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You want to fix our National Gloom?
If you really want to improve education in this country, then improve the quality of life for all.
Let prisoners in jails earn money by learning to read and write using fun software developed over 20 years ago by IBM, “Writing to Read.”, and then taking classes on line and passing tests for cash rewards, 1/2 of which is sent to their families on the outside, 35% is placed in savings accounts, 10% to victims funds, and 5% which is available to spend in prison.
Pass a simple law that says the most highly compensated individual in any organization cannot receive more in gross compensation than 5,000 times what the least paid USA employee makes. Outsourcing of work cannot be done using any sub-corporation that works more than 50% of the time for the parent corp, just to stop that obvious loophole.
If top exec makes $10,000,000 gross, then the least paid employee must make at least $20,000.
Cut the corporate taxes, of all companies totally based in the USA, who employ 1,000 employees or more, all employees certified USA citizens, by 10%, 500 to 999, by 20%, 250 to 499 by 30%, 100 to 249, by 40%, 2 or more non related employees by 50% ( but only where 50% or more of the employees are non related).
This would be a tax cut for corporations that would stimulate the USA economy, instead of making the mattresses of the überrich fat and lumpy.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Favorite Sailing Quotes
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Life is a voyage in which we choose neither vessel nor weather, but much can be done in the management of the sails and the guidance of the helm."
"I know that I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination."
"Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made."
~Robert Rose
There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
~Kenneth Grahame
"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it - but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor."
~Oliver Wendel Holmes
"On life's vast ocean diversely we sail, reason the cord, but passion is the gale."
~Alexander Pope
"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."
~William Arthur Ward
"The gods do not deduct from a man's allotted life span, those days spent sailing."
~Ancient proverb
"The true peace of God begins a thousand miles from the nearest land."
~Joseph Conrad
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed in the things that you didn't do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
~Mark Twain
"For the truth is that I already know as much about my fate as I know. The day will come when I will die. So the only matter of consequence before me is what I will do with my allotted time. I can reamin on shore, paralyzed with fear, or I can raise my sails and dip and soar in the breeze."
~Richard Bode
Life is a voyage in which we choose neither vessel nor weather, but much can be done in the management of the sails and the guidance of the helm."
"I know that I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination."
"Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made."
~Robert Rose
There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
~Kenneth Grahame
"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it - but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor."
~Oliver Wendel Holmes
"On life's vast ocean diversely we sail, reason the cord, but passion is the gale."
~Alexander Pope
"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."
~William Arthur Ward
"The gods do not deduct from a man's allotted life span, those days spent sailing."
~Ancient proverb
"The true peace of God begins a thousand miles from the nearest land."
~Joseph Conrad
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed in the things that you didn't do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
~Mark Twain
"For the truth is that I already know as much about my fate as I know. The day will come when I will die. So the only matter of consequence before me is what I will do with my allotted time. I can reamin on shore, paralyzed with fear, or I can raise my sails and dip and soar in the breeze."
~Richard Bode
Sunday, August 07, 2011
What Can be Done About the Tea Party?
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We are the baby sitters/substitute teachers for the hopelessly infantile members of the Tea Party. Get used to it, they're never going to change. Some folks are just genetically predisposed to need authoritarian leaders who tell them just exactly how their world's shall run. Studies done after WWII show this. About 1/6th to 1/4qtr of the population...
We are the baby sitters/substitute teachers for the hopelessly infantile members of the Tea Party. Get used to it, they're never going to change. Some folks are just genetically predisposed to need authoritarian leaders who tell them just exactly how their world's shall run. Studies done after WWII show this. About 1/6th to 1/4qtr of the population...
Friday, August 05, 2011
What is the Tea Party?
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This is from a debate currently going on at George Rebane's blog.
"So are we then done with the debate as to whether the tea party, per se, has/promotes a social agenda?"
not so fast.
Is the Tea Party, per se (Latin for through itself) merely the words of the tenants on paper?
Or is it the living breathing life spirit of all it's members and their own multiple agendas, which share many points in common?
If you wish to comparmentalize the Tea Party as being merely a few abstract words written on paper, then maybe you are correct. But, if you wish to capture the living breathing essence of the Tea Party movement, then you must add in the additional constellations of attitudes that most hold in common, along with their avowed allegiance to those few written words.
So which is it George, Todd, Dave, Mickey, and the rest:
The Tea Party is merely an allegiance to three to four lines on paper?
or:
The Tea Party consists of many fully faceted humans who share far more in the way of belief systems than just those 3 or 4 lines?
"Hump or Die"
~ Mel Brooks ~
For an in depth look at the sociology of the Tea Party, please read this article:
http://blogs.reuters.com/chrystia-freeland/2011/07/11/scenes-from-the-tea-party/
Kudos to Michael Ballachey, and his dad, a prof at UC Berkeley, in the Sociology Dept.
This is from a debate currently going on at George Rebane's blog.
"So are we then done with the debate as to whether the tea party, per se, has/promotes a social agenda?"
not so fast.
Is the Tea Party, per se (Latin for through itself) merely the words of the tenants on paper?
Or is it the living breathing life spirit of all it's members and their own multiple agendas, which share many points in common?
If you wish to comparmentalize the Tea Party as being merely a few abstract words written on paper, then maybe you are correct. But, if you wish to capture the living breathing essence of the Tea Party movement, then you must add in the additional constellations of attitudes that most hold in common, along with their avowed allegiance to those few written words.
So which is it George, Todd, Dave, Mickey, and the rest:
The Tea Party is merely an allegiance to three to four lines on paper?
or:
The Tea Party consists of many fully faceted humans who share far more in the way of belief systems than just those 3 or 4 lines?
"Hump or Die"
~ Mel Brooks ~
For an in depth look at the sociology of the Tea Party, please read this article:
http://blogs.reuters.com/chrystia-freeland/2011/07/11/scenes-from-the-tea-party/
Kudos to Michael Ballachey, and his dad, a prof at UC Berkeley, in the Sociology Dept.
Quick test
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Does this work here.
natural gas subsidies
I hope so.
Does this work here.
natural gas subsidies
I hope so.
Tea Party Demographics, Excellent Article!
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http://blogs.reuters.com/chrystia-freeland/2011/07/11/scenes-from-the-tea-party/
Todd Juvinall wrote: ""I haven't seen a "leader" of the TPP nationally citing social policies which are on the "platform". Could Keachie supply that for us so we can then see whey he and Crabb are alleging?"
Which inspired me to find the above link and then write the following on George Rebane's blog:
"Since the Tea Party represents a very wide spectrum of political views and opinions on social policies, it should be a piece of cake for ToddJ to find a leader in that party who is either pro abortion or pro immigration in their non official Tea Party capacities. I suppose that Sarah Palin, who appears to be a Tea Party supporter, is not going to make the "A" list on these issues.
I have found you over a thousand images of Tea Party supporters who are on one side of those issues, let's see you find one such image for the other side.
Would you like to take bets on my probably half life if I tried to march in a Tea Party parade with a sign that said, "I'm a Tea Party member and I support open borders and abortion on demand."
