The shrill cry from the Liberal Establishment about the environment, health, food, energy, education is deafening at times - and inaccurate most of the time.
A group that can clearly see the "root causes" of poverty and crime go deaf, dumb, and blind when it comes to the root causes of the above mentioned issues.
The problem of American obesity was caused by the food industry? No doubt this industry has its hand in the cookie jar at the end of a string of systemic constructs that conspired to make America overweight.
The problem, as it is envisioned in article after article, is all that nasty processed and fast food we are eating. A "no sh#1, Sherlock" moment if ever there was one ensues. It never occurs to the people promulgating these articles/propaganda (remember, Jeffers media theory... no article makes its way into the media without being paid for and then vetted by the Liberal establishment) that the food industry is responding to demand from the market place. A market place filled with people that work 8 or 9 hours per day (on average) and commute over an hour per day (on average). How does one shop (for a family, after all the article is talking about obese kids, right?) for whole foods (not the f***ing store. I am mean the thing that that corporation took as its name) that require someone to actually plan, acquire, cook, serve, and clean up afterward if one has left the house at 7:45AM and returned home at 6:00PM? It cannot be done. I don't give a good fart how many articles these same scum bags post titled "20 wholesome meals in 20 minutes!!" It is not humanly possible to shop for nutritious family dinners, bring the proceeds of the necessary shopping into the home, organize it, plan the meal, cook it, sit down with the family and eat it, and then clean up. What freaking planet does the schmuck with the 20 minute thing come from?
It is as simple as that. We have designed a system whereby most people cannot even afford to feed their children (look, 1 in 6 Americans are on Food Assistance from the Federal Government - nearly all of this goes to families with children), and in a system where both parents must work outside of the home in order to fund their future divorce, social security for their parents (notice I said for the parents of today's workers... the government is absolutely, positively going to default AGAIN by raising the age for benefits AGAIN. Raising the age of benefits (changing the rules AFTER taking someone's property) is the very definition of reneging and defaulting), health insurance (I will get to that cluster f**k in a moment), and property taxes (to fund the pensions that government workers have that The People will not have).
The Liberal Establishment refuses to delve into this as they simply must censure this discussion as it might lead to an examination of corporate servitude, the gender roles within the family, and the undoing of the family itself. If they do not censure this discussion their political base might well come to its senses and the Liberal Establishment cannot have that.
(Americans NEED immigration because Americans cannot afford to raise children. Think about that assertion for a moment. The more educated and achieved an American is, the less likely they will procreate at the replacement rate (2.1 children per woman), but this decline in fertility has now spread to the lower middle class/working class/poor. Hence the never ending battle over immigration.)
While our "Lifespan" has been extended greatly in the 20th century, our "Healthspan" has not. People regularly live into their 80's now, but they do not regularly work unimpeded past 60 or so, the Healthspan of the average American. Oh, they may "work" but people that age are dramatically less productive than they were. Americans are entering the work force later and later, ostensibly for "education", but they do not get those years tacked on to the end of their careers for the most part (there are exceptions, of course) leaving less time to pay off that mortgage, raise those kids, and save for old age.
(I love that euphemism - "Retirement". Americans just can't say Old Age or TFO (Too F***ing Old) when the fact is that every person with good luck will eventually be TFO. The unlucky don't life long enough to worry about that. My father used to say "They make old fools and bold fools... they don't make old, bold fools". If you are lucky you will experience old age, not retirement.)
Our kids are fat, we are fat, for 2 very good reasons. There were not enough workers for the Corporations from the 60's until 2000. Women were dragged away from their families to work as Corporate Servants. Feminism claims responsibility (and I used to believe they were correct) for this, and considering how much I despise that group I am tempted to stick the blame tag on them... but it just ain't so. Feminism DID convince women that this was a good idea and that it was in their best interests, which was complete horse sh#!, but that is another story. The second reason is TV. Not just watching it as a sedentary slug but the influence it has on our lives.
Think about it. If women stayed home (I am NOT telling anyone what they should do! I am merely making an observation of our recent history and the outcomes attendant) and had and raised children there would not have been enough workers to staff the Corporations and the jobs traditionally held by women. Simple as that. By forcing the breakup of the family the corporations got their servants. Of course, no one was thinking about the impacts on the kids of the 1970's thru 2010 (there would be some delay for kids from the job surge of 1960 - 2000) and I think that the Obesity/Ritalin/Addiction/Incarceration spike in the population was simply an unintended consequence of millions and millions of unsupervised kids being fed copious volumes of junk and fast food, as well as being fed copious volumes of propaganda and bullsh#! from the TV/Media/Hollywood.
Now, here, in this time, post 2000... the Corporations do not have need of all of those workers. Somehow, it never dawns on the Left that the reformation of the family unit solves a number of problems caused by the Corporate Servant demand surge of the 1960 to 2000 period. We are not creating jobs sufficient to employ all of the new entrants into the labor force. If the system dragged women away from their families during that period of increased Corporate/Institutional servitude, perhaps recreating traditional roles will solve the unemployment and obesity problem in one fell swoop along with a number of other issues.
