bridge. This seems more effective than stopping everyone on I-10.

UPDATE: 4/28/10 A Rasmussen poll suggests that Latinos in Arizona are in favor of the law. Also, consider the idea that Mexico is more dangerous than Iraq and the violence is spilling over into Arizona.

Some Thoughts on Taxation

My father was a FDR liberal, a liberal in the classic sense who believed that government could solve problems and reduce suffering in the world. Not sure how many of those liberals are around anymore. Most Democrats seem to want more for themselves; more subsidized education, more free school lunches, more salary and benefits for themselves, more grant money on projects in their community, etc. The dynamics of paying for this stuff is less important. You can't be truly "liberal" if you want to spend other people's money.

My father understood that government spending costs money and happily paid his taxes: he was fortunate to achieve some upper middle class lifestyle and wanted to help those less fortunate. Oh sure, he worked hard all his life, from the three jobs he had as a teenager and suffered through polio and other medical issues, but he understood that there was good fortune involved.

On tax day, April 15, 2010, I joined the 47% of the population who paid no federal income tax when I received my refund which equalled all of the taxes that I had paid through the year. For the first time in my adult life, I became a non-contributor. Actually, with unemployment and a "small" public pension for my part time military service, I became a net drain on the economy. I had wanted to "Go Galt" but I still have some emotional issues to deal with on this. I am not poor. I live a good life, with money left over every month and no debt. I know that there are millions not as well off as me and I should be, like my father, paying my fair share and helping those people. Frankly, it bothers me greatly that Obama, and George Bush, don't think that I need to pay taxes. They seem to think that I am too poor to pay taxes. I feel discarded and unneeded.

So, the money that once went to pay taxes is now going, by my choice, overseas to help those 2 billion or so who live on less than $1 a day.

Of course, the end may be near. In January, 2007, the per capita share of the publicly funding federal debt was just over $16,000 and by April, 2010, the share was over $27,000. And with $1 trillion annual deficits, the per capita federal debt is increasing by over $3,000 per year.

It is only a matter of time before Congress realizes that the low tax policies of Bush and Obama are unsustainable. Unless, of course, there is a major change in federal spending.

Encoaching Socialism

AN overseas holiday used to be thought of as a reward for a year’s hard work. Now Brussels has declared that tourism is a human right and pensioners, youths and those too poor to afford it should have their travel subsidised by the taxpayer.
Under the scheme, British pensioners could be given cut-price trips to Spain, while Greek teenagers could be taken around disused mills in Manchester to experience the cultural diversity of Europe.


It is amazing that things that were once thought of as luxuries or charatable become basic rights. Carnegie donated millions to build libraries around the country and now libraries have become one of the costs of government and a major public employer. I am waiting for legal aid, not just for criminal defense, but for initiating civil actions is an inherent right. And the right to a car. And a boat. And continuing education.

Government Caused Obesity

Reagan: "Government is not the solution to our problems, it is the problem." So, government supplied school lunches causes obesity. The government provides only 1 meal a day, or actually only 180 out of the 1,095 or so someone eats a year, and does this much destruction. And the solution, in the eyes of many, is more government regulation.

WASHINGTON – School lunches have been called many things, but a group of retired military officers is giving them a new label: national security threat.

That's not a reference to the mystery meat served up in the cafeteria line either. The retired officers are saying that school lunches have helped make the nation's young people so fat that fewer of them can meet the military's physical fitness standards, and recruitment is in jeopardy.

A new report being released Tuesday says more than 9 million young adults, or 27 percent of all Americans ages 17 to 24, are too overweight to join the military. Now, the officers are advocating for passage of a wide-ranging nutrition bill that aims to make the nation's school lunches healthier.

The officers' group, Mission: Readiness, was appearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday with Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The military group acknowledges that other things keep young adults out of the armed services, such as a criminal record or the lack of a high school diploma. But weight problems that have worsened over the past 15 years are now the leading medical reason that recruits are rejected.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100420/ap_on_he_me/us_school_lunches_threat

Financial Meltdown

The financial disaster that hit in 2008 was decades in the making and should have been foreseen by the powers that be. Another indication that the errors of a Presidential administration often manifests years or decades later, long after the public remembers what caused the problems.

http://www.theconglomerate.org/2010/04/one-law-professor-who-did-see-it-coming.html

The cost of our income tax system

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX8EswfGKQw

Interesting. Sounds about right.

