Thursday, October 19, 2006

Politically Incorrect A, B, Cs

An individual, whose wife is a teacher of young children, notes that alphabet charts have become more politically correct since the days he spent in school.  For example, “I is for Indian” is no longer an acceptable illustration to reinforce the memorization of that particular letter.

Though the politically incorrect alphabet will not be showing up in any of the nation’s indoctrination centers for young children, the alphabet could, as the developer states,

...make (a) - ed.) nice set of flash cards to give to new parents you’d like to offend, but with subtlety.

Via Fred Lapides site GoodShit.

Posted by John Venlet on 10/19 at 05:57 AM
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Online Oracles

Oracles, those ancient diviners of future events, appear to be making a comeback, via the internet.

This new feature places PicksPal among a small number of Web sites seeking to turn the wisdom of the Internet on its head by sifting through its vast number of users to identify a handful of experts. If this novel approach withstands scrutiny, the reverberations could extend well beyond sports betting to include stock trading, popular culture and other realms.

I wonder if the next group of experts to be gathered via the internet, complete with videos, will be haruspices?

The article noting this development is titled The Top Pickers vs. the Pack and was published in the Washington Post.

Posted by John Venlet on 10/19 at 05:31 AM
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Pie Hole Economics

Martin B. Schmidt, a professor of economics at William and Mary College, has penned an oped for the New York Times titled Super Tax Me.

You see, the professor is concerned about obesity, and the fast food industry’s alleged culpability in what is considered a ballooning problem in the nation.  Too many fat people.

Schmidt’s cellulite laden idea is, of course, a new tax.

We could tax the drive-through purchases at, say, 10 percent, while leaving the purchase of walk-in meals alone. At the very least, it may entice some to park and walk rather than waiting in the car.

Though Schmidt acknowledges that just such a measure impinges on personal responsibility, and adds another chore for the nannies in the growing nanny state under which we live, he brushes those concerns aside, by noting that, hey, the state taxes cigarettes because they are detrimental to individuals’ health, why not fast food purchased at the drive through.

If one desired to take Schmidt’s ill advice to its natural conclusion, one could then propose to tax not only fast food purchased at the drive through, but donut shop purchases, ice cream shop purchases, heck every snack food no matter where it may be purchased.  Or, say, tax every labor saving device manufactured, like leaf blowers or power lawn mowers, or, outlaw remote control devices for teevees and such, or promulgate a law which states if you work within five (5) miles of your home you must walk to and from work.  Or, better yet, simply tax each and every individual for every pound of weight they carry which is over and above the government’s listed ideal height/weight charts.

Taxing items, no matter what they are, is not a solution to obesity.  Keeping one’s pie hole free of excessive consumption, is.

Posted by John Venlet on 10/19 at 04:42 AM
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Gleeful Robber

Watch this video, within which you can view Robert Byrd “leer"ing, as Billy Beck states, about being the “Big Daddy” with bags of money pilfered from you and I via the Congress.  Also, listen to, what Richard Nikoley labels as the “chortling,” of the minions lapping up Byrd’s words as they wait to divvy up the booty Byrd has conjured.

Be disturbed.

Posted by John Venlet on 10/19 at 04:14 AM
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Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Big Brother Watching You

Here’s the headline.

FBI director wants ISPs to track users

I think you all know how I feel about that.  Bah!

But what really spurred me to post this, are the following words FBI Director Robert Mueller uttered in his speech to the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Boston.

"All too often, we find that before we can catch these offenders, Internet service providers have unwittingly deleted the very records that would help us identify these offenders and protect future victims,” Mueller said.

How, exactly, does one “protect future victims?” If you’ve been victimized, you haven’t been protected.

Posted by John Venlet on 10/18 at 06:41 AM
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Evolutionary Headstart, The Genetic Upper Class

Dr. Oliver Curry has recently proposed, theoretically of course, an updated evolutionary theory.  Based upon Dr. Curry’s theory, I, and my children, very well may have a leg up on those individuals who do not possess the genetic traits of being “tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative.”