The American Left simply cannot survive without Feminism, The War on Men, and the Abortion issue. None of those can survive the revival of the family unit. This makes for one interesting battle.
BTW... this is not a hope for a revival of what has become the American Right. Those folks are easily as daft as the Left. I do hope for a revival of the individual and the family and a culture of personal responsibility with empathy and support for those that cannot care for themselves. In the best of all possible worlds those of us in the middle would drop kick the crazies at either end of the spectrum, and I think that that is at least as possible as anything else that will come out of the technological paradigm shift happening to the employment markets.
One can hope.
The Next Big Lie: Health and Health Insurance
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Oil, Solar, Wind, Money, Life
Oil continues to do its thing to the U.S and Europe.
In the case of Europe it is doing its thing faster, harder, and deeper. The U.S. has had the benefit of the salubrious lubricating effects of "Tight Oil" production and ethanol. Still, those resources and the .2 miles per gallon per year gains in fuel efficiency were not enough to increase Total Vehicle Miles Traveled.
Will domestic production increase 700k bpd in 2013 over 2012? That's the EIA's position. Will that come to pass? I think a pretty good chance. Will it be enough to overcome the decline in imports? It should at least come close (for that year). Vehicle miles traveled might actually go up year over year 2012/2013. If so I would bet that that would be the last yearly increase for a while.
Either way, Peak Oil imports, and with it Peak Oil, likely came and went for the U.S. The question now is will the rate of change be slow enough to allow the increase in wind and solar electricity generation and battery technology to overcome the decline in Oil? To my mind, that is a far more important question than will the world's central banks over or under do whatever the heck it is that they are doing.
World Oil supplies are being contested for right now, with the productive societies out bidding the less productive societies. The Oil will flow to the most productive, and the less productive will have to get used to less and get more efficient (like Greece, Spain, and Italy are doing right now).
The thing is, I never concern myself with societies, or countries, or peoples, or however people divvy themselves up. I concern myself with No. 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, (and "Gramma") along with my extended family of 6 through 50 or so. In order to look out for No. 1, it really helps to know what it is that No. 1 wants. This is a big thing. It is absolutely impossible to get to where you want to go when you don't know where you want to get to. Seems absurdly simple.
Oh, yea? Ask any college student what it is that they really want to do (exactly), where they want to live (exactly), what they expect to pay for housing/healthcare/automobiles/insurance over a lifetime, how many children they want to have, when they want to have them, how much money they think they need to save each year and at what compounded rate of return they expect... they have no freaking idea.
Why is that?
Now if you really wanna f**k with their heads, ask them what their plan "B" is just in case their non-existent plan "A" doesn't work out the way they are NOT thinking about.
We are at one of the largest inflection points - on politics, energy, technology, debt, war, health (obesity) - in the history of mankind - and many young people are operating without a plan.
This goes for grown ups, too.
"That which is not measured is not managed."
"1/4 by the end of the first quarter." For those people working on commission or in some kind of quota job this is self-explanatory. For young adults under the influence of the university-industrial complex this might not be self-anything.
Family/Household income in America is a disaster. So the Federal Reserve has been successful at re-inflating asset prices. That's great - for me and other Wall Street types.
Along with Household/Family income real household wealth is in the crapper, too. People cannot sell their houses for what they are "worth" and the value of their financial assets won't take them very far.
Columbia University Economics Professor Joseph Stiglitz had this to say today about the lack of economic mobility here in America. This is an incredibly bright and thoughtful guy that just cannot put 2 and 2 together. His conclusion is f***ing spot on. His "why' is just FUBAR. The U.S. has never spent more on "education". The U.S. has never had a higher percentage of college educated adults in its population. The result? Far worse mobility than at any time in our history. His recommendation? We need to spend even more on "education", despite the fact that 2/3 of the over $1TRILLION in student loan debt is in default or deferment (not paying down their loan balance). Stiglitz might be a brilliant economist but I can tell you he has obviously never managed an investment portfolio. You see, any investment that does not yield enough cash flow to cover debt service is to be avoided like the freaking plague. It never occurs to these guys that there might be something else going on. WTF??!! To be fair... I think this guy is pretty smart - but he works for Columbia and is writing for the New York Times. "No man can understand that which his salary requires that he not understand". Or something like that.
Dear Professor Stiglitz: What the U.S. economy needs is the termination of all barriers to entry for any and all services (and goods). Stiglitz mentions how mobile things were 100 years ago. Wanna know why? Nothing required a license from the State!! Want to be an "accountant"? 100 years ago you hung up a shingle and went to work, usually after working for another guy that called himself an "accountant". Same with dentistry, lawyering, electricians, doctors, plumbers, carpenters. Let the market decide if it wants to pay $50,000 for a medical procedure because you went to Harvard, rather than $5,000 to a guy that learned how take out Gall Bladders from his Dad. The result will be fast and furious repricing of all of the things The People cannot afford.