Now that brings up a very interesting question, who decides who is and who is not a Tea Party member? If I support the three or four main tenants of the party, which I suspect both I and Crabb do, is there ANY reason I could not declare myself a member of the Tea Party? I actually was on the mailing,list for awhile, until they figured out who I was. Who kicked me off?
No social agenda? HA! The Tea Party interpretation of the Constitution is a very strong social agenda in itself, and "no taxes/smaller government," establishes a strong social agenda against those who need help, education, and mass transportation."
http://blogs.reuters.com/chrystia-freeland/2011/07/11/scenes-from-the-tea-party/
Todd Juvinall wrote: ""I haven't seen a "leader" of the TPP nationally citing social policies which are on the "platform". Could Keachie supply that for us so we can then see whey he and Crabb are alleging?"
Which inspired me to find the above link and then write the following on George Rebane's blog:
"Since the Tea Party represents a very wide spectrum of political views and opinions on social policies, it should be a piece of cake for ToddJ to find a leader in that party who is either pro abortion or pro immigration in their non official Tea Party capacities. I suppose that Sarah Palin, who appears to be a Tea Party supporter, is not going to make the "A" list on these issues.
I have found you over a thousand images of Tea Party supporters who are on one side of those issues, let's see you find one such image for the other side.
Would you like to take bets on my probably half life if I tried to march in a Tea Party parade with a sign that said, "I'm a Tea Party member and I support open borders and abortion on demand."
Now that brings up a very interesting question, who decides who is and who is not a Tea Party member? If I support the three or four main tenants of the party, which I suspect both I and Crabb do, is there ANY reason I could not declare myself a member of the Tea Party? I actually was on the mailing,list for awhile, until they figured out who I was. Who kicked me off?
No social agenda? HA! The Tea Party interpretation of the Constitution is a very strong social agenda in itself, and "no taxes/smaller government," establishes a strong social agenda against those who need help, education, and mass transportation."
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Tea Party Logic and the Common Person, FAIL!
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If the government needs to pay all its bills up front, then why not the average American? In particular:
"I think all houses should be paid for in full up front. None of this namby pamby mortgage stuff. That is not a balanced budget at all."
Does that make it clear how stupid the TeaSnotters are about the Giant Booger Ball they've bungled the budget into?
If the government needs to pay all its bills up front, then why not the average American? In particular:
"I think all houses should be paid for in full up front. None of this namby pamby mortgage stuff. That is not a balanced budget at all."
Does that make it clear how stupid the TeaSnotters are about the Giant Booger Ball they've bungled the budget into?
Thursday, July 28, 2011
New Target for the DEA, Cariboo Potatos
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Joanne Will TheTyee.ca British Columbia Canada October 29, 2009
Why was this tuber illegal? Photo: Jenn Pentland. In 1982, while searching for Cariboo seed, Jerry LeBourdais wrote to the Ministry of Agriculture and was told, "the variety Cariboo can no longer be sold under any name and cannot be grown as seed." The letter continued: "I suggest that you select and grow varieties that can be legally grown in Canada." The Cariboo isn't the only potato to have its own underground movement. Currently, momentum is building to save the Nooksak potato. The Makah Nation of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington has been gardening the Ozette potato -- named for a Makah community -- since at least 1791, the date when it is believed the potato was brought from South America by Spanish explorers. Likewise, Haida Nation growers raise a fingerling variety, the Haida potato, which may have been acquired by trade or travel even before the Haida met their first Europeans.
When Jerry LeBourdais learned that big agribusiness couldn't handle the Cariboo potato, he knew he'd found a variety that he wanted to support. The name didn't hurt either. If there was a potato out there named "Cariboo," it had a natural home on the back-to-the-land commune near Williams Lake that LeBourdais had founded. All he needed was some seed. It sounded simple enough. "Jerry wanted to get a hold of some, and asked me where," recalls John Ryser, a prize-winning seed potato farmer who lives south of Prince George. Ryser told him it wouldn't be easy, because the potato had been decertified for seed production in 1976. By the time LeBourdais came calling in 1983, the Cariboo spud had been banned for seven years and Ryser had given up growing the variety. "I kept the Cariboo going for years," says Ryser. "The big cheeses de-listed it because it would hang on to the vines." Government officials may prohibit varieties for reasons ranging from disease susceptibility to a tendency to snarl farm equipment; industrial potato farmers want plants that harvest easily with machinery. "Once a variety is de-listed, if you grow it, they'll cancel your seed grower's licence." But chance and luck launched a new chapter in the history of the Cariboo potato. During a spring meeting at the government experimental farm in Prince George in 1984, a visiting horticulturalist showed up with samples of all kinds of varieties, including Cariboo potatoes from the former Vancouver Research Station in Pemberton. "Before it was all done, I got four or five of his six Cariboo potatoes and gave them to Jerry," says Ryser. "Then Jerry got in hot water because he was bragging about it, and they started calling it the 'Outlaw Potato.'"
The Cariboo region is known today for beef and alfalfa, but a richer farming history stretches back to the gold rush of the early 1860s. Settlers began farming to feed the miners, who otherwise had to pay a premium for whatever fresh foods could survive being mule-hauled up the Cariboo wagon road. The Cariboo gained a reputation for quality potatoes, explains Denis Kirkham, a retired seed potato specialist who worked in B.C. for the federal Ministry of Agriculture for four decades. In the "heyday" years after World War Two, he says, there were 35 seed potato growers in a belt spanning from McCleese Lake, just north of Williams Lake, to Hixon, just south of Price George. Yet the Cariboo potato itself has roots about as far from gold-rush country as you can get without leaving Canada. The variety was first bred at the federal Potato Research Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick, which each year sent seed potatoes out to be tested at a network of experimental farms nationwide. In 1963, one such variety did unusually well in central British Columbia's tough climate. Mike Van Adrichem, then a horticulturalist with the Prince George experimental farm, gave it the Cariboo name. It became popular just as small-scale farming in the region began to face its most challenging times. ...
It took a rebel to go up against the tide of history. Jerry LeBourdais, who died in 2004, came from a pioneer Cariboo family and was a lifelong social activist, leading a strike at the Burnaby refinery in his early years and later running several times for political office. Yet today, he might be most widely remembered as the Cariboo potato's greatest promoter. "They grow really well for the northern region," says Jerry's daughter Lorraine LeBourdais. "They're a beautiful white potato, almost yellow, with pink eyes. They have smooth skin, and they grow tall -- you can pick them out in a patch because they're half a foot taller than other varieties. They pull out and then fall off the vine easily, which is exactly what you want for hand harvesting, but they're a nuisance for commercial harvesting -- they tangle in the harvester," says Lorraine. Cariboo potatoes are also known as excellent keepers, with a good size, shape and texture for baking. ...
Joanne Will TheTyee.ca British Columbia Canada October 29, 2009
Why was this tuber illegal? Photo: Jenn Pentland. In 1982, while searching for Cariboo seed, Jerry LeBourdais wrote to the Ministry of Agriculture and was told, "the variety Cariboo can no longer be sold under any name and cannot be grown as seed." The letter continued: "I suggest that you select and grow varieties that can be legally grown in Canada." The Cariboo isn't the only potato to have its own underground movement. Currently, momentum is building to save the Nooksak potato. The Makah Nation of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington has been gardening the Ozette potato -- named for a Makah community -- since at least 1791, the date when it is believed the potato was brought from South America by Spanish explorers. Likewise, Haida Nation growers raise a fingerling variety, the Haida potato, which may have been acquired by trade or travel even before the Haida met their first Europeans.
