Saturday, October 8, 2011

How Government Works

There are plenty of doctors out there who dissent from what is being passed off as medicine.  They warned against treating people like Buicks, with standardized maintenance.  You will be treted like a buick by people with all the integrity of an auto repair joint.

A designer friend of mine, and native american with full "free" medical care experienced internal pains that her free doctor diagnosed as a pulled muscle and loaded her up with free steroids.  Ooops.  Stomach cancer that accelerated with steroids to all systems...  she was dead within months.  What pro-single payer health care people do not understand is government health care is necessarily inappropriate, rare, expensive and slow.  In a free market it would be more better cheaper faster.  It is government intervention that made it so bad, government intervention that gives cover to the bad guys who charge too much for the wrong things.

One of the big anti-Obamacare scares is the death panels who decide who lives and dies based on secret rationing systems.  Ridiculous!  Never! Say pro-govt health care people.  Too late.  Obama already has a death panel that can button US citizens for murder.  They got the black guy to do it so the next president can have it without controversy.  After Obama is defeated in a few months, they will still blame the black guy.  Elijah Muhammed seems to be right, blacks need to be separate but equal to get a fair shake in USA.


Just as government intervention in the rating agencies did so much to advance the economic crisis, so government backing of med associations does so much to ruin medicine.  Lemme see, hormone replacement therapy... pap smears, breast cancer screening... now all are inadvisable... and o yeah... prostrate exams, bad idea...



But it is free...  I'd love to see a health comparison between those who have employer-paid health care and those who do not... a great masters thesis, or even phd work in public health.  It would not surprise me if those with no health care are better off than those with it.

It is a standard operating procedure of government to solve problems that do not exist.  In this way you cannot lose.  In this way they can make up problems, scare people, and then always declare improvement or worsening as political and funding requirements demand.  

There was no health care problem in America before the govt got involved.  And all of this "health care" activity is crowding out cure activity.

The same thing applies to law enforcement.  Go after am innocent Martha Stewart since it is easier to get a conviction when you make up evidence against and innocent person that it is to prosecute a guilty person.  A guilty person knows what they did wrong and how to fight it.  An innocent person believes in the system, and has no idea why they are targeted or what they are supposed to be guilty of.  Why go after a Bernie Madoff while he is stealing billions and many people know it when you can nail a Martha Stewart, quick and easy and make a name for yourself?

Why take on a tough case of stomach cancer when you can just pass out steroids like you do for everyone else and get another oldster, native american off the rolls?


Friday, October 7, 2011

A Lawyer Does the Right Thing!

Whoa!  Here a lawyer is suing the state of New York for making cash grants to businesses for economic development.  IBM don't like it.  He lost, won at the appellate level, and is now before the State Supreme Court.

Now, if just some lawyer, some where, would fight bailouts, torture, citizen murder, invasion of privacy, illegal war...  sigh...  naw...  ain't gonna happen.  Cause all of these blights are compliments of the American Bar Association.  Lawyers are behind every one of these items. Sure the ACLU lawyers do their thing, but they are not the lawyers who matter in these cases.  It is the judges and prosecutors, who as lawyers, are not doing their job.   We need to rethink this whole criminal justice system.

Kant saw it coming 250 years ago, and pointed out the inherent conflict of interest of allowing members of the judicial branch of government serving in either the legislative or executive branch.  We ought to make explicit this conflict of interest and outlaw lawyers serving in 2 or 3 branches of govt.


Thursday, October 6, 2011

Protect People From Themselves

In passing, a fellow declared that we need “the natural and built-in safeguards that protect people from themselves...”  To which I think a reply is necessary.

In a free market there are safeguards, and they are built in.  For example, short sellers are all the regulation the securities markets need.  They are necessary and sufficient.

I understand this fellow is expressing himself to mean natural in addition to built-in, such as the SEC.  I mean natural and built in as one and the same, as in no SEC is necessary.

The cringeworthy elements is “protect people from themselves.”  Uggghh... And who judges when a person is acting in a manner in which they need protection from themselves?  And what actions from which do people need to be protected? And who is tasked with intervening?

Now keep in mind we are not talking about kids running with scissors or nutjobs with truck loads of fuel and fertilizers, we are talking about people making investments with their own money.  This is the degree to which many pople do not trust others, and believe their fears ought to be complemented by expropriation and violence.  Yikes!

How about such people just worry about themselves?


Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Steve Jobs - A Great American RIP

Ever since I first used a Mac circa 1984, I was all Apple all of the time.  The two times I bought a PC, in addition to macs, were both times mistakes.  Not necessary.

Steve Jobs has a wonderful history, and probably most important for his example of innovation and entrepreneurship.  Countless people have done well in the tech business, but extremely few, and none as much as Steve Jobs, has done good.
Shoulder-high portrait of smiling man in his fifties wearing a black turtle neck shirt with a day-old beard holding a phone facing the viewer in his left hand
Although I learned the mantra compete on design from others, Steve Jobs was a huge example of the mantra in action.  I hope he in time comes to eclipse the bigger names but lesser people in contemporary business, and overcomes the deleterious legacy of Tho. Edison.


