tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83559755591644585022012-01-27T16:57:51.494-05:00Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.comBlogger2191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-11476243519543375172012-01-27T12:12:00.001-05:002012-01-27T16:57:33.494-05:00

 Republican still push supply side economics.  Yesterday, the Washington Post ran this article: "Supply-side economics at core of Gingrich plan".  Supply side economics is Voodoo economics. It encourages people to recklessness consume before they have earned the money to buy products/services. That is one factor that caused the great economic meltdown in 2008. Blame Bush was at fault by

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-4494441127865228162012-01-26T19:31:00.000-05:002012-01-27T16:57:51.500-05:00

Once again the debt ceiling was raised.  The Washington Post writes: "The latest hike in the debt ceiling will lift the federal borrowing limit from $15.2 trillion to $16.4 trillion, an increase that will see the country through the end of the year." The way this was accomplished was despicable and not what you would want to see from our elected ersatz leaders.  My quickie point, I have seen a

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-85671516041348604032012-01-22T20:53:00.001-05:002012-01-22T21:09:48.085-05:00

Paula Deen was recently identified as having Type II diabetes. Prior to this breaking news, she was basically an unknown to me. Evidently she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant and has published five cookbooks and lives in Savannah Georgia. The exploding coverage over her cooking style caused me to think about restaurants and diabetics. Basically, diabetics are provided with

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-44745435070074936582012-01-20T18:51:00.001-05:002012-01-20T18:52:28.936-05:00

Following a link from The Technology Liberation Front I ran across the a post from Steve Titch "SOPA and PIPA for Non-Techies" on the Reason Foundation webpage.  His post very clearly articulated that our legal system is now focusing on passing laws that criminalize everyday activities. To paraphrase, lawmakers are criminalizing everyday activities rather than insist that law enforcement

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-21752588427439754702012-01-19T23:18:00.000-05:002012-01-20T18:18:13.771-05:00

Recently Captain Francesco Schettino reckless ran his ship, the Costa Concordia, aground.  It sank. Coincidentally, the Washington Post published a pro-Obama opinion piece by  Ezra Klein "Has Obama done a good job? Well, compared to what?" Needless to say this blatantly apologetic article cherry picks the analysis to imply that Obama is somehow either the victim of circumstances or to suggest

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-41752903210584983802012-01-19T18:13:00.002-05:002012-01-20T18:18:31.459-05:00

The Christian Science Monitor has an excellent article "Costa Concordia captain: symbol of the era?" In that commentary Robert Marquand writes:"The Concordia captain's missteps and failure to take responsibility have spurred deeper discussion about a dearth of moral leaders.  ...  The crisis of leadership extends beyond Italy and has been written about extensively – and

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-41053966760477380892012-01-15T19:43:00.002-05:002012-01-20T18:18:54.959-05:00

Reducing piracy is simple. Restore copyright law to what existed in 1790.  The expansion of piracy has not been caused by the consumer becoming evil, but by the content industry being able to purchase favorable legislation from Congress that criminalizes formally legal behavior.  In a sense "piracy" is the public relations creation of the content industry to make themselves out to be "victims". 

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-152867519587697152012-01-15T18:11:00.000-05:002012-01-20T18:19:13.663-05:00

Romney, on the campaign trail, has been vilifying the economies of the various countries in Europe plus that of Japan. He suggests that socialist economies are failures and that you should vote for his economic policies to restore the US economy to its former glory because we don't want to be like those losers in Europe or Japan. This claim, to me, is another case of a politician disingenuously

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-2056257209031466262011-12-08T19:41:00.001-05:002011-12-09T10:17:41.279-05:00

CNN's Wolf Blitzer on the Situation Room had a very disturbing segment concerning piracy. The segment was reminiscent of old style Soviet Union propaganda. Unfortunately, it seems that the segment has yet to be posted, so no link. Here is a link to an earlier story: Anti-piracy bill meets Web-freedom backlash.  TechDirt has greater detail and analysis here.  Essentially, today's Situation Room

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-3720916879389590832011-12-04T20:07:00.001-05:002011-12-05T20:42:04.461-05:00

The Republicans claim to want small limited government, but do they mean it?  As usual  the devil is in the details. As a quick Casual Observation; the Republican loudly proclaim with much fanfare to be unfailing advocates of the Tenth Amendment of the US Constitution. The Tenth Amendment holds that: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-79535977717578423052011-11-12T13:21:00.001-05:002011-12-05T20:41:35.462-05:00

One may not think that concerns over speed cameras can be associated with the inappropriate protection of so-called "intellectual property", but they can. The association is the implementation of "automated" justice. A Washington Times editorial on speed cameras writes: "The editorial writes: "Traditional law-enforcement duties are best performed by men, not machines. This is the case in

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-58705163624208648992011-11-12T12:36:00.001-05:002011-12-05T20:30:37.904-05:00

The Washington Post recently carried this headline: "Obama urges supercommittee leaders to reach deal; warns against undoing consequences of failing to reach accord".  This headline re-emphasizes that Obama's rhetoric is nothing more than smoke-and -mirrors for misleading the citizens.  Obama himself, has purposely avoided making the tough decisions he is supposed to be making as President.