When Jerry LeBourdais learned that big agribusiness couldn't handle the Cariboo potato, he knew he'd found a variety that he wanted to support. The name didn't hurt either. If there was a potato out there named "Cariboo," it had a natural home on the back-to-the-land commune near Williams Lake that LeBourdais had founded. All he needed was some seed. It sounded simple enough. "Jerry wanted to get a hold of some, and asked me where," recalls John Ryser, a prize-winning seed potato farmer who lives south of Prince George. Ryser told him it wouldn't be easy, because the potato had been decertified for seed production in 1976. By the time LeBourdais came calling in 1983, the Cariboo spud had been banned for seven years and Ryser had given up growing the variety. "I kept the Cariboo going for years," says Ryser. "The big cheeses de-listed it because it would hang on to the vines." Government officials may prohibit varieties for reasons ranging from disease susceptibility to a tendency to snarl farm equipment; industrial potato farmers want plants that harvest easily with machinery. "Once a variety is de-listed, if you grow it, they'll cancel your seed grower's licence." But chance and luck launched a new chapter in the history of the Cariboo potato. During a spring meeting at the government experimental farm in Prince George in 1984, a visiting horticulturalist showed up with samples of all kinds of varieties, including Cariboo potatoes from the former Vancouver Research Station in Pemberton. "Before it was all done, I got four or five of his six Cariboo potatoes and gave them to Jerry," says Ryser. "Then Jerry got in hot water because he was bragging about it, and they started calling it the 'Outlaw Potato.'"
The Cariboo region is known today for beef and alfalfa, but a richer farming history stretches back to the gold rush of the early 1860s. Settlers began farming to feed the miners, who otherwise had to pay a premium for whatever fresh foods could survive being mule-hauled up the Cariboo wagon road. The Cariboo gained a reputation for quality potatoes, explains Denis Kirkham, a retired seed potato specialist who worked in B.C. for the federal Ministry of Agriculture for four decades. In the "heyday" years after World War Two, he says, there were 35 seed potato growers in a belt spanning from McCleese Lake, just north of Williams Lake, to Hixon, just south of Price George. Yet the Cariboo potato itself has roots about as far from gold-rush country as you can get without leaving Canada. The variety was first bred at the federal Potato Research Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick, which each year sent seed potatoes out to be tested at a network of experimental farms nationwide. In 1963, one such variety did unusually well in central British Columbia's tough climate. Mike Van Adrichem, then a horticulturalist with the Prince George experimental farm, gave it the Cariboo name. It became popular just as small-scale farming in the region began to face its most challenging times. ...
It took a rebel to go up against the tide of history. Jerry LeBourdais, who died in 2004, came from a pioneer Cariboo family and was a lifelong social activist, leading a strike at the Burnaby refinery in his early years and later running several times for political office. Yet today, he might be most widely remembered as the Cariboo potato's greatest promoter. "They grow really well for the northern region," says Jerry's daughter Lorraine LeBourdais. "They're a beautiful white potato, almost yellow, with pink eyes. They have smooth skin, and they grow tall -- you can pick them out in a patch because they're half a foot taller than other varieties. They pull out and then fall off the vine easily, which is exactly what you want for hand harvesting, but they're a nuisance for commercial harvesting -- they tangle in the harvester," says Lorraine. Cariboo potatoes are also known as excellent keepers, with a good size, shape and texture for baking. ...
A Dog's Eye View of Hot Summer Nights, 7/27/2011
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/keachie/sets/72157627302824420/detail/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/keachie/sets/72157627302824420/detail/
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Hopeful Agnosticism Explained.
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Let's not forget us Hopeful Agnostics, the world's simplest explanation of existence after the body's molecules all agree to disagree and go their separate ways.
After death, 3 possibilities:
worse,
same,
or better.
2 out of three is not bad odds, and there is no reliable information available to weigh any possibility any higher than any other.
Let's not forget us Hopeful Agnostics, the world's simplest explanation of existence after the body's molecules all agree to disagree and go their separate ways.
After death, 3 possibilities:
worse,
same,
or better.
2 out of three is not bad odds, and there is no reliable information available to weigh any possibility any higher than any other.
Friday, July 22, 2011
CABPRO, Nuts and Bolts, and Never Taught Business/Legal Acumen
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I will confess to being addicted to the B&C nuts and bolts aisle. For the specialty items on the wall, they beat out Home Depot every time. I used a more convenient Fox Hardware in Marysville the other day, until I noticed Wonderboard at $19.95 a sheet when it was at $7.95 in HD.
I think kids in high school need a special course that covers what owners of businesses like B&C pass on down to their kids, about the art of doing business. Let’s start with automotive businesses where the journeymen make at most $30/hour when the bossman charges $90/hour. Then move on to the business that is “always broke, no money for higher salaries, don’t pay myself nuthin more than I pay you” but the owner’s equity in the building and inventory increases every month.
This stuff is well hid for the self interests of those who own those businesses, and will never be taught in schools, much as the lawyers in the legislatures will never tax the legal settlements earned by using the court systems, for the support of those systems. Guess who gains the most when the courtrooms are full and a lawyer has 5 clients cooling their heels at the same time, while he collect $180/hour from each of them? Lawyers as a class have no interest in speedy and well funded court systems. No wonder they control the legislatures, as an occupation, more than any other group. There ought to be a law eliminating such one-sidedness, occupationally, in the legislatures.
Lawyers, however, are as dependent on the court system for income as the truckers who pay gasoline taxes for the building and maintenance of the interstates and roads. Nobody complains about “double taxation” there, now do they? But every lawyer I’ve talked to about this, goes for that gun immediately.
END OF RAMBLING RANT..
I will confess to being addicted to the B&C nuts and bolts aisle. For the specialty items on the wall, they beat out Home Depot every time. I used a more convenient Fox Hardware in Marysville the other day, until I noticed Wonderboard at $19.95 a sheet when it was at $7.95 in HD.
I think kids in high school need a special course that covers what owners of businesses like B&C pass on down to their kids, about the art of doing business. Let’s start with automotive businesses where the journeymen make at most $30/hour when the bossman charges $90/hour. Then move on to the business that is “always broke, no money for higher salaries, don’t pay myself nuthin more than I pay you” but the owner’s equity in the building and inventory increases every month.
This stuff is well hid for the self interests of those who own those businesses, and will never be taught in schools, much as the lawyers in the legislatures will never tax the legal settlements earned by using the court systems, for the support of those systems. Guess who gains the most when the courtrooms are full and a lawyer has 5 clients cooling their heels at the same time, while he collect $180/hour from each of them? Lawyers as a class have no interest in speedy and well funded court systems. No wonder they control the legislatures, as an occupation, more than any other group. There ought to be a law eliminating such one-sidedness, occupationally, in the legislatures.
Lawyers, however, are as dependent on the court system for income as the truckers who pay gasoline taxes for the building and maintenance of the interstates and roads. Nobody complains about “double taxation” there, now do they? But every lawyer I’ve talked to about this, goes for that gun immediately.
