More Lies

  Why do we tolerate being lied to by government officials? Can anyone tell me of any instance of a bureaucrat being terminated for making a statement to the press that turned out to be false?

  If we don't demand integrity from our public servants, we've damn little reason to expect it.

Prisoners released

Saturday Sessions: College - Alternative Rock

Siouxsie & The Banshees,  Peek a Boo

 

College rock, alternative rock, modern rock, no matter what you call it, it has its roots in college radio.  It started to gain widespread recognition in 1988 when Billboard, the music trade magazine first started tracking college radio air play.  This song was the first number one on the chart.

They were followed by bands with widespread name recognition today such as U2 and REM with songs such as

R.E.M, Stand

Some bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, The Foo Fighters, Green Day, U2, and REM topped the charts again and again while others came and went. Bands like...

Chumbawamba, Tubthumping

Today the Billboard Chart is calling it Alternative Rock, which is what I first remember it being called back in the early eighties before there was a chart.  Today we get bands like...

Muse, Madness

Which opened the year at the top of the charts for the first eight weeks.  Undoubtedly today, the whole reason the swat team is there in the opening scene is because they are smoking on the subway.

Cheers!

~Finntann~    

 

 

"Liberty Needs to be the Backbone"

This is how the GOP beats the Democrat party:

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered. I don't think we need to name any names, do we? Our party is encumbered by an inconsistent approach to freedom. The new GOP will need to embrace liberty in both the economic and the personal sphere. If we're going to have a Republican party that can win, liberty needs to be the backbone of the GOP. We must have a message that is broad, our vision must be broad, and that vision must be based on freedom.

There are millions of Americans, young and old, native and immigrant, black, white and brown, who simply seek to live free, to practice a religion, free to choose where their kids go to school, free to choose their own health care, free to keep the fruits of their labor, free to live without government constantly being on their back. I will stand for them. I will stand for you. I will stand for our prosperity and our freedom, and I ask everyone who values liberty to stand with me. Thank you. God bless America.

Source:  Real Clear Politics:  Rand Paul

No big deal

On the day the President declared the 16.7 trillion dollar national debt to be "no big deal", it's nice to know that there's at least some semblance of sanity left out there somewhere.

Fiscal common sense 

 Of course, the prodigal portion of the EU is screaming bloody murder about it.

This link contains a tidbit of information I wasn't aware of.

Interesting info

The US budget would violate the spending rules of the EU, by more than an order of magnitude.

Back in the news

These two tiny islands in the middle of the South Atlantic are back in the news again as the population votes overwhelmingly to remain British.

 Much to the chagrin of their Argentinian neighbors who disavow any legitimacy to the plebiscite. Do we have to go through this again?

Falklands vote

Nya nya Nanny

In a moment of legal lucidity rare for the region a New York state Supreme Court justice has struck down Mayor Bloomberg's ban on large volume soft drinks.

NY Post

Ruling it arbitrary and capricious due to it's many loopholes and exceptions, the judge denied that the mayor had the authority to do this administratively.

 “The rule would not only violate the separation of powers doctrine, it would eviscerate it,...” Judge Tingling

While I can't tell you how delighted I am to learn that there are still New Yorkers familiar with such concepts, it still leaves open the possibility of similar action by City Council.

More grist for the mill

 

 As a follow on to yesterday's conversation, here is another 'permutation' that I hadn't even considered when I wrote that post.

 Sperm Donor


Where do you draw the line?

Sauce for the Gander?

 A while back someone framed the Pro-Choice position as a question of sovereignty, providing a perfect opportunity to serve up a little food for thought.

I've always thought that casting the issue of abortion as one of personal sovereignty creates more problems than it solves. Even leaving aside the status of the fetus, if the issue is maintained on that basis sooner or later another question will have to be addressed.

 To the best of my knowledge no human female has ever demonstrated a capacity for parthenogenesis. It still takes two to tango. So how can it be that only one of them is entitled to choice after the fact? As it stands now the question revolves entirely around the woman’s right to control her own destiny. All well and good, but while she’s making up her mind there’s another sovereign individual, knowingly or not, in thrall to her decision.