The traits noted by Dr. Curry, run in my family.  No one in my family is under 5’ 10” tall (my mum is 5’ 10” as is one of my two sisters, the other sister is 6’ even), none of my brothers (I have five) are under 6’ 2”, and my twin sons are already pushing past the 6’ mark, most of us are on the slim side, we’re all in good health, attractive (okay, that one is subjective), intelligent, and creative.  Oh, and we all tan easily, which may be important, as Dr. Curry’s theory also postulates that the genetically favored well be “coffee-coloured.” I guess we’ve all got a evolutionary headstart to be part of the human master race.

Human master race is on way

Posted by John Venlet on 10/18 at 04:56 AM
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Specious Complaint, or, It's Hell Flying "Steerage"

Writing in the Washington Post, columnist Ruth Marcus pens a complaint about private sector efficiency.  Not that she relishes writing a complaint, she states in the piece, but becuase she desires to highlight the efficiency of government.

But I am not in Italy, and I want to share the story of how I almost made it and then didn’t. Not for the unattractive pleasure of complaining in print: As calamities go, even vacation calamities, this one doesn’t amount to a hill of fava beans. But my tale of travel woe does say something about the unexpected capacity of government, so maligned for bureaucratic inertia, to perform with astonishing competence, and the inability or unwillingness of the private sector, so glorified for its supposed efficiency, to do the same.

Her praise of government efficiency hinges upon how quickly she was able to have her expired passport brought back into date.  It only took 4 hours or so.  Not bad.

Her complaint, allegedly, is lodged against the airlines, but not the TSA, for long lines at the ticket counter, and security chokepoints, where each and every individual is subjected to the TSA game of 20 questions, and the luggage search, with their shoes off.

She doesn’t blame the TSA for the long lines at the security chokepoint, because that’s not the TSA’s fault, it’s the airlines fault, because the airline “administers” the lines.

But is Ms. Marcus actually praising government efficiency, and dissing private airline efficiency in this piece?  I don’t think so.  I think Ms. Marcus is actually put out by the fact that first class and business traveler class passengers receive faster chokepoint service than what she calls the “steerage” class.

The security line for economy class stretched nearly the full length of the terminal. As the minutes sped by, I asked one agent, and then another, in increasingly beseeching tones, whether they could help. Nothing doing. In the meantime, I watched the “premium passengers”—brandishing their first-class and business-class tickets—whiz right by the rest of us in steerage.

And then a bit further down from the above quote, Ms. Marcus once again jabs her pen at those priviliged first class and business class travelers, but under the guise of those long chokepoint lines.

And United’s attitude that it has no control over long security lines isn’t exactly accurate. The Transportation Security Administration screens passengers but, infuriatingly, leaves it to airlines to administer the lines. Hence the business and first-class travelers sped through, while the rest of us waited.

Ms. Marcus piece is titled Why I’m Not Under The Tuscan Sun

Posted by John Venlet on 10/18 at 04:07 AM
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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Not in My Backyard (NIMBY), Gitmo

Recall, if you will, all the NIMBY campaigns which were so prevalent in the late 1990s, and are even waged today?  NIMBY was even given official government sanction in Executive Order 12,898 and Title VI in Ocotber 2003.

Well, evidently, NIMBY mentality has swept the globe, at least when it comes to Guantanamo Bay and the current incarcerated residents within its gates.

According to documents made public this month in London, officials there recently rejected a U.S. offer to transfer 10 former British residents from Guantanamo to the United Kingdom, arguing that it would be too expensive to keep them under surveillance. Britain has also staved off a legal challenge by the relatives of some prisoners who sued to require the British government to seek their release.

Other European governments, which have been equally vocal in assailing Guantanamo as a human rights liability, have also balked at accepting prisoner transfers. A Turkish citizen who was born and raised in Germany was finally permitted to return from Guantanamo in August, four years after the German government turned down a U.S. proposal to release him.

In addition, virtually every country in Europe refused to grant asylum to several Guantanamo prisoners from China who were not being sent home because of fears they could face political harassment there. The Balkan nation of Albania agreed to take in five of the Chinese in May, but only after more than 100 other nations rebuffed U.S. pleas to accept them on humanitarian grounds, State Department officials said.

I think nuclear waste would be easier to get rid of.