END OF RAMBLING RANT..
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
What Passes for Journalism these Days...
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From a commenter at www.sfgate.com, on the Kahn rape case:
goodog
10:22 AM on July 5, 2011
Notice that the writer leaves this at He-said/She-said, and makes no effort whatsoever to evaluate the claims of either side of the story, as if they both have equal weight, and there's nothing else that's knowable.
At most, they will ask one side what the other side thinks and call it debate.
This is what the media calls balance, and it's used to prolong the product shelf-life of a story that could be ended by actual investigative reporting.
By not settling the argument, the so-called controversy survives another day to generate future ad revenue, instead of being settled.
From bogus WMD to the false red-blue dichotomy, the media is selling fake controversy and lazy sensationalism instead of objective reporting and rational analysis, because getting to the bottom of the story ends the story, and readers, viewers, listeners turn to other things.
Reply Reply
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Popularity: 2
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Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/07/05/national/a094547D49.DTL#ixzz1RFwduYx4
From a commenter at www.sfgate.com, on the Kahn rape case:
goodog
10:22 AM on July 5, 2011
Notice that the writer leaves this at He-said/She-said, and makes no effort whatsoever to evaluate the claims of either side of the story, as if they both have equal weight, and there's nothing else that's knowable.
At most, they will ask one side what the other side thinks and call it debate.
This is what the media calls balance, and it's used to prolong the product shelf-life of a story that could be ended by actual investigative reporting.
By not settling the argument, the so-called controversy survives another day to generate future ad revenue, instead of being settled.
From bogus WMD to the false red-blue dichotomy, the media is selling fake controversy and lazy sensationalism instead of objective reporting and rational analysis, because getting to the bottom of the story ends the story, and readers, viewers, listeners turn to other things.
Reply Reply
Recommend (5)
Disapprove (3)
Popularity: 2
Share | E-Mail | Permalink [Report Abuse]
Reply 1 reply
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/07/05/national/a094547D49.DTL#ixzz1RFwduYx4
Monday, July 04, 2011
Grass Valley Fourth of July Parade Fotos, 2011
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/keachie/collections/72157626993596879/
Here is a quick peek at more sets to come. Click on the set, then click on "details, then click on the pictures you wish to see, to make them bigger still. Please let me know where you repost them, thanks, Doug
http://www.flickr.com/photos/keachie/collections/72157626993596879/
Here is a quick peek at more sets to come. Click on the set, then click on "details, then click on the pictures you wish to see, to make them bigger still. Please let me know where you repost them, thanks, Doug
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Competition for Emgold, from the Ocean
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Mr Kato estimated that rare earths contained in the deposits amounted to 80 to 100 billion tonnes.
The US Geological Survey has estimated that global reserves are just 110 million tonnes, found mainly in China, Russia and other former Soviet countries, and the United States.
China's apparent monopoly of rare earth production enabled it to restrain supply last year during a territorial dispute with Japan.
Japan has since sought new sources of the rare earth minerals.
The Malaysian government is considering whether to allow the construction of an Australian-financed project to mine rare earths, in the face of local opposition focused on the fear of radioactive waste.
The number of firms seeking licences to dig through the Pacific Ocean floor is growing rapidly.
The listed mining company Nautilus has the first licence to mine the floor of the Bismarck and Solomon oceans around Papua New Guinea.
It will be recovering what is called seafloor massive sulphide, for its copper and gold content.
The prospect of deep sea mining for precious metals - and the damage that could do to marine ecosystems - is worrying environmentalists.
Mr Kato estimated that rare earths contained in the deposits amounted to 80 to 100 billion tonnes.
The US Geological Survey has estimated that global reserves are just 110 million tonnes, found mainly in China, Russia and other former Soviet countries, and the United States.
China's apparent monopoly of rare earth production enabled it to restrain supply last year during a territorial dispute with Japan.
Japan has since sought new sources of the rare earth minerals.
The Malaysian government is considering whether to allow the construction of an Australian-financed project to mine rare earths, in the face of local opposition focused on the fear of radioactive waste.
The number of firms seeking licences to dig through the Pacific Ocean floor is growing rapidly.
The listed mining company Nautilus has the first licence to mine the floor of the Bismarck and Solomon oceans around Papua New Guinea.
It will be recovering what is called seafloor massive sulphide, for its copper and gold content.
The prospect of deep sea mining for precious metals - and the damage that could do to marine ecosystems - is worrying environmentalists.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
My Long and Thoughful Response to Greg Goodknight, that Rebane's Blog Nearly Deleted
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Rebane asked for closing arguments, and then his blog software refused to "accept the data." I have changed the title of this post to be more precise. He apparently did not deliberately censor the post, but if I were running a blog with as many glitches as his, that was widely in use, (this one isn't) I would definitely have the courtesy to have an FAQ, that listed the hidden foxholes, so that people would not stumble into them. Being somewhat distrustful, especially with Greg Goodknight's calls to boot me off the blog, I copied the post before publishing it or even previewing it.
All sentiments represented in these posts are merely statements of my opinions, and may in fact have no basis in reality. Of course, depending on who you are and what your reality is, your milage may vary... Ripcord for parachute, to escape pesky lawyers, hired by foolish physicists.
I've already summed up several times, and Greg keeps on dragging out his old tired statistics without providing references.
His latest oft-repeated chestnut is:
"Then there's the Federal study that found that the lower the College Board scores of an incoming freshman in college, the higher the chance they'd be teaching 10 years after earning their baccalaureate. K-12 is not where strong students usually choose to have their careers. Probably the highest payout for the least ability, and a union to insure things like lack of competence doesn't interfere with a steady job and good retirement benefits."
For starters, this would seem to indicate that, having completed four years of college, and not all do, including many with higher SAT scores, you are more likely to be teaching than doing anything else. The reality is that there are three million or so teachers in this country. It is a very common profession, and one respected by most citizens, but obviously not Mr. Goodknight. BTW Greg, on your study, what other professions are listed, and once again, where is the link? And what do those other professions pay? More than teachers are paid? Architecture is the only one I know of that pays less.
"Probably the highest payout for the least ability"
What an interestind concept! So a Wall street banker who bags $20 million per year, as compared to a very high paid teacher who makes $100,000 per year, has a lower payout to ability ratio? Just how is that fudge factor statistic derived? Does Greg have a stash of secret formulas? Would you care to show us them, or is this just another typical Gregorian rant gratuitously defaming teachers and unions?
He implies that teachers are practically criminals, conspiring to defraud the public of their hard earned tax dollars, for no value received in return. His presented impressions of teachers as a whole seem to indicate a smug attitude of superiority as a spiritual being, over those who do choose the profession.
Low cunning, those teachers, just in it for a buck, any way they can get it. Not like honorable physicists who merely ask for donations, and are so good their followers shower them with private planes. Such a fairy tale, Greg, who do you think you are kidding? If you thought being a teacher would give you more than enough cash for your desired lifestyle, and you liked doing it, would you have refrained from doing it because of a union? Give me a break!
The real question here is, assuming the very best and brightest SAT graduates all went into teaching, and you booted out all the present teachers, except those like myself who were 90% or higher on their SATs, would this country receive much more for their money than they already do?
