Saturday, October 30, 2010

Which Of Three Ways?

Gary North has an optimistic essay over at LRC.com, with an excellent survey of the three options:

In Brave New World, the tool of control is a drug: soma. It keeps the masses docile. In 1984, it is two-way television. There is no privacy. In Animal Farm, it is widespread belief in the good of the whole, which mandates individual sacrifice. The results are the same: an elite maintains control over the masses. There is no way out.
Which of the three became the one the government uses?  All three.


Friday, October 29, 2010

Bacteriophages

A phages is something organic that eats something else, so a bacteriophage eats bacteria.  Much research has been done on these in the past, until big pharma system in USA shut it down.  Some people say, in fact it is now accepted, at least some cancer is bacteria-related.

I first heard about bacteriophages from a student, who said they are plentiful... in pond scum.  Yikes!

Out of the JFK murder conspiracy field comes a new lead, which is of no interest to me, except the witness of once young women as to research being done at the time:

But the little girl from Bradenton Florida still has up-to-date knowledge of the research being done today. "I still believe I could cure certain kinds of soft tissue cancers inexpensively," she says, "within five years, using modified bacteriophages." Bacteriophages are simple viruses that literally 'eat' bacteria, Baker explained, but they could be "genetically altered" to seek out certain cancers and literally eat them alive. "Bacteriophage therapy could also be applied to fight bacterial diseases such as tuberculosis," she said. "Resistance to antibiotics is becoming a problem that bacteriophage research could very possibly solve."
But Baker fears that as long as so much cancer research is financed by private pharmaceutical companies, that expensive chemotherapy will continue to be the center of research efforts, since bacteriophage therapy would be much cheaper and therefore less profitable. "We could have cured cancer decades ago," Baker insists. Because of the "profit factor," Baker believes that "if we ever develop an inexpensive cure for cancer, it will be due to independent research at universities, or in government-funded labs. An inexpensive treatment, such as one involving the direct use of bacteriophage, will not come from Big Pharma."

Hmmm... it sounds genuine because only a scientist can be so delusional as to believe government can come up with cures.  (She doubts big biz will do it, so she doubts all biz can do it...  problem is, small biz is alive and well coming up with cures, on kitchen tables.  Not illegal for now, and good to know.

It ain't science unless is it valid and reliable: that is, you are testing what you are testing and everyone gets the same results.  Cold fusion is not science because although they are testing cold fusion, no one else can get the results of the first people to test it, no reliability.  Measuring the lumens of a lamp to determine how much energy is used is not valid, since light emission and energy have little to do with each other in lamps, but the results of the measurement will be reliable. Darwinism is not science since the measurements are not valid and the results vary.  Point is, refereeing science is huge, and right now we leave it to government, a job we should not pretend they can handle, and in any event, govt is always captured by they whom they regulate.

What is needed is a version of open source research, in which independent judges study the validity and reliability of kitchen table scientists, and compete with the big pharma monopolies.  Of course, some idiot is going to kill himself and a few others with something nasty, but we have worse with govt control inasmuch as we have the HRT hoax, swine flu hoax, thalidomide failure, the Tuskegee and south america syphilis experiments, and the anthrax attack of 2001, among countless other examples of big govt/big pharm disasters.

The field os small business medicine is huge and largely untapped, with opportunities to employ countless people.


Shoe Repair

Dropped off a pair of boots to be reheeled, and had my cole-haan loafers rejected as too far gone...  sigh... I work my shoes hard...  the cole-haan were 8 years old, resoled I don't know how many times, and prolly $120.  I also have a pair of 25 year old allen edmonds that were probably $250 way back when, and if you could find the style would be closer to $400 today.  So what was the better deal?  The more expensive shoes of course.

Cobbler said the cole-haan today are not as good as the old pair I had in hand.  So Iguess I'll be replacing my pair of $120 cole haan with $350 allen edmonds.

I noted there was no cobbler between Capital Hill, Wallingford, downtown and Magnolia in the Seattle area... he finished my comment...  the whole queen anne area is unserved, probably 100,000 people.  He said the econ boom destroyed cobblers since shoes became a disposable item.  During the boom years he made keys and sold shoes abandoned to keep open, and happily his space was tiny.  Now business is booming for him.

If someone wants a career in a trade for the next 30 years, apprentice to a cobbler, and then buy the business from the profits (pay the retiring owner $250 a month?)...


Thursday, October 28, 2010

墨子 & 儒家

About 700 years before Augustine, 墨子 Mo Tze was arguing that we ought to love one and other as we love ourselves, a universal love.  He was writing in an era that saw from China to Greece philosophers doing work known to this day: Kung fu tze with his way, 儒家, Buddha and Socrates.  Rome at the time was forming its Republic.
We are familiar with these great names, but not Mo Tze, because their systems triumphed as the status quo, his did not.  Although Mo Tze was more popular in his time than Confucius, Confucian ethic won out.  How come?  Confucianism, like Keynesianism and other reigning affects, have the advantage of being well designed  to maintain a heirarchical society, top down.  Mo Tze was not down with that.  Mo tze promoted subsidiarity and was anti-war. Mo tze even predated Jesus with universal love. It did not catch on. Christians believe God himself intervened to teach us how to live.  Dont feel bad, Mo tze.  Like in 1 Samuel 8, written about your time, the people will not listen even to God himself.

