Saturday, February 2, 2013

Regulating Burger King Horsemeat

The UK has more strict regulations than even the USA, and even there the regulators do not keep up.  It was private entities that found the horsemeat and pork in the "all-beef" Burger King.

Personally I've even cat, dog several kinds of snake, armadillo, pigeon (what do you think "squab" is?) and plenty of "don't ask."  I've also eaten raw oyster, raw fish eggs and raw sea urchin roe, if you want to talk nasty.  And when I cook a duck, I save the organs to chop up and throw in a meatloaf, so I can eat the organs too. Otherwise, duck organs are not appetizing to me.

Even if they did find meat in meat, gee whiz... no one checks for things that are allowed in USA and UK, for example some chemicals so nasty that they are banned everywhere else, and Singapore offers a $450,000 fine on anyone caught using it.  But those things are in the McRib.

The main reason companies can getaway with this is because most people believe the FDA, etc protect them from such depredations.  Exactly the opposite is true.  We need reputations, not depredations.

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If We Owe It To Ourselves...

I keep hearing deficits do not matter, and the national debt does not matter (two different things), because we owe it to ourselves.

If we owe it to ourselves, as I queried, what is it we pay back?

And if we owe it to ourselves, as in "The People," collectively, then why do we have to pay interest on what we "owe ourselves" to private companies?

And exactly what do we have to pay back?  Money?  No, because the debt is denominated in bonds and other instruments, what we borrowed was "credit" not money.

And to whom to we pay it back?  To ourselves?  I think our CPAs would find this concept befuddling, As a practical matter.

And if we forgive ourselves this debt, then how will the IRS view it?  As income?

Can it be paid back? That would be nice, but it is actuarially impossible. Our kids will be paying real money to clear the paper debts. We enjoy whatever it is we are getting on credit, for example:

1. Wars.

2. The surveillance state.

3. The most extensive prison system mankind has ever known.

4. EBT fund cards for frankenfoods.

5. Frankenfoods.

6. Roads and so on.

Now, we have these things, and for better or worse we are married to them.  But if we owe it to ourselves, then surely we can repudiated the debt to ourselves, with no ill effect.

So why don't we?  Because those private companies who earn interest on the credit-based debt would no longer have the income streams to pay off the politicians who support a system in which credit is extended at interest and some of the interest is shaved off to get politicians re-elected who in turn support a system in which credit is extended at interest and some of the interest is shaved off to get politicians re-elected who in turn support a system in which credit is extended at interest and some of the interest is shaved off to get politicians re-elected who in turn support a system in which credit is extended at interest and some of the interest is shaved off to get politicians re-elected who in turn ad infinitem.

And if we did not support this system none of us would get any free stuff.

Nothing bad would happen if we just repudiated the debt, like Iceland.  Those billionaires who are on top of this system would simply make $120,000 a year, and be taxed, not 500 million, untaxed.  We'd stop buying things on credit at interest, and we'd have all the good things we have now, we'd just not have


1. Wars.

2. The surveillance state.

3. The most extensive prison system mankind has ever known.

4. EBT fund cards for frankenfoods.

5. Frankenfoods.

We'd have mag-lev transport with its non-polluting and energy efficient aspects, so no roads as we know them, just as 30 years after telephone deregulation we no longer have telephones as we knew them.

And then I hear trade deficits matter.  They do?  I have a trade deficit with Whole Foods.  I buy far more from them than they buy form me.  In fact, Whole Foods has never bought a thing from me, and I am pretty sure they never will, but I keep buying from them.  Where is the problem.  Is this bad for me?  And Amazon.com has bought incalculably more form me that I could ever buy from Amazon.com, so somehow this is bad for Amazon.com.  If so, please do not tell them.

In any event, none of this will change.  Down we go.  The world can be a wicked place, and that is good to know.  Because you can know where we need to struggle, and where it matters for you personally to struggle, and in that passion know the joy of working on a solution.  Raw goat cheese.  You are part of the solution!  Raw wool sweaters.  You are part of the solution.  Alternatives to the "criminal justice" system.  You are part of the solution!  An so on.

Get customer-employed and be a part of the solution.

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Friday, February 1, 2013

Dan Ariely on Anarchy, Sort Of, or Who Is The Cop?

Behavioural economist talk about carbon trading, and he seems to advocate not a tax to control it, noting as I do that only makes permanent what should be eliminated, but transparency in who is doing the polluting, suggesting public opinion is the the better way to control it.

This is precisely what we would have in anarchy, and that is public opinion as the cop, refusal to associate as the sanction.

It is in fact the most effective deterrent available to The People.




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Thursday, January 31, 2013

All Hail The Icelandic Rejectionist Line!

The Icelandic people rose up against their political masters and rejected the politicians' effort to enslave them forever, as was done to Haiti two centuries ago by Haiti politicians.

The plan was to saddle Icelanders with unrepayable debts owed to foreign speculators.  The politicians promised than any rejection of the spurious "debts" would result in the eternal collapse of the Icelandic economy.