This of course would mean pulling all of these folks out of their current jobs as doctors, lawyers and rocket scientists, but after all, Greg insists on having the very best, SAT wise, in teaching. How much cultural inertia would the somewhat higher scoring be able to overcome to produce a nation of rocket scientists? All of it? 50% of it? 20% of it? How would you even know in advance? And most importantly, what is the overall ROI to be gained by such a rerouting of talent?
Greg has yet to show any studies that show that higher SAT teachers make for far better teachers. I'm moderately certain they exist, but Greg's real mission here is to argue for less money for public schools, and he shamelessly uses arguments he knows to be false in the context he references. For this I have no respect, as Greg is obviously smart enough to know what he is trying to pull.
If Greg really thought attracting the higher SAT scoring completers of BA's and BS's, then he'd be arguing for more money for teachers, in both public and private schools, but he never does that. Charter schools have been a round for some time now, and private schools for centuries, but the concept of "merit pay" always hits a double paned glass ceiling: No teacher is allowed to make more than his boss, and no teacher, k12, makes over $200,000 per year. I've challenged Greg in the past to find exceptions, and he always, "moves on to greener pastures," safe from the spotlight of our cultural realities, and his own internal inconsistencies.
If Greg wishes to make snide remarks about teachers in general or myself in particular, in other threads, I will again defend both myself and the profession.
DONE
Footnote:
For me the profession was a fall back, but one encouraged by several of my classmates, who were pursuing it, including one who managed 5 800's on a bank of SAT's, taken in one day. My original intentions were to get a PhD in ethnographic cinematography, and produe historial documents and teach, at the college level, but the birth of a child and then a divorce rather soon iced those ambitions, as I was not independently wealthy, and 16 mm film ran $4/minute, and child support and joint custody took up a lot of time, and, in the long run, have more value.
Rebane asked for closing arguments, and then his blog software refused to "accept the data." I have changed the title of this post to be more precise. He apparently did not deliberately censor the post, but if I were running a blog with as many glitches as his, that was widely in use, (this one isn't) I would definitely have the courtesy to have an FAQ, that listed the hidden foxholes, so that people would not stumble into them. Being somewhat distrustful, especially with Greg Goodknight's calls to boot me off the blog, I copied the post before publishing it or even previewing it.
All sentiments represented in these posts are merely statements of my opinions, and may in fact have no basis in reality. Of course, depending on who you are and what your reality is, your milage may vary... Ripcord for parachute, to escape pesky lawyers, hired by foolish physicists.
I've already summed up several times, and Greg keeps on dragging out his old tired statistics without providing references.
His latest oft-repeated chestnut is:
"Then there's the Federal study that found that the lower the College Board scores of an incoming freshman in college, the higher the chance they'd be teaching 10 years after earning their baccalaureate. K-12 is not where strong students usually choose to have their careers. Probably the highest payout for the least ability, and a union to insure things like lack of competence doesn't interfere with a steady job and good retirement benefits."
For starters, this would seem to indicate that, having completed four years of college, and not all do, including many with higher SAT scores, you are more likely to be teaching than doing anything else. The reality is that there are three million or so teachers in this country. It is a very common profession, and one respected by most citizens, but obviously not Mr. Goodknight. BTW Greg, on your study, what other professions are listed, and once again, where is the link? And what do those other professions pay? More than teachers are paid? Architecture is the only one I know of that pays less.
"Probably the highest payout for the least ability"
What an interestind concept! So a Wall street banker who bags $20 million per year, as compared to a very high paid teacher who makes $100,000 per year, has a lower payout to ability ratio? Just how is that fudge factor statistic derived? Does Greg have a stash of secret formulas? Would you care to show us them, or is this just another typical Gregorian rant gratuitously defaming teachers and unions?
He implies that teachers are practically criminals, conspiring to defraud the public of their hard earned tax dollars, for no value received in return. His presented impressions of teachers as a whole seem to indicate a smug attitude of superiority as a spiritual being, over those who do choose the profession.
Low cunning, those teachers, just in it for a buck, any way they can get it. Not like honorable physicists who merely ask for donations, and are so good their followers shower them with private planes. Such a fairy tale, Greg, who do you think you are kidding? If you thought being a teacher would give you more than enough cash for your desired lifestyle, and you liked doing it, would you have refrained from doing it because of a union? Give me a break!
The real question here is, assuming the very best and brightest SAT graduates all went into teaching, and you booted out all the present teachers, except those like myself who were 90% or higher on their SATs, would this country receive much more for their money than they already do?
This of course would mean pulling all of these folks out of their current jobs as doctors, lawyers and rocket scientists, but after all, Greg insists on having the very best, SAT wise, in teaching. How much cultural inertia would the somewhat higher scoring be able to overcome to produce a nation of rocket scientists? All of it? 50% of it? 20% of it? How would you even know in advance? And most importantly, what is the overall ROI to be gained by such a rerouting of talent?
Greg has yet to show any studies that show that higher SAT teachers make for far better teachers. I'm moderately certain they exist, but Greg's real mission here is to argue for less money for public schools, and he shamelessly uses arguments he knows to be false in the context he references. For this I have no respect, as Greg is obviously smart enough to know what he is trying to pull.
If Greg really thought attracting the higher SAT scoring completers of BA's and BS's, then he'd be arguing for more money for teachers, in both public and private schools, but he never does that. Charter schools have been a round for some time now, and private schools for centuries, but the concept of "merit pay" always hits a double paned glass ceiling: No teacher is allowed to make more than his boss, and no teacher, k12, makes over $200,000 per year. I've challenged Greg in the past to find exceptions, and he always, "moves on to greener pastures," safe from the spotlight of our cultural realities, and his own internal inconsistencies.
If Greg wishes to make snide remarks about teachers in general or myself in particular, in other threads, I will again defend both myself and the profession.
DONE
Footnote:
For me the profession was a fall back, but one encouraged by several of my classmates, who were pursuing it, including one who managed 5 800's on a bank of SAT's, taken in one day. My original intentions were to get a PhD in ethnographic cinematography, and produe historial documents and teach, at the college level, but the birth of a child and then a divorce rather soon iced those ambitions, as I was not independently wealthy, and 16 mm film ran $4/minute, and child support and joint custody took up a lot of time, and, in the long run, have more value.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Is TownTalk at The Union Censored?
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You bet it is. I made a post in which I referred to ATT as double speaking its new pause policy, and likewise indicated that Panda Express was advertizing more meat and all I got was tons of rice with less meat. The post did not get accepted. Later innocuous posts have been accepted.
You bet it is. I made a post in which I referred to ATT as double speaking its new pause policy, and likewise indicated that Panda Express was advertizing more meat and all I got was tons of rice with less meat. The post did not get accepted. Later innocuous posts have been accepted.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
AT&T DSL Seems Slower ? Yes Indeedy!
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ATT is slowing down the DSL by a clever ruse. Transmission speeds are still what they claim, but there is a pause before transmission begins, and before a response is received. When the information flows, it flows at advertised speeds, but the pauses effectively ruin the advertised speeds. Back to the drawing boards.
Of course, if they see the addy you are seeking is a speed test site, they take out the pauses.