Krugman and Economic Theory

Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize Winner for Economics, is, unfortunately, also a liberal and when push comes to shove he applies liberal faith instead of scientific integrity. He recently accused Sen. Kyl of ignoring textbook economics when Kyl said that unemployment benefits tend to prolong unemployment. But that is exactly what Krugman and his wife said in the textbook that they wrote:

"Public policy designed to help workers who lose their jobs can lead to structural unemployment as an unintended side effect. . . . In other countries, particularly in Europe, benefits are more generous and last longer. The drawback to this generosity is that it reduces a worker's incentive to quickly find a new job. Generous unemployment benefits in some European countries are widely believed to be one of the main causes of "Eurosclerosis," the persistent high unemployment that affects a number of European countries."

It is unfortunate that a scientist like Krugman would write a book called: The Heart of a Liberal.
Is he a scientist or a liberal?

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/03/025752.php

Obama and the Muslim World

The visit of Obama to Indonesia, where he spent some time while growing up, is protested.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100305/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_obama

I thought that the world loved us now that Bush is gone.

Al Gore Responsible for Murder-Suicides?

An Argentina couple killed themselves and one of the children (and attempted to kill their daughter who survived 2 bullet wounds) over concerns about global warming. If civil laws allow assorted hate mongers being liable for murders committed by unknown followers, should Al Gore be criminally liable for this? Rhetorical question. (Answer, for those who don't know, is No. And neither should other speakers be liable when some listener takes their words too far.)

http://michellemalkin.com/2010/03/01/al-gore-is-not-responsible-for-those-alleged-global-warmicides/

Torture and US Law

I have always thought that the enhanced interrogation techniques appeared to be effective and legal techniques. They were drawn up by lawyers, very specific, and did not involve anymore than minimal physical trauma. To call them "torture" seems to be over-using the word, similar to calling everything racist. Now the Justice Dept has finally agreed, apparently, and will not pursue actions against the lawyers who drew up the legal justification for them and hopefully will soon stop any actions against the CIA agents who carried out the techniques as written.

This action should have been done a year ago. To call these techniques torture is to demean all those people who have really been tortured.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/244171

SodaHead dialogue

Me: "As Winston Churchill once said "Any 20 year-old who isn't a liberal doesn't have a heart, and any 40 year-old who isn't a conservative doesn't have a brain.

It is rather sad that Gen Y'ers would need a spokesman, someone to follow. I would have hoped that they would think for themselves and not be followers.

And I would urge any Gen Y type to understand that you can be a liberal personally but when it comes to public policy you should use science and think about what public policy best leads to the results that you want. Many conservatives are liberal in the traditional definition of liberal but they believe, based on study and experience, that liberal utopian public policies do not work very well.

We are spending tons of money. My generation (60 and over) are getting all the advantages while you are getting the bill. I am opposed to deficit spending not because of any personal advantage to me but because I don't want to leave a huge debt to my children and grandchildren. You are the ones most affected by the policies done today."


Reply: "The first part is bogus contardiness. Can't argue with that last part though. You kids can thank Bush when your generation has to pick up the tab for his mess."


Me: "You may want to review the Constitution, esp. Article 1, Sec 8, Powers of Congress, and compare it to Article 2, Powers of the President. Congress controls the budget. Under the 8 "Bush" budgets, the debt went from $6.2 trillion to $11.9 trillion but about half of that increase happened after Dems took over Congress. ($2.9 trillion increase in the first 6 years and $2.8 trillion increase the last 2 years.)

In 2008, the Congressional Budget Office projected a total 10 year SURPLUS of $274 billion. In 2010, the same CBO projected a 10 year deficit of $6,047 billion.

As to the first part, unfortunately many people like the definition of liberal as "generous" and "open-minded" and have trouble when applying that to public policy. Most can't handle cognitive dissonance. Of course, most people do not pick their party based on data or facts but rather on social considerations such as who their friends are. That was the underlying purpose of the posting-people need social support for their beliefs."

D'oh Canada

"VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — D'oh, Canada!

"What should have been the crowning moment of an opening ceremony years in the planning lost some of its glitter when one of the four pillars supporting the Olympic cauldron failed to rise from the floor of the stadium Friday night.