Jobs had no idea in 1976 when he and Woz started Apple that in 2011 he would be the #1 phone salesman and #1 stereo salesman in the world. In 1976 there were no such thing as a phone salesman, and a stereo salesman was one step up from used car sales man.  But that is the nature of innovation, and the benefit of freedom, we have no idea what will come from it.

Because of Jobs and Apple, when phones were deregulated (yay! deregulation!) we got the internet and www and countless other goodies, popularized by Jobs insistence on user friendly GUI.  That "other" company was always years behind, and has never really competed.

My favorite quote of Steve Jobs is when circa 1995 he said "computers do not belong in classrooms."  Perfect sentiment, perfect timing.

And wow..read this early 80s interview....

God bless him and give him eternal happiness.


When Arguing For Change

When arguing, in the sense of making a case, explaining something, there are a couple of people to watch out for...  those with no good will, they will defend their position to the death, they do not want to hear anything that contradicts their understanding of the world.  Another group listens and understands, and agrees, but will not make any change or even endorse the new idea. And then there are those you have to be very patient with.

The first group are those who are the most abused by the system.  The serfs in Russia was the group most resistant to freedom.  When both the intelligentsia and the royalty no longer believed in the Tsarist system, even when the tzar tried to reform the system, it was the serfs who resisted most.  Change means violence in almost all cases, and guess who suffers the most in widespread violence?  Those at the bottom.  Their resistance is rational.

To argue for a change in the system, even nonviolent, does not good, because at some point, things get violent.  It does seem that what pockets of peace and prosperity do form, it is almost always accidental, small in scale, and precarious.  Who hopes for that?

We are in tumultuous times, and as they say, "we ain't seen nothing yet..."  All those "social welfare safety nets" have only delayed the inevitable, and will make the crack up all the worse.  Afterwards, people will hate social welfare for centuries, like after the social welfare of Rome.  People will escape to anarchy rather than be "helped" by the powers that be.

The problem with the serfs are their protests are precipitated by the failure of the system that educated them.  Since that system has their minds, the show up on Wall Street demanding change, that is more of the only thing they know, and that is what they were taught.  They want more of the same, and now!  Harder! Harder!  And to whom do they appeal?  Why those who are abusing them right now.

Those who understand and agree but will not endorse are plentiful.  You take the time to help them understand, and they come to realize the wisdom of the ideas, but still vote for warfare/welfare, because they do not want to waste their vote.  Sigh.  These people have a certain body language that can be spotted immediately, hard to describe, but maybe "hounded" is close.  When I am questioned by such, the first thing I ask is "if I convince you of a good idea, will you then work for it?"  These people will honestly tell you no, so at that point, stop wasting your time.  And theirs.

And there is the group who are relentlessly obtuse.  they have to have it explained over and over.  Full of goodwill, they will carefully listen to explain why we do not need government police, and then they finally get it.  And then, thy ask, what about government fire fighters?  I am part of that group.  I have to have every part, every instance carefully explained to me.

Now, if and when that accidental opportunity for a haven of peace and prosperity appears, it only takes a few people to lead everyone to this promised land.  Once it starts working, everyone goes along anyway, since relative stability is the highest good.

So the questions are: how to spot these opportunities?  How to perform when the opportunity appears? It It is not a question of getting people to go along, it is a question of quickly demonstrating peace and prosperity, and then people will acquiesce.

If you want to be free you must secede in place, escape to anarchy.  Then you have some choices.  Since there is no safety net or employers in anarchy, you must become self-employed.

What people know and expect is violent change.  No one prepares for nonviolent change.  Capitalism has failed, because it was every bit as evil as communism.   Mustn't bother to try to convince anyone of that, that is the work of history books.  Right now we need to learn how to make nonviolent change work at the small accidental level.  Self-employment is good training.


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

How it Works, Police Videocams

After a series way back when on cameras to record police interaction, there is a company in Seattle that sells cameras for Police for their interaction.  One was deployed in a police killing of a suspect in Oakland. But the article has this:

That led to a dispute, the sources said, over whether the department followed policies adopted after the city bought 350 wearable cameras late last year from Vievu of Seattle for $540,000

Well,  that is some $1540 per camera.  Look at the camera in the article.  Look at the cameras that are given away free at trade shows. Certainly the police version is more rugged, but $1540 each?

8 meg spy cameras go for $30.  Sure it is not the same thing, but rugged is $1500 more?  One reason these cost so much is there is so much money chasing so few goods, look at all the orgs with money to pay for such goodies!

Well, here is what Oakland bought at $900, which I found with about 30 seconds of googling.    I bet I can find it much cheaper.