ATT is slowing down the DSL by a clever ruse. Transmission speeds are still what they claim, but there is a pause before transmission begins, and before a response is received. When the information flows, it flows at advertised speeds, but the pauses effectively ruin the advertised speeds. Back to the drawing boards.
Of course, if they see the addy you are seeking is a speed test site, they take out the pauses.
Fun Times at Rebane's Blog
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I knew eventually Greg would slip up in his role as high grand master of all things mathematical.
Yesterday was the day.
Let's see, did they all come rushing across to pick up a lawn mowing job here, a baby sitting job there, OR
WERE THEY ALREADY HERE, and the work in the fields was over?
If the invisible hand of the market wasn't shattered and bloody from employers, mostly Repubbys, arranging for cheap farm labor in this country, then yes, wages would rise, food prices would rise, and Americans would pick crops in the fields. The country was 95% farmers at the time of the Revolution, and Americans didn't "have to have" imported labor from Mexico, because they "didn't feel like working in the fields." They did the work because it was available, and BTW, I had a girlfriend who sorted carrots in Santa Maria, California, who had a brain but didn't know it. White like me, I might add, just educated to believe that sorting carrots was her role in life. When I was done filling in for the librarian on leave at Allen Hancock College, I couldn't convince her to come north. Last I heard from her, she had married a Hells Angel who provided well for her, digging graves at the cemetery.
If we up the 25 cents per $100 sold in the stock market to $2.50, we then generate $300,000,000, which of course is where I was going with the camel's nose under the tent. Now $300,000,000 may not seem like much to some people but it is indeed almost one third of a trillion dollars.
Now of course there wouldn't be as much random noise in the markets due to computerized algorithmic trading, but maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing? Maybe having investors atually look at what companies are doing, and the markets they are involved in, might make for a more rational view of the USA economy. Algorithmically driven trading makes cash, but is it good for the country? Does it allow for our current long term disasters?
Have you ever thought, BTW, that all the big trading houses not only know what you have, they also know what you intend to do with it,because they know where your buys and sells are. You don't suppose they can't build themselves a very neat model of which way a given stock is trending, and buy it up, and sell it, either long or short, on a daily or hourly basis, based on that knowledge?
SUCKERS!
I knew eventually Greg would slip up in his role as high grand master of all things mathematical.
Yesterday was the day.
Let's see, did they all come rushing across to pick up a lawn mowing job here, a baby sitting job there, OR
WERE THEY ALREADY HERE, and the work in the fields was over?
If the invisible hand of the market wasn't shattered and bloody from employers, mostly Repubbys, arranging for cheap farm labor in this country, then yes, wages would rise, food prices would rise, and Americans would pick crops in the fields. The country was 95% farmers at the time of the Revolution, and Americans didn't "have to have" imported labor from Mexico, because they "didn't feel like working in the fields." They did the work because it was available, and BTW, I had a girlfriend who sorted carrots in Santa Maria, California, who had a brain but didn't know it. White like me, I might add, just educated to believe that sorting carrots was her role in life. When I was done filling in for the librarian on leave at Allen Hancock College, I couldn't convince her to come north. Last I heard from her, she had married a Hells Angel who provided well for her, digging graves at the cemetery.
If we up the 25 cents per $100 sold in the stock market to $2.50, we then generate $300,000,000, which of course is where I was going with the camel's nose under the tent. Now $300,000,000 may not seem like much to some people but it is indeed almost one third of a trillion dollars.
Now of course there wouldn't be as much random noise in the markets due to computerized algorithmic trading, but maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing? Maybe having investors atually look at what companies are doing, and the markets they are involved in, might make for a more rational view of the USA economy. Algorithmically driven trading makes cash, but is it good for the country? Does it allow for our current long term disasters?
Have you ever thought, BTW, that all the big trading houses not only know what you have, they also know what you intend to do with it,because they know where your buys and sells are. You don't suppose they can't build themselves a very neat model of which way a given stock is trending, and buy it up, and sell it, either long or short, on a daily or hourly basis, based on that knowledge?
SUCKERS!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Rebane Refuted
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The Rebane column in The Union this Saturday, http://www.theunion.com/article/20110611/NEWS/110619979&parentprofile=search contains three fatal flaws:
The tax on net income above $250,000 is NOT 100%.
The entrepreneur can invest every cent beyond $250,000 into a business, as long as they do it during the tax year in which it is earned, and they will not be taxed on it. Why does Rebane feel that the entrepreneur needs to save that money up for years? What’s then to keep him from simply selling the business, and keeping all the extra loot, having never added a single employee during his ownership?
Rebane argues with tremendous crocodile tears that the poor entrepreneur works long hours, and can’t afford to add employees, because his net income above $250,000, will be taxed (implying that it would be taxed at 100%). Thus the job creation process will be delayed or wrecked.
Reality check:
Assume that the entrepreneur works 3 times what the average worker does. He is still taxed at the same rate as a wage earner up to $250,000. So, Mr. Rebane feels that the average worker makes $83,333/year? If indeed Mr. Entrepreneur is working that hard, then his wife and kids are being neglected, and the kids will be putting additional stresses on the schools and social services. In real life, the spouse is probably shouldering some of the work load, and a dual income of $250,000 is not too shabby, these days.
Rebane also points out that setting off on one’s own is detrimental to a career as a worker bee. This is true, but not in the way he states. Any future employer will know that here is an individual who just might learn everything possible about the business, and then quit, and then go into direct competition with the prospective employer. They do not teach this in school. Naïve to the ways of business as a younger person, I started working as a skiing photographer in Aspen. I loved the job. The boss loved the images and the sales they made, and seemingly, me too. One day in casual conversation I mentioned that I might want to set up an operation in California. “You’re Fired!” “Get out of here.” Life lesson learned.
Those who espouse no additional taxes on net income above $250,000, are leading the charge to drive the USA into a ditch on the side of the global economic highway. The top one percent of the wealthy in this country have gone from owning 8% of the country in 1980, to owning 20% of the country today. Their lack of leadership is most recently best exemplified by the 4 largest banks, who are sitting on housing inventory, and allowing it to be destroyed through neglect, instead of putting it on the market and allowing their famous "invisible hand of the market" to do a reboot of the USA economy.
Taxing the rich for real money can be done by simply charging a slight sales tax on all stock and commodities sales (AKA trades) At 25 cents per $100 sold, and 40 billion being sold each open market day, it will generate $100,000,000 (one hundred million) each day the markets are open. That's over 30 billion dollars a year. Or you could generate the same amount by taxing each and every man woman and child in the country, $100 each, over and beyond current taxes. 300 million Americans x $100 = $30,000,000 or 30 billion dollars. Good luck, of course, collecting it from the bottom 50% of the country.
Of course, if you want real money, say one third of a trillion per year, you could up the tax to 2.5% on stock and commodities sales, or tax every many woman and child, $1,000 per year. Or try this, only the top ten percent of Amercians, net wealth wise, $10,000 each per year. Or the top one percent, net wealth wise, $100,000 each per year. That would be $500,000 per year for a family of five. Gee, scary, that why we have graduated taxation, instead of sticking everything to the ultra rich.