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-71410171330329734732011-11-12T12:25:00.001-05:002011-11-12T12:35:53.967-05:00

I have been highly critical of Microsoft concerning the proprietary nature of Windows and the evolution of Windows into a corporate product to be managed by computer professionals rather than as a hobbyist operating system. Well, I just bought a new computer with Windows 7, and much to my surprise the upgrade has gone relatively well. So plus one for Microsoft. Specifically, based on prior

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-3988298470594167822011-10-18T14:19:00.002-04:002011-12-05T20:31:11.045-05:00

I do not support everything Ron Paul is proposing. I am pro-environment and I support regulations that protect the consumer from corporate abuses. I would not support the elimination of the Department of Commerce or the Department of the Interior.  I would support the elimination of government programs that are based on collecting revenues at the local level, transferring them to Washington, only

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-89779421110106026072011-10-13T21:37:00.000-04:002011-12-05T20:43:07.852-05:00

A growing concern has been the increased assertion by law enforcement that they have the ability to arrest people who are filming them, even in public places. This flies in the face all logic. Why should the police be able to film and tract someone for the purpose of collecting evidence to prosecute that individual, yet individuals are not allowed to similarly collect evidence that my exonerate

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-6191625359654159792011-09-29T20:07:00.002-04:002011-12-05T20:43:34.231-05:00

Every once in a while you run across a story that stimulates a reaction. In this case it was recently reported that OnStar would be selling customer data, nothing unusual about that. What became apparent as I read on here and here was that this data collection would be occurring even if you were not subscribing to the service. In other words, the OnStar unit is always on and always in contact

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-21226439164473708632011-09-23T09:20:00.000-04:002011-12-05T20:32:05.630-05:00

The media should ask the Republicans candidates for President the following question. "Taxes and regulations were cut under blame Bush. That gave us the financial crises which resulted in today's economic malaise. So if taxes and regulations would be further cut as you propose; why do you believe that further tax and regulation cutting would solve our economic woes?"

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-47694028760042031792011-09-18T18:12:00.000-04:002011-12-05T20:32:53.185-05:00

 The Washington Post, unintentionally, helped me make my case that our politicians are running a  Bread and Circuses Economy. In the article "Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interests" (along with some nice graphics) the Washington Post writes: "Over the past two years, largely because of these popular benefits in the federal income tax code, the

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-88788015692359165302011-09-17T12:37:00.000-04:002011-12-05T20:36:34.611-05:00

Obama just recently signed into law "The America Invents Act", which is another piece of useless legislation that will adversely affect the economy in the long-run. Click here for a brief summary of the "The America Invents Act". My essential concern with this bill is that it is an administrative band-aid; not a fundamental re-thinking concerning what deserves to be eligible for patent

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-53880511849482685922011-09-13T21:32:00.000-04:002011-09-25T19:00:33.015-04:00

The title makes for a good sound byte. The title comes from a CNBC interview with William Dunkelberg,Chief Economist of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). In that interview Mr. Dunkelberg makes it plain that our economic malaise is a debt problem. In the course of the interview (Unknown person at the 6:53 mark), the statement is made that "... this is not a traditional

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-19304199583212909012011-09-11T18:43:00.001-04:002011-09-26T09:04:13.894-04:00

Screen shots of the Microsoft Access version of the database.  Though I am adding data, I do not expect to be enhancing the programming. Click on the images to see them better. Please be sure to checkout the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB).  Makes my project somewhat redundant. The ISFDB is a great resource.  Cover art can also be viewed here. Main Screen October Issue

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-57884491611717372262011-09-08T23:26:00.000-04:002011-12-05T20:45:12.838-05:00

Tonight Obama gave another eloquent positive dynamic speech on jump starting the economy.  In his speech he referred "THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT" . He urged Congress to pass the jobs act "right away". In his speech he stated that the implementation of this legislation would be "paid for" as part of his long-term deficit reduction plan. Huh??????? Below are two excerpts from the Fact Sheet. 5.

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-40638315594108352772011-09-08T16:08:00.000-04:002011-12-05T20:45:57.464-05:00

Solyndra was to be an Obama showcase high-tech job creating green energy business.  Well the company filed for bankruptcy.  Another failure in the use of "incentives".  Today the Washington Post ran this article: FBI searches shuttered Solyndra offices, plant in California.  According to the Washington Post, Solyndra is "leaving taxpayers on the hook for a $535 million government-backed loan".

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-70194401460487446142011-09-07T22:36:00.001-04:002011-12-05T20:47:12.904-05:00

Yawn.  Very disappointing. When asked about Federal social service programs, the Republican candidates, instead of lambasting entitlement programs, responded with what amounted to the euphemistic term "tough love".  Several of them expounded glowingly of helping the disadvantaged. I almost thought they were Democrats. To give a positive nod to the Republicans, the moderators purposely asked the

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-68293209739207905402011-08-29T11:14:00.000-04:002011-08-29T11:14:29.448-04:00

I have been writing that the cause of our economic malaise has been over-stimulation of the economy.  Since posting The Source of Our Economic Malaise, the Washington Post published the following article: "Consumer fears put economy on the brink". A more appropriate title would have been the "Failure of Supply Side Economics. Below are comments made by the readers of the article that tend to

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-30254292805561108032011-08-17T19:08:00.004-04:002011-08-17T19:41:01.000-04:00