U.S. Faces Obstacles To Freeing Detainees

Via Best of the Web.

Posted by John Venlet on 10/17 at 01:24 PM
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Individual Rights Trumped by "Public Health"

Individual rights continue to take a shellacking from “public” officials, in this instance very close to my home.

Grand Rapids City Commissioners have voted to snuff out smoking in public gathering places and private businesses.

The question came down to individual rights versus public health, with the latter coming out on top.

Though the Grand Rapids’ City Commission is not, at this time, imposing their will, for the public good of course, on bars, restaurants, or hotels, it goes without saying that individual rights are merely a nuisance to the powers that be.

Grand Rapids City Commission approves smoking ban

Posted by John Venlet on 10/17 at 11:46 AM
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Bono Isn't a Robin Hood, He's a Hypocrite

Bono, the front man for U2, comes across to many of his fans as a Robin Hood type character.  You know, taking from the rich to give to the poor, like politicians would have us “believe” is the role they play.

And politicians love to make nicey nice with Bono because it gives them prime face time, not only with the public at large, but with U2’s fan base, that ordinarily they would in all likelihood miss out on.  Photo op!

One of Bono’s favorite causes is the elimination of poverty.  A worthy cause, indeed, but Bono’s modus operandi for this endeavor is typically associated with either additional government outlays in the form of financial aid, or, forgiving of poor countries’ debts, which is, once again, only a government function, not an individual’s.

Each of the above endeavors always comes at the expense of taxpayers, whose pockets politicians always consider as their own, rather than the individual’s possession. 

As individual wage earners, most people attempt to limit their tax liability, which is understandable.  I do the same.  What gets me, though, is when the shillers for more government aid for this, or more government aid for that, especially those whose incomes are far beyond the average wage, shill for more government aid, and more government aid, while at the same time assiduously attempting to limit their own personal tax liability, which could very well be utilized for the government aid being shilled for.

Bono and company are no different than the shillers referenced above.

Bono, the rock star and campaigner against Third World debt, is asking the Irish government to contribute more to Africa. At the same time, he’s reducing tax payments that could help fund that aid.

I’ve never much cared for Bono’s constant harping for more and more government involvement, because the monies Bono was always “boogin” various governments for was coming from individuals’ pockets.  I was prepared to give Bono a pass on this when he and Oprah began the Red campaign, because at least in the “Red” campaign the funds for AIDS assistance would be coming from dollars individuals spent freely in the marketplace, but I don’t think I can anymore.

Bono, Preacher on Poverty, Tarnishes Halo With Irish Tax Move

Posted by John Venlet on 10/17 at 09:23 AM
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Voting, Frenzy

At the Mises Economics Blog, Gary Galles has penned a piece titled Reasons To Vote Debunked! which makes for an interesting read.  From Galles’ piece.

"If you don’t vote, you don’t care about America.” No amount of care justifies voting if that vote doesn’t alter the outcome. Abstaining has been common since the foundation of our country (although unlike today, it then largely reflected the fact that the government had little power to hurt or help you), when new citizens who had risked their lives to create it cared a great deal.

Posted by John Venlet on 10/17 at 05:43 AM
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The Official Party Wine

According to the Boston Globe, one of the more decisive issues in the upcoming circus known as the November elections is whether or not to allow grocery stores to sell wine.

The professional jobholders’ position within Massachusetts is that allowing grocery stores to sell wine creates an “enforcement” problem.

Eddie J. Jenkins , the chairman of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, and Ted Mahony , the agency’s chief investigator, issued statements saying that such a law would undermine their enforcement efforts.

Which means, of course, the state is simply concerned with their ability to gain alcohol sales revenue, through force.

This does not mean, naturally, that the state is not concerned for the children.

Mahony in his statement said: `I am opposed to Question 1 because it would make alcohol more accessible to underage persons and will dramatically increase the availability of alcohol in Massachusetts."

Tired old clichés continue to be the chief carnival bark for the November circus.