I think it is no mystery that the markets promote the notion that they do "trades" not sales, as it conceals from the general public what is really going on. Meanwhile they will push for Flat Taxes, and taxes on food. Taxing stock trades is a perfectly logical thing to do.
The Rebane column in The Union this Saturday, http://www.theunion.com/article/20110611/NEWS/110619979&parentprofile=search contains three fatal flaws:
The tax on net income above $250,000 is NOT 100%.
The entrepreneur can invest every cent beyond $250,000 into a business, as long as they do it during the tax year in which it is earned, and they will not be taxed on it. Why does Rebane feel that the entrepreneur needs to save that money up for years? What’s then to keep him from simply selling the business, and keeping all the extra loot, having never added a single employee during his ownership?
Rebane argues with tremendous crocodile tears that the poor entrepreneur works long hours, and can’t afford to add employees, because his net income above $250,000, will be taxed (implying that it would be taxed at 100%). Thus the job creation process will be delayed or wrecked.
Reality check:
Assume that the entrepreneur works 3 times what the average worker does. He is still taxed at the same rate as a wage earner up to $250,000. So, Mr. Rebane feels that the average worker makes $83,333/year? If indeed Mr. Entrepreneur is working that hard, then his wife and kids are being neglected, and the kids will be putting additional stresses on the schools and social services. In real life, the spouse is probably shouldering some of the work load, and a dual income of $250,000 is not too shabby, these days.
Rebane also points out that setting off on one’s own is detrimental to a career as a worker bee. This is true, but not in the way he states. Any future employer will know that here is an individual who just might learn everything possible about the business, and then quit, and then go into direct competition with the prospective employer. They do not teach this in school. Naïve to the ways of business as a younger person, I started working as a skiing photographer in Aspen. I loved the job. The boss loved the images and the sales they made, and seemingly, me too. One day in casual conversation I mentioned that I might want to set up an operation in California. “You’re Fired!” “Get out of here.” Life lesson learned.
Those who espouse no additional taxes on net income above $250,000, are leading the charge to drive the USA into a ditch on the side of the global economic highway. The top one percent of the wealthy in this country have gone from owning 8% of the country in 1980, to owning 20% of the country today. Their lack of leadership is most recently best exemplified by the 4 largest banks, who are sitting on housing inventory, and allowing it to be destroyed through neglect, instead of putting it on the market and allowing their famous "invisible hand of the market" to do a reboot of the USA economy.
Taxing the rich for real money can be done by simply charging a slight sales tax on all stock and commodities sales (AKA trades) At 25 cents per $100 sold, and 40 billion being sold each open market day, it will generate $100,000,000 (one hundred million) each day the markets are open. That's over 30 billion dollars a year. Or you could generate the same amount by taxing each and every man woman and child in the country, $100 each, over and beyond current taxes. 300 million Americans x $100 = $30,000,000 or 30 billion dollars. Good luck, of course, collecting it from the bottom 50% of the country.
Of course, if you want real money, say one third of a trillion per year, you could up the tax to 2.5% on stock and commodities sales, or tax every many woman and child, $1,000 per year. Or try this, only the top ten percent of Amercians, net wealth wise, $10,000 each per year. Or the top one percent, net wealth wise, $100,000 each per year. That would be $500,000 per year for a family of five. Gee, scary, that why we have graduated taxation, instead of sticking everything to the ultra rich.
I think it is no mystery that the markets promote the notion that they do "trades" not sales, as it conceals from the general public what is really going on. Meanwhile they will push for Flat Taxes, and taxes on food. Taxing stock trades is a perfectly logical thing to do.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Towards a More Complete Commenting Rating System
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This is a computer world. Computers are very good at noting numbers, totaling them, and presenting results.
Thumbs up and thumbs down are very simplistic ratings. The end user could have many more choices, and posts could easily have an extensive dashboard.
One through 10, agree or disagree,
Is this comment worthy overall?
is this comment presented in a non sexist, non racist, non genderist, non churchist way?
Is this comment well argued?
Does this comment present novel notions?
Presented on the same dashboard, you could have a rating of the rater.
Average overall ratings of all comments, in each category.
Average ratings of this commenter, for the person making the rated comment, in each category.
Total number of posts and comments made, and average ratings, by everyone.
Do the same for the person whose comment is being judged.
Computers would have no trouble doing all this automatically and accurately
Humans might prefer to have it all available in a popup box, so it an be ignored. To avoid the go along with the crowd effect, the commenter must make his/her judgements before seeing other people’s judgements.
This is a computer world. Computers are very good at noting numbers, totaling them, and presenting results.
Thumbs up and thumbs down are very simplistic ratings. The end user could have many more choices, and posts could easily have an extensive dashboard.
One through 10, agree or disagree,
Is this comment worthy overall?
is this comment presented in a non sexist, non racist, non genderist, non churchist way?
Is this comment well argued?
Does this comment present novel notions?
Presented on the same dashboard, you could have a rating of the rater.
Average overall ratings of all comments, in each category.
Average ratings of this commenter, for the person making the rated comment, in each category.
Total number of posts and comments made, and average ratings, by everyone.
Do the same for the person whose comment is being judged.
Computers would have no trouble doing all this automatically and accurately
Humans might prefer to have it all available in a popup box, so it an be ignored. To avoid the go along with the crowd effect, the commenter must make his/her judgements before seeing other people’s judgements.
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Verizon, ATandT, More Corporate DoubleSpeak
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I inquired of Verizon Wireless about having a land line converted to a cell phone line, and was told, yes, we can do it, yes we can do it right away, yes it will only cost around $10/month plus another dollar or so for fees and taxes.
With the exception of the first statement, They Lied. They can do it, but it took over 1 1/2 hours worth of talking with them and experimenting to determine that even though I did *228 over and over, battery in-out-in, it was going to be limited to out bound calls only, for 3 to 10 business days. What's more, there would be $35 one time connect fee.
They could have mentioned these two items up front, instead of me having to waste my time, just so they wouldn't lose a sale, their obvious motivation for concealing the information.
Of course, AT and T still takes the cake. They have an entire department called U-Verse, the center of a major advertising campaign. It does NOT have a direct line. I ask them about this. Their response was classic: "We're working on it."
Good Mother of God! Their whole business is installing working phone lines, and they are "working on it" ??????
I inquired of Verizon Wireless about having a land line converted to a cell phone line, and was told, yes, we can do it, yes we can do it right away, yes it will only cost around $10/month plus another dollar or so for fees and taxes.
With the exception of the first statement, They Lied. They can do it, but it took over 1 1/2 hours worth of talking with them and experimenting to determine that even though I did *228 over and over, battery in-out-in, it was going to be limited to out bound calls only, for 3 to 10 business days. What's more, there would be $35 one time connect fee.
They could have mentioned these two items up front, instead of me having to waste my time, just so they wouldn't lose a sale, their obvious motivation for concealing the information.
Of course, AT and T still takes the cake. They have an entire department called U-Verse, the center of a major advertising campaign. It does NOT have a direct line. I ask them about this. Their response was classic: "We're working on it."
Good Mother of God! Their whole business is installing working phone lines, and they are "working on it" ??????