I suppose it occasionally does not hurt to support my CasualObservations with some punditry.  I have been writing that the cause of our economic malaise has been over-stimulation of the economy.  We can actually blame Bush for this.  Regretfully Obama wants to outdo Bush with even greater stimulus, which I have been arguing is wrong.  I have periodically mentioned that both Fox News and CNBC

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-29620125976416498762011-08-16T22:26:00.009-04:002011-12-05T20:47:41.763-05:00

Great video by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Demonstrates how the media massages who they talk about and who they don't.  Ron Paul is being purposely being ignored by the mainstream media. Please watch. The Daily Show - Indecision 2012 - Corn Polled Edition - Ron Paul & the Top Tier Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook I don't agree

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-5372190271910189982011-08-16T01:56:00.000-04:002011-08-16T01:56:24.214-04:00

As a child of the internet guinea-pig generation, I have a moderate data trail that --although not particularly embarrassing-- I wish I had some way to erase. These days I know a little bit better, and have a supply of pseudonyms in use. The knowledge that once my data is out there is a constant reminder that, no matter what the fine print that no one reads next to the "I Accept" button might say

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03317446084204668374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-71660201475370866502011-08-14T18:58:00.001-04:002011-12-05T20:48:49.800-05:00

Once again the media fails to disclose that so-called deficit reduction really hides the fact that the deficit spending will continue to increase our total debt.  All that is being proposed is to spend slightly less than originally proposed, not to cut spending.  Note the misleading headline: In tandem: Reducing the deficit to raise debt ceiling. (emphasis added) Below is a Washington Post graph.

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-47570446341431269202011-08-14T18:24:00.002-04:002011-08-14T19:54:31.026-04:00

 Economic growth seems to be stagnating. The universal cacophony is a call for stimulus to get the economy growing again.  The Washington Post recently ran a good article by Bill Gross: "America’s debt is not its biggest problem". Well, it was a good article until it put forth, near the end, the tired mantra of: "The president and Congress must recognize that an AA-plus country, to remain

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-34598508084473490702011-08-14T17:35:00.001-04:002011-12-05T20:49:25.983-05:00

Well, I finally get to combine the fight against so-called "intellectual property" with our current economic malaise and the upcoming presidential election.  Rick Santorum appeared on the Republican straw-poll debate in Ames, Iowa. Basically his presence (and remarks in subsequent post-debate interviews) was exemplified by his whining about the lack of camera time.  I guess that the lack of

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-46457186458198140292011-07-23T21:57:00.000-04:002011-12-05T20:50:20.525-05:00

A time out on the Obama bashing.  Time to analyze the mindless Republican talking points relating to job creation since we have a so-called "fragile economy". The Republicans demand that the government must provide incentives (tax credits and regulatory relief) to private industry so that they will  have the financial resources to unleash America's entrepreneurial spirit that will result in job

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-61358673221992259532011-07-15T18:00:00.045-04:002011-07-15T18:21:44.449-04:00

 In response to the Washington Post article "Break the spend-and-borrow cycle" olddesert_rat responded with the following: "We must raise the debt ceiling, and also craft a sound plan to cut spending over a measured period of time so that essential programs are left to operate and meet the needs of our citizens. Greater measures need to be put into this plan, in order to curb the waste,

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-65515496297216205592011-07-10T16:11:00.001-04:002011-12-05T21:09:10.214-05:00

The deficit debate is heating up.  When you read a newspaper you hope for real analysis not blatant propaganda. Consequently I was stunned by the Washington Post's headline: "Obama forges ahead in debt negotiations". How can the Post possibly assert that Obama is working on debt reduction when his proposed budget actually called for record deficit spending? The follow-up  misleading Post

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-74724491539592666782011-07-09T12:52:00.006-04:002011-12-05T21:11:13.578-05:00

Recently a weak jobs report was issued and bickering concerning the debt ceiling is heating-up. The Republican zombie mantra stupidly continues to spout conflicting messages. On one hand the Republicans claim that the government should stay out of the private sector, yet they turn right around and with a straight smiling face make the unbelievable assertion that the government must provide "

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-946591948840987712011-07-06T21:54:00.001-04:002011-12-05T21:11:40.247-05:00

As the irrational shrieking over the proposed debt ceiling intensifies, so has the whisper campaign for a "Balanced Budget Amendment" increased in volume. The problem is that any "Balanced Budget Amendment" won't be worth the paper it is printed on. I responded in the Washington Post opinion piece "Cantor won’t sign ‘Cut, Cap, Balance’ pledge" by Felicia Sonmez that: "The concept of the "

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-35083540399876026562011-07-03T19:22:00.000-04:002011-12-05T21:27:00.633-05:00

My daughter just sent me this Onion tongue and cheek article: "American People Hire High-Powered Lobbyist To Push Interests In Congress".  Humor can be a very powerful tool that exposes the hypocrisy of today's politicians. In announcing the hiring of Jack Weldon the Onion noted that: "His daily presence in the Capitol will ensure the American people finally get a seat at the table," the

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-45912052034636796472011-07-02T12:33:00.005-04:002011-12-05T21:27:00.638-05:00

Obama's proposed budget is nothing but smoke and mirrors to promote a "bread and circuses" economy.  Unfortunately some in the news media seems to be deficient in the critical analytical skills necessary to expose what is happening. Maybe some these individuals lack the to will to be independent and prefer to blindly regurgitate the Democratic party line. Obama is the head of a household.  The