State liquor officials blast wine-sales ballot question

Posted by John Venlet on 10/17 at 05:12 AM
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Momentum Is Not Inevitable

Is there such a thing as political momentum?  I’m certain both the Repubs and Dems wish there is such a thing as political momentutm, due to their thirst for power and control in those halls of Congress.  Unfortunately, momentum is simply another lucky rabbitt’s foot, lovingly stroked for its supernatural properties in an effort to bring about events which may, or may not occur.

Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Steve Chapman also casts a jaundiced eye on momentum in a piece titled A fictional concept that is gathering momentum.

From Chapman’s piece.

The concept is hard to resist. Start a boulder rolling down a hill, and it will keep rolling unless something arrests its progress. Humans make sense of the world by looking for causes and patterns, and when we see something happen, we often assume it will keep happening.

There are plenty of examples when that assumption seems to pan out: A political party leading in the polls in October proceeds to win in November. The Dow Jones average rises one week and then rises again the next. The baseball team that wins the first two games goes on to take the best-of-seven series.

But the momentum that people use to explain these events is an illusion. Obviously, trends happen. Some people get disillusioned with the party in power, and then others do the same. But that doesn’t mean the first occurrence led inevitably to the second.

Posted by John Venlet on 10/17 at 04:46 AM
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Monday, October 16, 2006

Michigan Power Grid Report

Yesterday morning, at about 7:57 A.M., as I walked in the back door of my home to refill my coffee cup, I lost power.  I was somewhat surprised at this, because I had been outdoors eyeing the sunrise (7:55 A.M.), through mostly clear skies, and just a hint of a breeze was ruffling the leaves on the trees.

I couldn’t imagine why I had lost power, but, to ensure there wasn’t an issue with my electrical service panel, I headed down the basement and checked to make sure all of the breakers were good to go.  They were.

I then dialed up my electrical utility supplier, to report the outage, and was informed, via their automated system, that thousands of Michigan customers were without power due to, of all things, severe weather.

I couldn’t quite figure that one out, since I had been sitting outdoors for a half hour or so, in just the slightest of breezes, and clear skies, watching the sunrise.

I guess the following headline explains it all, regardless of the automated message’s placing the blame for my lack of electricity on severe weather.

A Power-Grid Report Suggests Some Dark Days Ahead

Posted by John Venlet on 10/16 at 10:35 AM
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Redaction on Nobel Peace Prize Posts

I mentioned Muhammad Yunus, and the Grameen Bank, being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize here, and here, in a positive light, but, unfortunately, I must retract some of the enthusiasm I previously exhibited.

Though I still think the concept of providing microfinanced loans to the poor, without state (government) involvement has merit, further reading on the subject, specifically in regards to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, leads me to conclude that the lending programs spearheaded by Yunus and Grameen Bank are not as benevolent, or free from state (government) interventions, as I had previously thought.

Contrary to legend, Yunus wasn’t an independent entrepreneur when he started his bank. He used his personal wealth and high-level connections to arrange special privileges and millions in subsidies. Before the Grameen Bank lent one Taka, he had government backing for fully 60% of its operations.

Additionally, those individuals who receive loans from Grameen Bank must adhere to what are termed the 16 Decisions. The 16 Decisions, though mostly offering sound advice for the poor, stray into collectivist territory.  For example, number 13,

We shall collectively undertake bigger investments for higher incomes.

and number 16,

We shall take part in all social activities collectively.

Other portions of the 16 Decisions, such as number 7,

We shall educate our children and ensure that they can earn to pay for their education.

and number 12,

We shall not inflict any injustice on anyone, neither shall we allow anyone to do so.

are sound, but, the way the Decisions are inculcated into those who borrow from Grameen Bank, leads one to think, as Jeffrey Tucker states in a piece he wrote in 1999 titled Microcredit Meltdown, that Yunus and Grameen Bank are “cult-like.”

Jeffrey Tucker has also penned a more recent piece on microfinancing, titled The Micro-Credit Cult, which has lead to this redaction.

My apologies for not being aware of the whole story, prior to my previous posts.  Though I think the microfinancing concept is good, the methodolgy, at least in regards to Yunus and Grameen Bank, is lacking.

Link to Tucker pieces via LewRockwell.com Blog.

Posted by John Venlet on 10/16 at 07:36 AM
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