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Equitable Inheritance Taxes
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leave 25,000 with no taxes, $25,001 to $100, 000 with 5%, then $100,000 to $250,000 at 5% more, and with each doubling of the previous amount considered, 5% more.
75,000 at 5%
next $150,000 at 10%
next $300,000 at 15%
next $600,000 at 20%,
next $1,200,000 at 25%
next $2,800,000 at 30%
next $5,600,000 at 35%
next $11,200,000 T 40%
next $22,400,000 at 45%
next $44,800,000 at 50%
and so on.
and include a medical clause where all monies left for the medical/rest home care of a person are tax free. Once person is dead, remainder goes to gov.
leave 25,000 with no taxes, $25,001 to $100, 000 with 5%, then $100,000 to $250,000 at 5% more, and with each doubling of the previous amount considered, 5% more.
75,000 at 5%
next $150,000 at 10%
next $300,000 at 15%
next $600,000 at 20%,
next $1,200,000 at 25%
next $2,800,000 at 30%
next $5,600,000 at 35%
next $11,200,000 T 40%
next $22,400,000 at 45%
next $44,800,000 at 50%
and so on.
and include a medical clause where all monies left for the medical/rest home care of a person are tax free. Once person is dead, remainder goes to gov.
Heath Care and the Free Market.
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Huge difference between health care and grocery stores. You make the choice over and over again which grocery store to choose, possibly even multiple times a week.
In grocery stores everything has a price on it , and by the oz, most of the time. You can choose to buy and store stuff at home at a good price, and you can mix and match stores that you go to, according to the sales they have that appeal to you.
With health insurance, you are generally making a once or twice a year investment, and typically for different items each time. Each “item” say a broken arm, consists of many subitems, and you never know what any of it costs until weeks or months later, and you can decide mid stream in a heart transplant to go down to SafeHealth Hospital, because they’ve got a better deal this week.
Apples and orangutangs.
Huge difference between health care and grocery stores. You make the choice over and over again which grocery store to choose, possibly even multiple times a week.
In grocery stores everything has a price on it , and by the oz, most of the time. You can choose to buy and store stuff at home at a good price, and you can mix and match stores that you go to, according to the sales they have that appeal to you.
With health insurance, you are generally making a once or twice a year investment, and typically for different items each time. Each “item” say a broken arm, consists of many subitems, and you never know what any of it costs until weeks or months later, and you can decide mid stream in a heart transplant to go down to SafeHealth Hospital, because they’ve got a better deal this week.
Apples and orangutangs.
When Will They Ever Learn ?
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As long as MultiNat Corps can find labor sufficiently educated elsewhere at rates far below the poverty level in the USA, they will make the stuff overseas. Overseas also has the advantage of no EPA OSHA to keep costs down.
This elephant sitting on the planet is ignored by Repubbys and Dems alike.
In the meantime, Repubbys pay their propaganda talk show hosts to blame everything on Obama, and claiming that a man with his track record through school is ignorant and incompetent, which is amazing. Not quite as amazing as the sad fact that so many Americans want to believe such rubbish.
The propaganda hosts themselves are paid enough to make them members of the group that benefits from “no new taxes,” no health care for all, higher tuitions, etc. The logic seems to be, why pay for everyone, when they, the top 1%, have enough to directly pay for what they need for themselves, and why should they have to wait for a doctor, etc? They love their new uncrowded freeways, on which they prance with Escalades.
I wonder how bad it will have to get before the die hard working man Tea Party Patriot, now thoroughly unemployed, wakes up to reality and realized how thoroughly screwed he is, and by whom, and with his own enthusiastic enablement?
In 1964 I paid $160 a year for Cal tuition, and minimum wage was $1.25/hour. Today that same tuition is apparently headed for $25,000, and minimum wage is what? $9/hour? Stanford, back then, was $10,000 per year? It would seem the only intelligent course for a person entering college today, would be to get as much loans as are needed, and then skip the country for 10 – 20 years, until the statutes of limitations runs out.
Only the ultra rich will ride this mess out in comfort. Those with two or three different hideaways in various foreign countries will be able to ride this out safely, and a fast yacht/jet to get there.
Gooooood Moooorrrrrnnnniiiinnngggg Nevada County!
As long as MultiNat Corps can find labor sufficiently educated elsewhere at rates far below the poverty level in the USA, they will make the stuff overseas. Overseas also has the advantage of no EPA OSHA to keep costs down.
This elephant sitting on the planet is ignored by Repubbys and Dems alike.
In the meantime, Repubbys pay their propaganda talk show hosts to blame everything on Obama, and claiming that a man with his track record through school is ignorant and incompetent, which is amazing. Not quite as amazing as the sad fact that so many Americans want to believe such rubbish.
The propaganda hosts themselves are paid enough to make them members of the group that benefits from “no new taxes,” no health care for all, higher tuitions, etc. The logic seems to be, why pay for everyone, when they, the top 1%, have enough to directly pay for what they need for themselves, and why should they have to wait for a doctor, etc? They love their new uncrowded freeways, on which they prance with Escalades.
I wonder how bad it will have to get before the die hard working man Tea Party Patriot, now thoroughly unemployed, wakes up to reality and realized how thoroughly screwed he is, and by whom, and with his own enthusiastic enablement?
In 1964 I paid $160 a year for Cal tuition, and minimum wage was $1.25/hour. Today that same tuition is apparently headed for $25,000, and minimum wage is what? $9/hour? Stanford, back then, was $10,000 per year? It would seem the only intelligent course for a person entering college today, would be to get as much loans as are needed, and then skip the country for 10 – 20 years, until the statutes of limitations runs out.
Only the ultra rich will ride this mess out in comfort. Those with two or three different hideaways in various foreign countries will be able to ride this out safely, and a fast yacht/jet to get there.
Gooooood Moooorrrrrnnnniiiinnngggg Nevada County!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Facebook Masters 1984 DoubleSpeak
Technorati Profilehttp://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
From facebook, under account settings:
"A Note About Your Photos
There is a false rumor circulating that Facebook is changing who owns your private photos. You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook. Learn More"
After saying that Facebook has been falsely accused of owning people's photography, they then connect you to a page with the following:
"Sharing Your Content and Information
You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition:
For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos ("IP content"), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP License"). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.
When you delete IP content, it is deleted in a manner similar to emptying the recycle bin on a computer. However, you understand that removed content may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time (but will not be available to others)."
That bolded text enables them to sell your content without paying you one damn cent!
You do, of course, still own your photographs, and can make the same stupid business arrangement with Twitter, if you like, or even if you don't like, as that is Twitter's policy too.
From facebook, under account settings:
"A Note About Your Photos
There is a false rumor circulating that Facebook is changing who owns your private photos. You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook. Learn More"
After saying that Facebook has been falsely accused of owning people's photography, they then connect you to a page with the following:
"Sharing Your Content and Information
You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition:
For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos ("IP content"), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP License"). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.
When you delete IP content, it is deleted in a manner similar to emptying the recycle bin on a computer. However, you understand that removed content may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time (but will not be available to others)."
That bolded text enables them to sell your content without paying you one damn cent!
You do, of course, still own your photographs, and can make the same stupid business arrangement with Twitter, if you like, or even if you don't like, as that is Twitter's policy too.
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