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-6850688438784843582011-06-20T21:37:00.003-04:002011-12-05T21:27:00.642-05:00

The Washington Post on June 20, 2011 had this article: Scott Walker finds making bumper stickers is easier than creating jobs. The significance of this article is that highlights the extreme schizophrenia of the political "right".  On one hand the political "right" claims that the government is evil and stifles business.  Without any apparent recognition of their hypocrisy the political "right"

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-15725135673623554822011-06-14T19:43:00.000-04:002011-12-05T21:27:00.628-05:00

On the way home from work today we happened to have the local talk radio station on.  I was pleasantly surprised by the statement that the responsibility of government is to provide a level business playing field; not job creation.  Normally this talk radio person espouses the government is evil mantra.  But his comments today did display some introspection that government should not be in

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-72424481344034922642011-06-08T18:23:00.000-04:002011-12-05T20:53:51.064-05:00

We went to the beach after the Memorial Weekend crowds left.  While walking on the beach we saw several sand castles in the tidal zone.  Soon to be washed away. A lot of time and effort went into creating these pieces of intricate art work.  I'm sure that many people who visited the beach enjoyed seeing the sand castles. This casual trip to the beach documents that people will create without the

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-58166236510486692612011-05-04T19:48:00.005-04:002011-05-04T20:06:58.632-04:00

Those opposed to net-neutrality like to make the claim that they require "freedom" from regulation to foster innovation. Furthermore, they claim that since the packets flow on their networks, that they have an implicit right to manage the network. Especially the need to use engineering to solve network congestion problems. On the surface, these assertions appear reasonable. These assertions,

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-67931023662932839092011-04-19T18:46:00.005-04:002011-12-05T21:13:05.852-05:00

The Washington Post is reporting today that the "Obama administration tries to reassure public on plans to cut deficit".  The article even had glowing images of him before a crowd proclaiming the need to resolve the deficit problem. Well, if Obama is going before the public to "sell" his plan, he must really have one.  Where is it?  To bad, the Post article was nothing more than Orwellian

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-42543186314200590782011-04-16T11:54:00.004-04:002011-12-05T21:13:47.161-05:00

Went to the barber shop today.  They had an old Time Magazine.  A real paper version!   Took me me a while to recall how to physically turn a paper page.  Through perseverance, I overcame this impediment. While waiting my turn for a haircut I leafed through it.  In doing that I ran across  Nancy Gibbs' article "The Cost of Candor" (February 28, 2011).  Essentially Ms. Gibbs explains that

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-62632656635120195352011-04-14T21:47:00.003-04:002011-04-14T21:53:00.408-04:00

The budget crises continues to intensify. On Wednesday, April 13, 2011 the President provided a nice sounding positive rhetorical speech that was vacuous in real intent. The Washington Post in covering the speech ran this article: "Obama announces framework for cutting deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years" The problem? Obama did not offer a real tangible implementation plan and the

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-77649236920747256262011-04-11T17:30:00.005-04:002011-04-11T17:30:01.221-04:00

Today I was just sent the following editorial written by Charley Reese.  According to snopes.com: "Journalist Charley Reese (now retired) was part of the Orlando Sentinel's staff for three decades between 1971-2001, during which time he (among other duties) penned a thrice-weekly column which was distributed to other newspapers nationwide by King Features Syndicate. During the 1980s Reese wrote

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-16286428541692951052011-04-10T19:19:00.001-04:002011-04-10T22:59:07.151-04:00

Today the Washington Post carried the headline: "Obama readies broad plan to reduce deficit". Is there any believability in that headline?  I doubt it. Just more smoke and mirrors.  (Other fiscal insanity posts.) This past Friday, on the brink of a government shutdown, our politicians agreed to an approximate $38 billion dollar proposed spending reduction within a proposed debt increase of 

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-48845911667887132082011-03-30T21:44:00.000-04:002011-03-30T21:44:24.873-04:00

The April 11, 2001 issue of Forbes had worthwhile comments concerning copyright.  Lewis DVorkin in the article "The soul of media: For Forbes, it’s editing" observed that "On the Web today, knowledgeable people can publish content for next to nothing. With the tools of social media, those same people can build followings for next to nothing." In recognition of this trend, Mr. DVorkin goes on

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-45449732470770776912011-03-29T18:35:00.000-04:002011-03-29T18:35:24.620-04:00

Two cartoons caught my attention today. One by Nina Paley below, concerning the growing absurdity of lawsuits today. Scott Adams cartoon below is indicative of the "mad rush" by companies to go "green".  I have a sneaky suspicion that many of our "green" products are simply the old product with new labeling.