兼愛下:

今吾將正求與天下之利而取之,以兼為正,是以聰耳明目相與視聽乎,是以股肱畢強相為動1宰乎,而有道肆相教誨。是以老而無妻子者,有所侍養以終其壽;幼弱孤童之無父母者,有所放依以長其身。今唯毋以兼為正,即若其利也,不識天下之士,所以皆聞兼而非者,其故何也?

Universal Love III:

When we try to develop and procure benefits for the world with universal love as our standard, then attentive ears and keen eyes will respond in service to one another, then limbs will be strengthened to work for one another, and those who know the Tao will untiringly instruct others. Thus the old and those who have neither wife nor children will have the support and supply to spend their old age with, and the young and weak and orphans will have the care and admonition to grow up in. When universal love is adopted as the standard, then such are the consequent benefits. It is incomprehensible, then, why people should object to universal love when they hear it.






Labor Shortages In China

If you are going to be in international trade, you have to shake free of  certain reflexive conditioning.  One such conditioned thought pattern is labor is the key, or cheap labor, to int'l trade.  If you think so, you are soon befuddled.  China is supposed to have limitless cheap labor, but the shoemakers in Dongguan are short labor.  Those who do work can demand higher wages, good all around.

But of course, I am keen on just where are those great unemployed masses in China?  Are they starting their own businesses?  Preferring other work?  Joining the military?  I wonder.


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

How To Print Overseas

Hi John,
I have just finished my book and I am ready to publish it. I remember you saying once that you know a really good publisher in China. My book is about acupuncture and will need to be translated into both Chinese and Japanese.
Can you recommend a publisher for me in China?
And if you have time, what is the process for getting an ISBN number or even a barcode? I see you have both on your book which I use for some products from Indonesia. I will also use your book when the books are published in China.

And I do continue to read your posts.
Thanks again,
Edward L


Edward,


Thanks for your note, but I am not sure how to reach you to reply...  anyway, email me directly for more information, otherwise, within the next week I should have all the infor you can stand over at perishyourpublisher.com.


Do You See What I See?

Here is the banner ad on drudgereport:


China Beer Trade

Although wine is the big news story out of Hong Kong, the same laws that reduced taxes and regs on wine  did so on beer and other spirits.  Naturally, when you get rid of taxes, regs and rules on a product, you get more better cheaper faster.  If you would like a template of a export plan I'd be happy to email you one.


Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Online Marketing

I am a big disbeliever in marketing over the internet, especially SEO, so when I come across something that seems to disagree with my point of view, I like to highlight it.  And here is a fellow selling posh car mats over the webs...  check it out.


Watching a Pickpocket

At the Oakland Airport I once watched a pickpocket crowd behind a woman getting on a bus, she with an open purse and he fishing it out.  I have a fairly commanding voice, and I called out to the woman, quite clearly, to mind her purse, it was being picked.  At this point anyone who did not notice could no longer ignore it.  I was about 8 people back, and I assumed my calling out would stop the theft.  No.

The woman stupidly ignored me as her wallet was worked all the more out.  I shouted out louder, and the others became uneasy for fear of confronting so bold a thief.  Privately I adore violence, so I shouted again louder, finally arousing a stupid glance down at her purse only to see a hand in it (if you are a woman with a purse, and someone is shouting loudly "lady your wallet is being stolen from your purse," at least glance down...)  She was shocked and pulled her purse up, by then I was at the door with her, and the thief backed off denying everything... the only thing that surprised me was how relentless he was.  I suggested to the bus driver he radio in a complaint to the cops, and he said no, cops wouldn't do anything and it would just delay the shuttle bus.  If patron protection was in private hands of course, I could report the driver, who would be forensically investigated to see if he was in on the pickpocketing, by assisting the pickpocket by positioning people to be robbed.  Stats would show this, whether or not.

Anyway, if Oakland did not care about crime, it's not my concern, I am just a guest and visitor.  But I'll always be impressed by the boldness and relentlessness of the pickpocket.

I am reminded of this when I see bondwriters are creating 50 year junk bond notes at 6 and an eighth that cannot be called for 5 years, with a $25 face value.  Gee!  I wonder who the target is?  Well, bonds are for those on fixed incomes, and a $25 face value means even the poorest can get one, but they cannot be called for 5 years.  You could not design a better product to rip off anyone who managed to escape the great rip-off of 2008.  It is not enough for these people to grind down the yield for fixed income folks to zero, their principle must be stolen too!