"While the four Canadian sports heroes bearing torches — hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, basketball All-Star Steve Nash, skier Nancy Greene and speedskater Catriona LeMay Doan — stood by helplessly at center stage, there was an awkward two-minute pause while flashbulbs popped and the crowd murmured in anticipation.

"The slam-bang ending went on, but LeMay Doan never got the chance to light the flame. Because of a mechanical glitch, her pillar didn't get out of the trap door that was supposed to open and release it."

There have now been 4 deaths in the long history of the Winter Olympic Games. Two of those deaths occurred during the two times that Canada hosted the games. Do they know what they are doing?

And why are they continuing the Luge competition? Why not suspend it?

Obama and Success in Iraq

On Feb 10, 2010, Vice President Joe Biden was on with Larry King. During the conversation Vice President Biden, a cut-and-runner, said that Iraq was one of the great accomplishments of the Obama Administration.

BIDEN: "Well, you’ve heard me say that for the last 10 years. I think it’s the — it’s a big country. It has nuclear weapons that are able to be deployed. It has a real significant minority of radicalized population. It is — it is not a completely functional democracy in the sense we think about it. And so it’s — it — that’s my greatest concern.

I am very optimistic about — about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You’re going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer.

You’re going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government. I spent — I’ve been there 17 times now. I go about every two months — three months. I know every one of the major players in all the segments of that society.

It’s impressed me. I’ve been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences."

Can't believe that he actually said that. Obama likes to talk about inheriting 2 wars. Prior to leaving office, Bush signed the Force Agreement with Iraq, removing the US from any active, independent, military role-we would be there to assist in Iraqi led operations. Seems that would have basically ended the war. (Although Obama violated that agreement and meddled in Iraqi sovereignty:)

http://ayfs.wordpress.com/2009/07/25/iraq-investigates-obama-administration-meetings-violated-iraqi-sovereignty-and-showed-tolerance-for-terrorists/

On a related front, it is beginning to look like the recession may have ended in July, 2009. At this point, we have had 2 quarters of growth. Now, I understand that Obama supporters are right in saying that it takes time to change direction and fix problems. But if the recession ended in July, 2009, less than 6 months after Obama took office, should he get any credit for ending it? What measures did he take to end it? I guess that the $787 billion stimulus had an impact but to this day I am hearing that hardly any of that money has been spent even now. How much of it was spent prior to July, 2009 and could this realistically have a impact that soon on the economy?

World's most popular sporting events.

What are the most watched sports in the world? In 2009, the top event, with over 100 million viewers, was the UEFA Champions League final. (Soccer- Barcelona defeated Manchester United 2-0).

Somewhat surprisingly, here is the top 20 list, by sport:

2. Super Bowl-American football
3. Grand Prix formula 1 racing
4. Athletics (100 m final IAAF world cup)
5. Wimbleton final-tennis
6. Baseball (World Baseball Classic game between Japan and South Korea) (Not the "World Series)
7. Basketball-NBA finals
8. Golf-Master's
9.Badminton
10. Motorcycling
11. Cycling (Tour d'France)
12. Ice Hockey (IIHF World Championships-Russia versus Canada with Russia winning)(Not Stanley Cup)
13. Team Handball
14.NASCAR-Daytona
15.Cricket

http://www.economist.com/daily/chartgallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15491106&fsrc=rss

National Identity

France requires newcomers to France to sign a declaration of national values.
What a concept.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8505751.stm

Avatar in Reality

A British company is going against the wishes of some locals and attempting to extract ores in India.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/09/india.avatar.tribe/index.html?eref=rss_world&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_world+%28RSS%3A+World%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Obama and Assassinations

Not only is Obama pursuing a policy of drone attacks on Pakistan (started by Bush) which target suspected Al Qaeda but usually kill innocent civilians as collateral damage. Not only has Obama expanded the war on terror by sending US troops into Pakistan. But Obama has also continued a policy that makes it OK to assassinate US citizens overseas, with any "due process".

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/9/obama_administration_us_forces_can_assassinate
It is astonishing really. Here is a President, elected by many who condemn Bush for "torture" (scaring people-arguably without any physical trauma), who supports assassinations of US citizens. Where is the outrage?

Birthers

I am not a birther and secretly wish that they would just go away as anti-conservatives use them to define conseratives. But apparently the roots of the Birther conspiracy theory is from the Hilary Clinton supporters who tried to smear Obama with it in 2008.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-08/the-secret-history-of-the-birthers/full/