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-79263962538216559312011-03-21T21:42:00.002-04:002011-03-21T21:44:06.886-04:00

This morning Fox News jolted me awake with the remembrance that Obama had undeservedly received the Noble Peace Prize before actually accomplishing anything positive. Back in December 2009 I wrote about Obama's  Nobel Peace Prize Travesty, which had since faded from my memory.  Tom Tooles also had an excellent cartoon concerning the granting of the award. Since receiving the Noble Peace Prize,

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-85712563575797061162011-03-20T20:25:00.000-04:002011-03-20T20:25:38.023-04:00

Festering in the background of our unimaginable deficit spending orgy is the resurrection of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. On the surface this sounds reasonable, but in realty it is nothing more than pure political theater.  It is a distraction from the fact that our congress people are simply not doing their job of being fiscally responsible. Logically, if Congress cannot

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-16682293133331276012011-03-20T19:00:00.001-04:002011-03-20T19:04:09.918-04:00

Washington Post article: CBO: Obama budget underestimates deficits by $2.3 trillion over upcoming decade The Post writes: "The estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that if Obama’s February budget submission is enacted into law it would produce deficits totaling $9.5 trillion over 10 years — an average of almost $1 trillion a year."Tooles Cartoon below.

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-65584906578126605952011-03-14T19:07:00.000-04:002011-03-14T19:07:48.349-04:00

In the scheme of things this is a really really small issue. But then this blog is about casual observations. In the scheme of things this is another example of disingenuous business practices used to make a sale. Basically, businesses seem to be under the assumption that it is acceptable to lie and cheat in order to make a sale. Ok, lets be a bit nicer and say "stretch the truth". Of course,

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-68850248831244199422011-03-11T21:44:00.004-05:002011-03-11T21:49:03.818-05:00

A very appropriate and humorous analysis concerning our ever increasingly irresponsible spending. From Les Jones.  All the talk concerning "deficit reduction" is simply hot air based on psychedelic accounting. The deficit is continuing to increase.

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-29437032372295925382011-03-11T16:56:00.001-05:002011-12-05T21:14:44.123-05:00

One of the outfalls of the populist Tea Party movement is the demand for smaller government, less taxes, the elimination of regulations, and that government stay out of our personal lives.  I'm not going to go into too much detail at this point, but the devastating earthquake in Japan points out one of the benefits of strong government regulations. Japan’s Strict Building Codes Saved Lives.

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-13900318881032146572011-03-07T17:46:00.001-05:002011-03-07T17:47:35.989-05:00

Great cartoon from Nina Paley illustrating what is wrong with copyright (and all so-called "intellectual property") today.

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-79949972168823880282011-02-28T20:22:00.002-05:002011-12-05T20:55:53.743-05:00

Well I guess Fox News read the New York Times article "U.S. Sets 21st-Century Goal: Building a Better Patent Office" and simply regurgitated it this evening. Bret Baier of "Special Report" unimaginatively reported that the USPTO could be "fixed" through the traditional implementation of streamlining, technological improvements, more staff, etc. Unexplored was the critical issue of patent quality.

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-36814818020176198542011-02-21T18:48:00.002-05:002011-12-05T20:55:26.434-05:00

The New York Times has once again published an intellectually challenged superficial story that fails to delve into what is wrong with the patent system. In "U.S. Sets 21st-Century Goal: Building a Better Patent Office" the Times seems to consider the problems with obtaining a patent to be essentially administrative in nature.  The Times writes: "The delays and inefficiencies are more than a

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-87687775224737136912011-02-12T12:06:00.008-05:002011-12-05T20:56:40.676-05:00

Obama projects an image that his administration is "open" to the suggestions of anyone willing to contribute.  As an example of the process, TechDirt reported that: "The White House Wants Advice On What's Blocking American Innovation".  Back in February 2010, Obama appointed a Deficit Reduction Commission to assist him with making the "tough" financial decisions that a President would have to

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-21434956225220038302011-02-07T20:15:00.004-05:002011-12-05T20:57:22.634-05:00

The Super Bowl, of all places, raised two issues related to trends trends in economics and corporate governance.  In the first instance, the New York Times raised the issue of: "Did Groupon Cross the Line in Super Bowl Ad Debut?" In that ad, Groupon blatantly uses the suffering of Tibetans as a commercial marketing gimmick.  8/30/2011 UPDATE:  I noticed that the video clip above has been

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-81896182147233522532011-02-02T20:29:00.005-05:002011-02-02T20:34:08.337-05:00

Well, if a company comes through, you should publicly thank them.  It wasn't easy though.  We had to pursue a warranty return.  The JVC Support page seems to have an option for submitting a warranty repair request.  Alas, there is no option for actually submitting a warranty repair request.  To purchase a part; yes. Seems incredibly inefficient and outdated that a major company such as JVC

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-12087567437705246272011-02-01T12:00:00.001-05:002011-02-01T12:17:39.270-05:00

Just a tease headline that points to one of those priceless Faux Paws where the speaker does not really comprehend what he or she is actually saying.  In this case, Fox and Friends had the Republican Governor of Florida speak on behalf of a judge's ruling overturning Obama Care. Naturally, as a Republican, Governor Rick Scott talked about the unconstitutionally of Obama Care and that it created

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-87487705304938032042011-01-28T20:52:00.002-05:002011-01-29T12:48:53.182-05:00

Obama has proven once again that he is an empty suit.  In fact he may be Manchurian Candidate realized.  Back in February 2010 Obama empaneled a bipartisan Deficit Reduction Commission.  (The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform). The goal of the Commission was to offer suggestions on how to reduce the ever growing deficit. In December 2010 the Commission issued its

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-54053420481460912892011-01-16T19:38:00.001-05:002011-01-16T22:59:27.248-05:00