This is all going on in broad daylight, compliments of the villains who brought the economic crisis, while they are being criticized and investigated, but so what?  They will never be prosecuted, and the old folks have no where else to go.  Funded by the government, protected by the government, immune by operation of the government, there is no downside.  The teaparty winners will not do anything either.  It will all be blamed on the free market, mistakes were made, we only need teap party rules, subsidies and protections.


As Mish notes, the big players will flog these and then short them when they go bad.


Animal Spirits

Talk about voodoo economics!  The powers that be are exercising a economic regime based on the writings of Keynes, who had this to say:

"Even apart from the instability due to speculation, there is the instability due to the characteristic of human nature that a large proportion of our positive activities depend on spontaneous optimism rather than mathematical expectations, whether moral or hedonistic or economic. Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as the result of animal spirits - a spontaneous urge to action rather than inaction, and not as the outcome of a weighted average of quantitative benefits multiplied by quantitative probabilities."[3]

Keynes never ran a business. The motivation is not some deep animal urging to do something, anything, it is a very human process in which one experiences and calculates suffering (passion) uses reason to come up with a solution, and then finds joy in working on the solution.  These are three elements crucial to entrepreneurship, and not a single one can an animal perform.  By Keynesian lights, a german shepherd could run Apple computer.

Animals are limited to perception and reaction.  They can be conditioned to react a certain way if presented a certain perception, and so can people.  But this does not mean people and animals are the same, only that some people can be lowered to animal level in their acts as humans.

For example, from wikipedia:

And in his foreward to the 1936 German language edition of his General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, John Maynard Keynes wrote: "The theory of aggregate production, which is the point of the following book, nevertheless can be much easier adapted to the conditions of a totalitarian state than the theory of production and distribution put forth under conditions of free competition and a large degree of laissez-faire."


So Keynes recommended his system to Adolf Hitler, in Hitler's drive to reduce humanity to animalism.

The odds on favorite to win the Nobel in economics this year is a professor at Yale, Robert J. Shiller, whose book is entitled


Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism
George A. Akerlof (Author), Robert J. Shiller (Author)


We are seeing the ghastly results of reducing humans to animals in a consumeristic society.  Don't buy the book, don't believe the lies the powers that be tell about business.


New Product Ideas and Testing

One thing that has disgusted me in the last decade or so is this practice of scooping doggy do.  Urrgggh!  As one who cut lawns under Japanese direction, for a summer,  I came across bookoo poo.  Grab a shovel, bury it, no exceptions.

We used rotary mowers, that is the six blades that spin in the open in front, not those closed contained affairs you see today. Those new mowers cannot make the ballpark like pattern, which is at once more attractive and also makes clear if a worker is not attending to precise lines (imprecise lines also indicates inefficiency.) Having the gift of ADD, I once missed a pre-cut cleanup of poo and when I unexpectedly found myself bearing down on a pile I simply continued cutting, let the rotary mowers scoop up and send sailing back into the grass catcher the pile.  What fun!  Then it became a game, for a few days, until my boss spotted me, and was outraged.  Poo is to be buried, no exceptions!

I get grossed out by people following their dog and picking up the detritae.  And then they carry it!  The practice is so ingrained in our society that the president, at a dinner, can refer to it with a throw-away line, and everyone understands.  Uhng!  And forget about me, think of how confusing it is for the dog!  This is so unnatural, and when the normal sensible solution is so obvious, I wonder if the practice is not just another example of reflex conditioning like recycling.  Both are related to waste, both are problems in a consumeristic society, and USA consumerism is the state religion.

I would say there is a product to be developed, the "dog-walkers friend," that is some sort of spade on a handle that allows one to create a quick divet and slide in the offending matter.  But if pick and pack poo is a religious custom, it won't sell.  Again, of course, we try to buy our ideas to test the hypothesis.


Monday, October 25, 2010

Voting Tea Party

In Washington State there is an initiative to break the stalinist state monopoly on booze, for which I voted.  Beyond that there was no person to whom I could trust with power, so I ended up writing in Jesus, to make sure I did not waste my vote.

I said earlier it will take a year or two to see the Tea Party is no different, but it has been pointed out we need not wait:  there is not a single tea party candidate calling for an end to the criminal wars in the middle east, or clawing back the bailout money, ending govt spying, torture, or even just the TSA.  Nada, zip, nothing.

The antidote to no opportunity to transfer your power to others is to keep your power and start your own business.


Sunday, October 24, 2010

Angela Davis on Revolution

Here is an interview in 1997 with Angela Davis, wherein she has the distance, experience and maturity to reflect on her experiences in the movement.


Our leaders were assassinated, one of the things I was reading today was - 28 Panthers were killed by the police but 300 Black Panthers were killed by other Panthers just within - internecine warfare. It just began to seem like we were in an impossible task given what we were facing. How do we reawaken that sense that one person can really make that difference again now? 


Read more to get her take on Rev. Dr. ML King, and the labor movement.  Fascinating stuff for those who are looking for change.