False.  Iceland has recovered where Ireland, Italy, Spain, Greece etc have all agreed to be perpetually in debt in regards to putative obligations to foreign bankers.


Iceland refused to pay the sum, as its financial crisis had nearly bankrupt the entire country, prompting the UK to invoke terrorist legislation to seize Landsbanki’s UK assets.
The UK has since been pressing Iceland to repay not just the £2.35bn of principal but also the interest bill to British taxpayers. Initially, the UK requested interest of 5pc before adjusting its demand to between 3pc and 3.3pc a year from 2009 to 2016. Both requests were rejected by the Icelandic public in two referendums.

The Icelandic politicians and their co-conspirators attempted to sue the Icelandic people for repudiating the debts.  The EU court ruled in favor of the Icelandic people.

All is this debt is mere paper.  It is not associated with anything but promised future income streams.  If the debt is repudiated, then those humans who have the "right" to the income streams would simply have to find gainful employment instead of living off those income streams, fat and happy.

There is no risk of any dire consequences from repudiating these debts.  At worst, billionaires become millionaires.  The real game is libido dominandi, the simple pleasure of knowing millions of people have no lives of their own, they are enslaved by debt they never agreed to.

Now when one demon is cast out seven return, so Iceland may be subject to other forms of retaliation for their act of self-determination.  But Iceland has never been in a war, perhaps because Iceland is cold and it does not bother their soldiers.

Soldiers Chillin'  http://uti.is/2011/02/the-farmers-full-mounty/
The real surprise is in Ireland, of all places, the people voted to enslave themselves for another 400 years to the British, this after gaining freedom less than a century ago.  I guess that just goes to show,  violent change is no change at all.

As I understand it, most of the Iceland bloodstock is Celt, who were kidnapped by Norsemen to be used as slaves in Iceland.  If so, what a successful slave uprising in Iceland, but not Ireland.  Perhaps Ireland needs a king, someone with self-respect to challenge the UK monarch.

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All Hail The Icelandic President!


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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Credit and Money

Starting here, Mish has about six posts that are excellent examples of his best work.  Mish is essentially an austrian economist, and in the big debate over hyperinflation, Mish contributed the deciding factor of  the effect of credit dampening any hyperinflation.

I think the sloppy understanding of money vs credit is the heart of the error in thinking among some Austrians.  There is money, and there is credit, and the two have nothing to do with each other.  Banks lend credit, not money.  But only bankers speak in terms of "lending credit" because the insiders understand the game.

Mish's series is most edifying roundup of where we are right now.

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Trent Gilliss

Like the music videos below, here is someone in photography dealing with passion and joy.

http://vimeo.com/39578584

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

New Product Introduction

M checks in to clarify the process of business start-up:

On Jan 28, 2013, at 11:01 PM, Mi wrote:

Hi John,

My name is Mi and I was a student In your import/export class.
Though the class ended in December, I wanted to ask your advice on how
to best pursue a business concept.

***Hi Mi***

The fact you emphasized that we think of a solution to a problem has
enabled me to really look within my passion and I believe I finally
answered the question for myself and have come up with an idea and
have a customer in mind.  I have researched and interviewed clerks at
Nordstrom, Sephora, Macy's and know that there is no such thing in
existence.  I have a design in mind as well.

***Very very good... many do not get even this far....***

My question is what is the best way to go about identifying  the
buyers and decision makers of these high end retail stores and set up
time to review my concept with them?  Would this be my next step or
would you suggest building a prototype to present to them first?

***Very important point... these people are busy doing what they do, and reviewing concepts is not in their work.  The fact that you've spoke to clerks is in itself "concept review" work.  The validation you need, what you want, is validation sufficient to encourage you to take the next "risk" and that is getting samples of what your design, now validated.  You may simply need to speak to more clerks... and remember, the validation is 2 part:  it's a good idea and does not exist.  Did they think it is as a good idea?  That is as important as "does it exist?"

And recall, when you are looking for suppliers, your greatest recommendation will be the stores you can name that said "it is a good idea and does not exist."***

There are points I would like to quickly get validation on:

1). Will the concept sell in their store given their customer
preference and gage their interest

***They will never know that in advance, and could not tell you.  Recall that the specialty store buyers first question is "what is new?" and second question (if they like it) "what is your minimum."  Buyers never have any idea whether something new will sell.  They test everything and manage risk by buying a tiny test order to start.  That is the bad news.  The good news is they all order tiny test orders to start. so you can amalgamate enough orders to cover your suppliers minimum, and then you are in business.***

2). Initial gage on timing & orders so i can decide how to best build
& develop prototypes

***  As you develop prototypes,with the best factory in the world, they will inform you of timelines, lead times, prices, all of those details.  So the process is validation from the stores as you try to "buy" your idea from the retailers who are your target market, and once sufficiently validated by your inquiries, you find the best supplier in the world, and create the item based on your initial idea enhanced by the retailer conversations in this initial validation phase.  I am being wordy because people have a hard time maintaining discipline and as actors say, "staying in the role."  Someone goes into a store as a "customer" trying to buy their idea, and the clerk says "it is a good idea and does not exist..."  and all of sudden this "customer" steps out of role and tries to sell to the clerk the idea, when the "customer"  does not even have a source yet.  Just take your time, do each step thoroughly, and you truly cannot lose.  No one ever loses going down this path, just some people quit for whatever reason.  (I find usually lack of passion and joy in what they are pursuing.)***

I would greatly appreciate advice on my next steps.