I finished importing Dave Baranyi's MS Excel data into MS Access.  Over 15,600 stories were imported from Analog, Galaxy, Worlds of If, Fantastic, and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.  This was quite a bit of data entry work on the part of Dave Baranyi. Please be aware that the data was imported from MS Excel into MS Access through a "dumb" program.  There is little in the way of

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-68213626023374428832011-01-09T18:49:00.000-05:002011-01-09T18:49:17.093-05:00

I'm not really a fixture on this blog, obviously, but I thought I would share something I found on the Instructables website. ...Still, I'm not sure how this is anymore dangerous than just carrying home a LP bottle from the hardware store for your BBQ grill. It sure seems like in this "sue-happy" age in which only EXPERTS do anything, that the average person has just become a "consumer" instead

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03317446084204668374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-12315977255078496932010-12-26T18:21:00.005-05:002010-12-29T08:21:51.321-05:00

I've taken a breather from trying to develop an Analog database in "Open Office", made a quick (well really not so quick) MS Access version of the database.  Prior posts on my slow progress here.  Still faced with a steep learning curve for Open Office's database "Base".  Haven't even gotten to MySQL or PHP yet.  The MS Access version has been updated through the March 2011 edition, except for

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-61265716610291290412010-12-17T19:07:00.002-05:002010-12-17T19:30:41.755-05:00

Andy Greenberg of Forbes Magazine writes: "Admire Assange or revile him, he is the prophet of a coming age of involuntary transparency. ... What do large companies think of the threat? If they’re terrified, they’re not saying. None would talk to us. Nor would the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ...  How can an American corporation respond to a Wiki attack? Lawsuits won’t work: ... The best protection

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-83263404496709259542010-12-15T21:40:00.006-05:002010-12-17T22:22:20.336-05:00

This video is hilarious. It's a bit long, digresses some, and I don't know if the negative references to Goldman Sachs are correct or not. But it does reiterate one of my concerns, which is that the FED is not letting the economy correct through deflation. (Approximately 38 seconds into the video) In terms of deflation, the video successfully spoofs Bernanke's quantitative easing, dumping

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-77632335950743090442010-12-15T19:34:00.004-05:002010-12-15T19:52:40.085-05:00

One of the irritants that we seem to have to deal with every day are disingenuous corporate "offers".  These offers are couched in verbiage to make it seem that they are doing you a favor.  The letter closes with "The power is yours,"  This letter also contains the proclamation "Rule the Air" as if you had a choice in making the rules or gasp, negotiating the terms of the so-called "contract".  (

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-23610540501707528082010-12-10T22:52:00.001-05:002010-12-10T22:53:12.920-05:00

Jeffrey B. Kindler, the now former CEO of Pfizer, had a sudden case of "retirement".  Previously I wrote that Pfizer needed to fire Kindler.  Under Kindler's so-called leadership the stock of Pfizer has been in a long term decline and the dividend was cut. The New York Times notes that "shareholders lost about 20 percent of their investment during his four-and-a-half-year tenure." So, while the

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-48225184735415312402010-12-07T22:42:00.004-05:002011-12-05T21:16:03.643-05:00

WikiLeaks and Assange are currently the news of the day.  In fact the news today was overwhelming to digest. Especially in regards to freedom of speech, due process, and what actually would constitute a criminal offense.  TechDirt sample. And "Does Wikileaks Have a First Amendment Case Against Joe Lieberman?" by Ryan Radia and "Some thoughts on Cablegate" by Jerry Brito from the Technology

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-82446611249232713362010-12-07T18:45:00.001-05:002010-12-07T18:47:30.650-05:00

A big news item for today is that Senator Lieberman is essentially resurrecting McCarthyism, this quickie casual observation concerns a remark that Glenn Beck made on his show today.  Glenn was making his usual conspiracy theory diatribe against left wing progressives.  In doing so, Glenn mentioned that net-neutrality was the being promoted by the "left" as a means of censoring the news. So wrong

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-88490241049149324702010-12-03T19:07:00.001-05:002010-12-03T19:10:33.269-05:00

Amazing the New York Times actually has a good opinion piece. Since I rag on the Times, I might as well give them a little bit of credit. Actually the credit belongs to Thomas Friedman who wrote "From WikiChina", an opinion piece from the perspective of a hypothetical Chinese diplomat who has been outed by a WikiLeaker. Mr. Friedman has captured the essence of the state of the nation. Related

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-6117898651787180442010-12-01T23:34:00.000-05:002010-12-01T23:34:55.564-05:00

A festering concern that I have had for many years is the development and use by the US military of extremely expensive high tech military equipment.  There is no doubt that sophisticated state of the art equipment is nifty, but is it appropriate? An undeniably truth is that military operations result in destruction and require sustainability. The use of expensive sophisticated high tech

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-45034991994317545982010-11-22T19:26:00.001-05:002011-12-05T20:58:06.594-05:00

One of my major concerns with the US corporate trends today is eliminating the concept of "sale".  By that I mean that when corporations "sell" you a product, especially electronic products, they claim that they are only licensing you the use of that product.  Not only that, but they also claim, to have post "sale" control over how the purchaser may use the product.  Basically, this an extension

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-37592848929416414032010-11-20T00:49:00.001-05:002010-11-20T01:03:47.983-05:00

Coming from someone who has never held a mortgage, and whose financial life was the height of complication when I had a couple revolving CDs that kept escaping me, the idea that people have allowed transactions to get as complicated as this is astounding. A chart created by Dan Enstrom shows the complex, convoluted, redundant process that is his mortgage as it becomes something called a security.

Sonyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03317446084204668374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-85400981989308774922010-11-15T22:14:00.001-05:002010-11-15T22:14:43.747-05:00

I have been able to link the cover art to the magazine issue.  This is the spreadsheet that Dave Baranyi developed and which I have imported into BASE, which is part of "Open Office". Please be aware that this project is still very incomplete.  At the rate I am going it will be quite a while before I am finished. You may also be interested in my post here, which gets into one of those little

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-65992576572143641062010-10-28T18:00:00.007-04:002011-12-05T20:58:42.393-05:00

I never expected to be remarking on China, but the news still keeps on coming. The US is noted as being a technological powerhouse, so it is difficult to make the case that the US is "Losing It". But each insistence of another country surpassing the US in some sort of technological aspect is an indicator. The title for this post comes from the New York Times article: "Chinese Wrests

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-30230522777447232652010-10-26T18:00:00.007-04:002011-12-05T20:59:03.450-05:00

The New York Times today carried "Chinese Telecom Giant in Push for U.S. Market". This article is also similar to the article: "What China Seeks in Chesapeake Shale Deal". In each of these articles, the Times raises the issue of national security: "Some in Congress and the national security establishment fear that Huawei’s close ties to the Chinese military might allow China to tamper with

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-66874721665660073812010-10-25T21:41:00.001-04:002010-10-25T21:46:22.078-04:00

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has an extremely impressive ad.  It shows a Chinese professor conducting a class in 2030 reviewing before his students why the US civilization failed.  Link to Video Here.   Citizens Against Government Waste writes: "On October 21, 2010, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) unveiled a national ad addressing our country’s spending addiction, the

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-84159421566303732722010-10-23T18:37:00.003-04:002011-12-05T21:00:37.237-05:00

The recent firing of Juan Williams by NPR once again illustrates an astonishing dichotomy between what people say and what they actually do. The liberal left advocates free speech, yet they seem to be fall all over themselves in shouting down (censoring) anyone they deem to be expressing "right-wing" sentiments.  Olbermann Slams O'Reilly For 'View' Comments: 'Bigot And Islamophobe'. Court throws

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-86487956137132188092010-10-15T09:50:00.000-04:002011-12-05T21:01:11.613-05:00

A pleasant surprise from TechDirt noting that China is getting on-board with so-called intellectual property. TechDirt, in the article, "Once Again, Be Careful What You Wish For: China Learning To Use Other Country's Patent Systems" writes:  "For years and years, US executives, politicians and diplomats have been berating China for "not respecting intellectual property." And, all along, we

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-71941565699169277272010-10-11T20:32:00.001-04:002011-12-05T21:01:31.528-05:00

The New York Times carried this article today: "What China Seeks in Chesapeake Shale Deal". According to the article: "China’s $2.2 billion investment in the Texas oil patch may be small, but the deal with Chesapeake Energy involves a potential transfer of technology and intellectual knowledge to Beijing that some people in Washington may find uncomfortable, and that unease could trip up the

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-65143109975189721522010-10-09T13:15:00.002-04:002011-12-05T21:17:04.738-05:00

Today Fox news carried an interesting segment No Pay, No Spray? (link to video works, but no video), concerning the case where fighter fighters let a house burn because a $75 fee was not paid.  Now Fox News is not "Fair and Balanced" as they claim.  In fact their tease to the upcoming video segment  alluded to the typical rant of the evil government bureaucracy running amok because a trivial

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-73814479398996289562010-10-06T19:49:00.000-04:002010-10-06T19:49:19.964-04:00

Two stories, seemingly unrelated, illustrate how our free-market principles have been corrupted and polarized. David Pogue working in cooperation with the New York Times has exposed a disingenuous business practice by Verizon .  To summarize the issue, Edward Wyatt wrote: "In the last three years, the F.C.C. has received hundreds of complaints from Verizon Wireless customers who said they were

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-72017338073401996612010-09-28T19:35:00.016-04:002011-12-05T21:02:18.416-05:00

Adding fuel to the fire, TechDirt reports that: "Home Buyers Only Finding Out About Resale Fees When It's Too Late".  TechDirt writes that there is a "growing practice of adding a "resale fee" to homes, that give developers a copyright-like extended control over a piece of your house long after the house has been sold." My daughter also sent me this very good quote from Mister Jalopy on the

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-54881754805723478252010-09-22T18:05:00.001-04:002010-09-23T08:17:29.499-04:00

My daughter sent me a  humorous Onion video spoofing the "flaws" of testing claimed by special interest groups that the standardized tests are somehow biased against them. In the Know: Are tests biased against students who ....?  Enjoy.