 You can see the problem here. Legally, ethically, and financially, I omit morally for fear of upsetting the delicate sensibilities of those unable to differentiate morality from religion; the other gene donor is no longer free. He has no choice regarding his own fate, or that of his progeny. The various permutations are obvious and you may consider them at your leisure, just let me say that as I understand the concept of what makes something a “Right” rather than license or privilege is that one person’s right cannot possibly preclude another’s exercise of the same right.

So polish up your right to express your opinion and tell me what you think.

Saturday Sessions: Billie Holiday

The Civil Rights Movement

For those of you who think that the civil rights movement began in the sixties.  Billie Holiday recorded this in 1939 and the record sold over a million copies.

Haunting.

Oops!

80% of Recent NYC High School Grads Cannot Read

CBS2 NY recently published an article on the failure of NYC schools to adequately teach basic skills.  In all likelihood it will be corrected by the time you get there, but the article was rather entertaining and the comments about misspellings, typos, and incorrect word usage are rather entertaining too.

Apparently 80% of NYC Reporters Cannot Spell Either 

To meet the needs of the students, City University has launched a special program called CUNY Start. It provides low-cost emersion classes.

in CUNY Start we give them a lot more one-on-one attention, small grouip work.

“I was nervus about how hard it was going to be, how much of a chnage it was going to be from high school,” Gonzalez said.

Or spell check either.

Eye have a spelling chequer,
It came with my Pea Sea.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss Steaks I can knot sea.

Eye strike the quays and type a whirred
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am write oar wrong
It tells me straight a weigh.

Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your shore real glad two no.
Its vary polished in its weigh.
My chequer tolled me sew.

A chequer is a bless thing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right all stiles of righting,
And aides me when eye rime.

Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The chequer pours o'er every word
Two cheque sum spelling rule. 

- Jerrold H. Zar

 

Cheers!

~Finntann~

NUNYA

Frankly, It's None of Your Business.

My heart goes out to Gabrielle Giffords and her husband for the tragedy that they have been forced to endure,  but why the hell are they testifying before the Colorado State Senate in an attempt to influence the vote of the democratically elected representatives of the people of Colorado? Gabrielle Giffords is not a resident of the State of Colorado, neither as far as I can tell is her husband. For all I know, she's never even been here before, but who knows, maybe she's come here skiing in the past.

The Laws and the People of Colorado

This is something that annoys the hell out of me and it isn't just a Colorado issue, it is an issue for all states.  The laws of Colorado are the business of the people of Colorado. Why are two Arizonans testifying before our senate on what our state laws should be?  If Gabrielle Giffords was an expert on gun violence and was providing expert testimony I might be willing to make an exception, but getting shot makes you a victim, not an expert on either guns or violence.

Jared Lee Loughner  purchased his guns in a Sportsmen's Warehouse in Tucson, Arizona.  He purchased his ammunition at a Walmart in the Foothills Mall, also in Tucson, Arizona.  By all appearances, Jared Lee Loughner like Gabrielle Giffords was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona.  Sounds like Gabrielle Giffords ought to be testifying in Phoenix, Arizona to the Arizona Senate and Legislature.

The same circumstance can be found in Piers Morgan arguments for gun control and out of hand dismissal of the second amendment. Yes, you are entitled to your opinion, you're entitled to voice your opinion... thanks for your opinion, now if you want gun control Piers, move the *&#% back to England.

Gabrielle Giffords, Argumentum ad Passiones

Argumentum ad Passiones is a logical fallacy which uses the manipulation of the recipient's emotions, rather than valid logic, to win an argument. The appeal to emotion fallacy uses emotions as the basis of an argument's position without factual evidence that logically supports the major ideas endorsed by the elicitor of the argument.   It is the same as Obama's for the children argument in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting,  it is an illogical appeal to emotion used to avoid logical debate. 

Gabrielle Giffords, in all likelihood a willing accomplice, was trotted out before the Colorado State Senate for no other reason than to elicit the pity of Colorado's elected representatives in an attempt to manipulate the political outcome of a vote to one that does not necessarily represent the wishes or viewpoint of the people of Colorado.

It's not just Gun Control

The same issue can be found in out of state businesses, political action committees, people, and other groups attempting to influence the political outcomes in states in which they are not even entitled to vote. 