***Advice:  make sure you are sufficiently certain that there are enough stores with people who say "it is a good idea and does not exist" for you to go into the next phase, which is to develop samples with the best place in the world.   So you will disappear for a while as you get samples and all of the info you need to make a run at milestone 3#: enough orders from retailers collectively to cover the suppliers minimum order run, in a workable amount of time, profitably.***

John


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Intellectual vs. Memory Property Rights

Have you never heard of memory property rights?  Neither have I and I googled it with no hits.  But I was reflecting on how what we call intellectual property rights is really attributed to something that is essentially the result of memory, not intellect.

You see intellect is about understanding things.  What things?  Almost always things from memory, whether in the form of other peoples work, or recalling odd bits of conversation or watching demonstrations.  The intellect sees and understands, and any given individual will come up with a unique understanding, and by some effort will produce something in the form of a design, a composition or even a clever trademark.

Yes, the intellect is a part of creativity, but the bulk of the result is from memory and effort, not the intellect.  The intellect is not even crucial since many people come up with the same idea at the same time.  (If they did not, then why try to manage the result?)

So in what is termed "intellectual property rights" the intellect plays almost no part, let alone a crucial part.  Memory is far more important, and we are far more responsible for what experiences we pursue and what memories we accumulate than what intellect with which we may be endowed.

So instead of the mildly ridiculous term "intellectual property rights" why not the more accurate and revealing term "memory property rights."  Good definitions chase away bad ideas.

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Monday, January 28, 2013

Apple's Pyrrhic Victory Over Samsung

If Apple falls far and fast (I am not so sure it will) we may trace the turning point to Apple's legal victory in the USA over Samsung's intellectual property rights violation, which told the world that a USA jury believed there was no difference between an iPhone and the Samsung version.

Steve Jobs was dead by the time the court ruled, and he may have been smart enough to do the right thing, and that would be once the case was settled, open source the patents so competition could reign.  But too late now, in the most important markets, the growing ones, Apple is in freefall.

But StatCounter gs.statcounter.com, which measures traffic collected across a network of 3 million websites, calculates that Apple's share of mobile devices in Singapore - iPad and iPhone - declined sharply last year. From a peak of 72 percent in January 2012, its share fell to 50 percent this month, while Android devices now account for 43 percent of the market, up from 20 percent in the same month last year.
In Hong Kong, devices running Apple's iOS now account for about 30 percent of the total, down from about 45 percent a year ago. Android accounts for nearly two-thirds.


Good luck fixing that.  It's not too late to do the right thing, but the right thing is not even on the radar.  Too bad for Apple.  Fantastic for anyone who wants to improve on Apple.  Why?  Because the drop in sales means an expansion in excess production capacity, which in turns capacity awaiting new designs at lower prices.  Your new designs.  Get going!

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Government As Chaos

As I have noted, I am against "free trade" agreements, because they do nothing to advance free trade.  In particular, the USA is an egregious violator of the terms,  and in any event, free trade is best practiced unilaterally.

After USA bullying tiny Antigua, the WTO ruled in Antigua's favor, but the USA continued to defy the WTO.  So in response...

The Government of Antigua is planning to launch a website selling movies, music and software, without paying U.S. copyright holders.
The Caribbean island is taking the unprecedented step because the United States refuses to lift a trade “blockade” preventing the island from offering Internet gambling services, despite several WTO decisions in Antigua’s favor. The country now hopes to recoup some of the lost income through a WTO approved “warez” site.
This is madness.  A trade war over something pointless to begin with, and that is "intellectual property rights."

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Passion and Joy

Here is another musical example of passion and joy surrounded by talent

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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Chinese Export Websites Done Right

I criticized Chinese export websites as a user thereof here, and a correspondent has linked me to a couple of others, that seem to me to be very, very good.

http://www.taidechem.com/   out of Hong Kong

http://www.sunnykite.com/enIndex.asp   out of Shenzhen

There are three improvement to be made:

1. Address the visitor immediately, directly.  Use the word "you" within the first three words of the website.

2. Immediately list references who can verify the suitability of the supplier.

3.  Fix the grammar problems.

Aside from that, the mention of how easy it is to pay, the layout, the user-friendly, the hovering skype link for immediate communication, is all very good.  This is delightful -  here one lists a hot product...
ProductShow
Name:3-Methyl-4-(methylthio)phenol
CAS number:3120-74-9
Formula:
Purity(HPLC):99.5%
Characteristics:White crystalline powder

Can't mix up the stuff fast enough!

I am very glad to see companies who are putting up useful sites for the inspection of potential customers.  These two sites do not have far to go to be perfect.

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