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-12827792741093094902010-09-20T22:01:00.004-04:002011-12-05T21:02:53.018-05:00

For the past two years I have been pointing out that the concept of "sale" is being eroded. Basically, companies have been claiming that the products they "sell" you are really only licensed to you. Unfortunately, a recent court decision seems to have bolstered that concept. The court held in Vernor v. Autodesk (PDF) "that the terms of an end-user licensing agreement, or EULA, can change the sale

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-48070852879817137412010-09-17T14:52:00.007-04:002011-12-05T21:04:59.905-05:00

The news recently broke that the HDCP Master Key had been decoded. TechDirt writes today that "Intel Confirms HDCP Master Key Is Out". Freedom to Tinker came out with a companion piece: "Understanding the HDCP Master Key Leak". A question naturally arises concerning what breaking the HDCP means in terms of breaking HDCP American ingenuity. The simple answer, one person was innovative enough to

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-3594097677661168052010-09-12T13:14:00.005-04:002010-09-12T13:36:35.586-04:00

Bluntly, Obama's economic policy is Bread and Circuses for the masses to buy votes.  There is a greater question concerning presidential economic policies that go back beyond beyond Obama. Specifically, are these policies distorting the free-market?  The answer is YES. The old Soviet Union had a planned economy.  One of the criticisms of the planned economy for the USSR was that it overproduced

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-30341669671076814242010-09-09T18:04:00.002-04:002011-12-05T21:03:41.049-05:00

For a long time I have wonder about the apparent silence of the ACLU on so-called intellectual property.  Recently, TechDirt noted that the ACLU joined in on a lawsuit: "ACLU Suing Homeland Security Over Laptop Searches... Even Though Other Cases Have All Failed".  Once again my interest was aroused, since it would seem that the deprivation of civil liberties by the content industry would be a

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-36148042771404998652010-07-29T20:13:00.002-04:002010-07-29T20:15:32.460-04:00

Today the Washington Post revealed that the House ethics committee formally unveiled charges against Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.). But this post is not about the ethical lapses of Rangel, but about the growing lapses in honest marketing, specifically Time-Warner. Cable.  Both Rangel and Time-Warner Cable demonstrate that those in power have little regard for ethical behavior. In this case, we

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-5809877066832927962010-07-26T18:27:00.001-04:002011-12-05T21:18:24.134-05:00

The New York Times through Computerworld reports: Apple Loses Bid to Criminalize iPhone Jailbreaking. Yet another example of how corporations are attempting to continue to criminalize behavior that they deem reduces their profit margins.  I guess competition will no longer be based on making the best product for the consumer.  Use the product in the "wrong" manner, do not pass go - go directly to

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-35856097848934869432010-07-21T15:50:00.027-04:002010-07-23T08:42:23.637-04:00

Why is Dell still in business? Today I had to sit in on one of those long boring meetings where you can barely stay awake. We had to bring our laptop computers to this session. We use Dell computers at work. I had not plugged my computer in, so I went to borrow the plug from my neighbor's computer. Absolute shock, the power plugs were different! Unbelievable, so not only does Dell use

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-39730663405845218602010-07-19T19:44:00.015-04:002011-12-05T21:18:59.631-05:00

In my prior post "European Diaspora", I raised the concept that populations displace other populations. In real terms, that Western Europeans were being forced to move West as access to the East was "blocked" by aggressive populations, such as the Turks. Since the original post, it occurred to me; Where did the Turks come from? Wikipedia to the rescue! Wikipedia has several articles concerning

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-56112761181171091732010-07-18T20:10:00.024-04:002011-12-05T21:19:27.813-05:00

Few people think in terms of Columbus's voyages to the "New World" as the beginning of a European diaspora. It's much more interesting and romantic for historians to portray Columbus as an enterprising merchantman seeking new trade routes to new lands and bringing the benefits of European culture. But there is an alternative viewpoint; that Columbus was really an early "refugee". Of course that

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-60906277078577765832010-07-14T18:00:00.005-04:002010-07-15T08:49:01.323-04:00

Microsoft has retired Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2. Rob Pegoraro has a nice write-up in the Washington Post covering this. My concern isn't with Microsoft retiring these programs, but with an implication that seldom gets attention.No product, especially software lives forever. Someday it becomes obsolete, so when a company discontinues support for a product those who want to continue using

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-69006020030608339232010-07-10T16:51:00.005-04:002011-12-05T21:20:15.105-05:00

Grigori Perelman, a Russian Mathematician, was awarded one million dollars and turned it down according to the Washington Post. The Post writes: "Three months ago, a famously impoverished Russian mathematician named Grigori Perelman was awarded the prestigious $1 million Clay Mathematics Institute Millennium Prize for his groundbreaking work -- having solved a problem of three-dimensional

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-1150653543336370252010-07-10T15:57:00.012-04:002011-12-05T21:20:47.724-05:00

Soon after posting "Federal Rules on Campus File Sharing Kick in Today" I ran across the posting on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's "Ticketmaster's Terms of Service Cannot Make You a Criminal". The link between the two posts is the continued erosion of personal liberties through the criminalization of activities deemed inappropriate by various corporate interests. In theory we are a free

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355975559164458502.post-45053727330176543892010-07-07T19:48:00.016-04:002010-07-07T20:31:07.632-04:00

Well Time-Warner has just joined Staples, Verizon, and Intuit in my wall of shame. In this case Time-Warner proclaims that as a valued customer that they will continue to offer me a Price Lock Guarantee. As is typical with these so-called contracts, the only obligation is on the customer to pay. Time Warner, however, reserves to itself the right to discontinue any service at any time. In theory

Steve R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657noreply@blogger.com0