Free speech entitles them to voice their opinion,  free speech also entitles us to tell them thanks for sharing, now go home and mind your own business.

Cheers!

~Finntann~

  

 

Hits the Nail on the Head

 W.J.Pilsak at the German language Wikipedia

A Clear and Concise Observation

Sheila Bair at the New York Times has made a very astute observation in her article "Grand Old Parity".

I am a capitalist and a lifelong Republican. I believe that, in a meritocracy, some level of income inequality is both inevitable and desirable, as encouragement to those who contribute most to our economic prosperity. But I fear that government actions, not merit, have fueled these extremes in income distribution through taxpayer bailouts, central-bank-engineered financial asset bubbles and unjustified tax breaks that favor the rich. 

 Not a Republican or a Conservative Phenomena

The yawning gap between rich and poor has been growing since the 1970s and reached a 90-year peak in 2007, just before the financial crisis. 

Our approach, Left or Right, has been flawed

On the Obama administration's policies:

These strategies have done little to encourage sustainable economic growth, but they have worked wonders to increase Wall Street profits and inflate the value of stocks and bonds — which are disproportionately owned by the rich.  

Government’s role should not be to rig the game in favor of “the haves” but to make sure “the have-nots” are given a fair shot.  

 A Fair Shot

Redistributionist policies are not a fair shot, they are bread, tossed to the masses to keep them quiet because they know the playing field isn't level.  As government laws and regulations become more and more complicated they favor the large corporation with a top notch legal team.  Joe's Mop & Bucket cannot compete with a corporation like Servicemaster,  Bill's gas station cannot compete with Exxon-Mobil, and it has nothing to do with employee costs, overhead, or Obamacare... it has to do with compliance.

Regulatory Reform

Now, before I get accused of wanting to eliminate regulations and allow Bill's Gas to dump used motor oil in the creek behind his shop let me make it clear I am not advocating the elimination of regulation but the simplification of regulation.  I have worked in environmental management and I have run a quality control office responsible for compliance, including OSHA compliance .  The issue isn't simply complying with regulation, but understanding regulation.  Our legal and regulatory system is written by lawyers and for lawyers, it is written for corporations.  It is not written to allow Joe, of Joe's Mop and Bucket to pick up a rule book, read it, and comply.   

A Humorous Example

This one even left me scratching my head.  When I was the Environmental Manager for an industrial operation (vehicle maintenance, industrial electronics, power production) of about 100 people I was responsible for training and compliance with the myriad of environmental regulations in EPA Region 6.  A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is anywhere from a 1 to 10 page document listing all of the chemicals used in and hazards derived from the use of commercial chemical products.  It contains eye safety, dermal safety, inhalation, ingestion, etc. hazards that you may be exposed to during routine use, to include abnormal circumstance such as during a building fire.  All useful information.

There is a "home use" exemption, that means if you use a product like Windex, as it is used in the home... say you occasionally clean your computer monitor with it, you don't need an MSDS, but if you're a window-washer using it all day long, you do need an MSDS.  I've never met anyone in a corporate or industrial environment that uses that exemption because management is always afraid of the large fine that might result from an inspector disagreeing with their interpretation of "home use".

The funny part.  Our vehicle maintenance shop, as was the norm at the time, maintained lead acid batteries.  As part of this "industrial process" they used distilled water, which came in five gallon jugs.  As this water was used in an "industrial process" we were required to maintain an MSDS on it.  Water.  We used to joke that the MSDS should list under the ingestion hazard "Warning - Ingestion of large quantities may cause excessive urination" and "Inhalation may cause drowning".   

Your government in action... all thrust, no vector.  I'll come right out and say it, we need regulation, but what we need is  common sense regulation written in plain language for the layman to understand.

Don't believe me about an MSDS for distilled water?  

You can find one here.  

Now how much do you think it costs that company to create, maintain, and distribute?

Cheers!

~Finntann~ 

   

Just Who's Money Is It Anwyay

How to Buy Friends and Influence People

The new US Secretary of State John Kerry says the US is providing $190 million immediately to Egypt as part of a larger pledge of $450 million.  We can't afford to pay our own government employees who are facing the threat of up to a 20% pay cut via one day a week furloughs, but sure Uncle Sam can pass out money like a drunken sailor out binge drinking.