A big reason we are in economic trouble is there is NO government purchase which is not made with people paying too much to do too much.  I am convinced the powers that be are outfitting cops with these for the same reason they are laying on more rules on pilots and writing up high paid teachers.  To get rid of them.  If I was running a cop union, I'd fight these.

At the same time, every citizen should be filming every encounter with any law enforcement.  Keep honest people honest.  You've got the camera anyway, no sense taxpayers should pick up the tab for the powers that be to enrich their cronies as they betray their cops.


Monday, October 3, 2011

Free Market Colloquy

Anthony peppers me for answers!


Q. Why isn't there a free market union solution?   Competing unions?  ie, Union A takes less out in dues than Union B and negotiates better benefits.  I think I'll choose to join Union A.   OR Union A workers are more reliable than Union B workers, I think I'll contract with Union A workers to run my grain terminal.   

A. NRLB will crush the move to an oregon union, and I would not be surprised if there is a murder in regard to the oregon union move......  there are problems, therefore there are unions, not the other way around.  if there was not big govt/big biz alliance, there would not be the oppty to abuse workers, backed by govt violence.  It is govt backed violence that advances worker abuse.  Big biz would not dare do 95% of their abuses without govt backing.  So, in a free market, there would be no unions, since there would not be the power to abuse workers. If there are no problems, then there are no unions.  (This refers to field unions, not house unions, since house unions are not real unions).

Longshoremen secure twisty flexible containers on twisty flexible ships that travel of crazy seas... and they unload the same...  the work is very high skilled stuff..  most people cannot hack it... it is why of all of the unions, the longshoremen are the most problematical if and when they go on strike.

Q. In LA, for years,  millions of cars pumped smog into the air, along with burning trash, etc...,  and people were getting sick from the air pollution.  How should this have been corrected or addressed in the courts through property rights?
And,  Smog in Los Angeles didn't decrease until the late 1970s, after government regulations were imposed.   Why didn't the free market address the problem before then?   The worst day of smog appears to have been in 1943, when the smog was so thick, people thought there was a gas attack.   Since then, there was at least 30 years where the free market could have provided a solution, but didn't.  So what happened?   What would Bastiat say?

A. As soon as the lead and carbon monoxide exceeded the stench of horseshoot, about 1904, the lawsuits coming in would have brought this nascent industry to a halt, if they did not innovate in relation to legal realities.  Too late, for 60 years earlier judges began preferring big biz and "employment" to property rights.  Other wise, in some way, the auto industry would have developed a way to retain the exhaust.  Read all about it in Morton Horwitz book cited to the left.

It is a neat trick to advance the destruction of the ecology by govt fiat, and violating property rights, and then taking credit after 70 years for "fixing" the problem.  Smog is still bad, when it need not be at all.  But cosseting the automakers, like they do the banks, we pollution, war, economic dislocation, invasion of privacy, and so on.

Principles matter, and violating natural law is unsustainable policy.


Sunday, October 2, 2011

Only One Reason to Get Really Rich

And that is to own a  private jet to avoid the TSA. It's bad enough this bit of extremely expensive street theatre exists,  but that there are so many people that are willing to work for them is very bad.  This is an example of how the US people are no different than the Germans, who were willing to take a govt job under Hitler, no matter what the work.

I was directed into the Rapescan machine, for a dose of radiation, and of course of I refused.  They asked me why, and I simply refused again.  A few of the workers, excited to use their walkie talkies, reported an "opt out! I repeat, an opt out!"  Hands trembled with excitement.

If you refuse, the TSA workers are directed to retaliate by feeling you up.  All over.  There was some argument between TSA workers over who got to feel me up.  Male of course, this was San Francisco.

They ask nicely if they may do so, and if you say no, then retaliation escalates (I tried to say no once in Seattle and a very large, ugly mean looking supervisor came over and nodded toward a back room and said "you don't want to say "no.")  So when asked in SFO, I simply said "do I have a choice?"  he hesitated, grinned and said, "not really."  hmmm, well then why ask?  Of course, this is social conditioning, to get you to agree to your debasement.  It is all very evil stuff.  Our government does not have the right to to detain and search us, but they have the power.  And exercising illegitimate power is what draws too many people to government work.

After this homo-erotic encounter,  I discover my flight is hours delayed.  Long enough to see the TSA shift go off duty.  Walk pass me one way to their lockers I presume, and then back to exit and home.   A long sad line of people who do not like their work, but clearly would not get work elsewhere. I actually felt sorry for them, for clearly victims of government policy that prefers bankers billions to workers employment, and then victims of their own lack of integrity.

And then there are the civilians who gladly murder other american citizens.  Friday two US citizens were murdered by other citizens.  Following the snuff movie killing of Osama Bin Laden, since there was no outcry for that foreigners murder, our government murdered two others, Anwar al Awaki, and another, US Citizens this time.  Watch Pres. Obama's spokesman dissemble when a newsman asks about our government murdering US citizens:

It is all so indecent.