New $60 Million Government Program

The government also announced a new government program to aid entrepreneurs and young people.  This is a good thing, what with the unemployment rate for 20-24 year olds sitting at 14.2% and the rate for 18-19 year olds at 20.8%.  Your government is looking out for you if you are young and unemployed,  you only need to meet one condition, you need to be an Egyptian living in Egypt.

Nothing New

Of course, you can't solely blame the democrats for this one, our government democratic or republican have been engaging in Greenback diplomacy since Gunboats have become politically incorrect.

Meh! What's a couple of hundred million among friends?

Cheers!

~Finntann~  

The US Mortgage

This is the Deed to the State of Rhode Island

Like our government budget, it is in tatters. Yesterday a commenter posited:

Pretty soon we will be borrowing more than GDP. But when you apply the "household" standard to this, it doesn't fit. People routinely buy a house, for example, that is worth far more than their annual income, or a car that is half of it. 

Let's apply the Mortgage Standard to it then.

Lender's use what is known as a debt to income ratio to qualify buyers for the issuance of a mortgage.  At first it appears to be a Prima Facie case.

US Government debt is  $16,657,000,000,000. So let's knock some zeroes off it so it looks more like a mortgage, eight should do it (and I'll knock eight digits off all the other numbers too).

Consider the US mortgage to be $166,570.  

This house is in Jersey

 So, the GDP is $156,320 but that's not what we make a year, that's what the 7-11 we work at makes a year, in reality we only make $24,933 a year (The GDP is not the US Government's income).

Our Mortgage

 While we owe the bank $166,570 we got one sweetheart of a deal from the bank, it is an interest only loan at 2.16% so all we have to pay a month is $299.83 The US debt service payment for 2012 was  $359,796,008,919, knocking eight digits off that gives you $3597.96, which works out to roughly $300 a month, pretty sweet deal huh?

Front Rate/Back Rate

 Lenders use what is known as a front/back debt to income ratio in evaluating applicants.  What they look for is a 33/38 ratio, some look for more, some look for less, but 33/38 is good rule of thumb.

 Front Rate:  The front rate is your mortgage payment evaluated against your pre-tax income.  An income of $24,933 yields a monthly income of   $2077.75, and that my friends yields a front debt to income ratio of 14.43%... Looking Good!

 Back Rate:  This is where our fantasy comparison starts to fall apart.  Back rate is the ratio of your mortgage payment to your actual income less consumer expenses (car, utilities, credit cards, groceries, etc.).  So Mr. Government may make $2077.75 a month but that doesn't pay his bills,  you see... Mr. Government is up to his neck in debt, while he made $24,933 in 2012 he spent $37960.  Worked out monthly that is $2077.75 IN and $3163.33 OUT.  His Back Rate Debt to Income Ratio is 152% or four times higher than the allowable 38%.  LOAN DENIED!

Negative Income?

So jolly Mr. Government lives high on the hog, spending more than he makes by charging everything on his credit cards.  Where is Mr. Government headed?  You guessed it...

 

 A False Analogy

While the mortgage analogy in defense of government spending is false, it is also false if used as an analogy against government spending.  The US National Debt is not a mortgage, however it is also not an infinite supply of money.  There are and will be consequences if it is allowed to continue to grow at the present rate.

The US is currently borrowing money at a negative real interest rate,  that is the interest on the debt is at a rate lower than inflation. The only reason this is happening is investors see no other alternative of sufficiently low risk.  If Europe were booming we'd be screwed!  The US is perceived as a safe investment and will remain so until other viable alternatives emerge, at that point borrowing rates will go up.

According to the CBO the US debt to GDP ratio is forecast to be 200% by 2040  if things remain unchanged.  The Bank of International Settlements, a conglomeration of central banks of which the US is a member, predicted the US will hit 400% by 2040.  Historically the break-point for debt-to-GDP ratio would seem to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 120-130%, the US may be able to sustain a ratio of upwards of 150% without significant consequences, it is after all currently the biggest game in town,  it is unlikely to be able to sustain a ratio of 200%.

We don't need to eliminate the debt, we need to control the debt and the debt needs to be discussed in terms of revenue, not in terms of GDP.

Thoughts?

~Finntann~