Do you know why we have so many toothless people out in rural America? Because the Dentists have a very powerful lobby that has priced millions of Americans out of the ability to pay for dental care. So now instead of a hygienest on every corner doing cleanings and drill and fill repair work (do you really think it would take more than 4 weeks to learn how to drill and fill a cavity in a tooth?) we have dozens of people on every corner with gaping holes where teeth should (and would be, if they could afford dental care) be. This is the case for every other occupation that requires a "license" to work.
So how the hell did I tie Oil and State contrived barriers to employment together? Easy. I got that kind of mind.
Just kidding.
Actually, it was the Oil issue facing the U.S. that got me to thinking about the "system". As it turns out, while the Oil situation is and has been a disaster to the U.S. economy (if Oil was still $20 per barrel and imports were continuing their multi decade growth patter does any one in their right mind think that the Household income, net worth, and employment would be the nightmare they are?) it has not brought the world to an end. It did, however, bring to an end the silly narrative that people born into poor and working class families were going to move up the economic ladder (by screwing up the economy) or that middle class people would achieve financial independence sometime before trying to figure out what Medicare, Part B meant to them personally... and, coincidently, combined with the incredible volume of knowledge and information now available at everyone's fingertips (not just ivy tower academics) thinking people are starting to question the very foundations of the "system" - The Federal Reserve. Income Taxes. Deficit Spending. Social Security & Medicare. Property Taxes. And more - and the conclusions they are coming to are most discomforting.
I have pointed out in excruciating detail why (and here, and here) even "rich" people will never, ever have financial security and can only ask why is it that they willingly waste 40 years of their lives striving for something that simply cannot be had? Giving up children & family, their health, their precious time on this earth... to concentrate their efforts on advancing in a system that concentrates all of the rewards in the top couple percent of the people? In what universe does that make sense (for the average individual)? And yet we do it.
We do it because the system has power over us. Food comes from the grocery store. Water from the tap. "Services" come from the government. We "need" insurance for Life, Health, and Liability - even though the combined take of this insures that we are stressed, unhealthy, and worrying about losing assets we don't really have. You can't make this stuff up. A Martian coming here and examining the lives and motivations of people living in the suburbs and commuting into Manhattan (or pick your city) would phone home wondering WTF is going on here.
Some of us will try to break free, but we won't make it. Our spouses, kids, friends, and extended families live in that universe, and some force akin to gravity wants us to live there, too. It pulls on us. It distorts.
But the garden is going in, the hams are hanging, and I put in a wood stove to heat the house and a cistern to supply our water. Maybe I can pull free... I wonder what the escape velocity (philosophy) of this particular gravitational field is?
You Grok?
In the case of Europe it is doing its thing faster, harder, and deeper. The U.S. has had the benefit of the salubrious lubricating effects of "Tight Oil" production and ethanol. Still, those resources and the .2 miles per gallon per year gains in fuel efficiency were not enough to increase Total Vehicle Miles Traveled.
Will domestic production increase 700k bpd in 2013 over 2012? That's the EIA's position. Will that come to pass? I think a pretty good chance. Will it be enough to overcome the decline in imports? It should at least come close (for that year). Vehicle miles traveled might actually go up year over year 2012/2013. If so I would bet that that would be the last yearly increase for a while.
Either way, Peak Oil imports, and with it Peak Oil, likely came and went for the U.S. The question now is will the rate of change be slow enough to allow the increase in wind and solar electricity generation and battery technology to overcome the decline in Oil? To my mind, that is a far more important question than will the world's central banks over or under do whatever the heck it is that they are doing.
World Oil supplies are being contested for right now, with the productive societies out bidding the less productive societies. The Oil will flow to the most productive, and the less productive will have to get used to less and get more efficient (like Greece, Spain, and Italy are doing right now).
The thing is, I never concern myself with societies, or countries, or peoples, or however people divvy themselves up. I concern myself with No. 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, (and "Gramma") along with my extended family of 6 through 50 or so. In order to look out for No. 1, it really helps to know what it is that No. 1 wants. This is a big thing. It is absolutely impossible to get to where you want to go when you don't know where you want to get to. Seems absurdly simple.
Oh, yea? Ask any college student what it is that they really want to do (exactly), where they want to live (exactly), what they expect to pay for housing/healthcare/automobiles/insurance over a lifetime, how many children they want to have, when they want to have them, how much money they think they need to save each year and at what compounded rate of return they expect... they have no freaking idea.
Why is that?
Now if you really wanna f**k with their heads, ask them what their plan "B" is just in case their non-existent plan "A" doesn't work out the way they are NOT thinking about.
We are at one of the largest inflection points - on politics, energy, technology, debt, war, health (obesity) - in the history of mankind - and many young people are operating without a plan.
This goes for grown ups, too.
"That which is not measured is not managed."
"1/4 by the end of the first quarter." For those people working on commission or in some kind of quota job this is self-explanatory. For young adults under the influence of the university-industrial complex this might not be self-anything.
Family/Household income in America is a disaster. So the Federal Reserve has been successful at re-inflating asset prices. That's great - for me and other Wall Street types.
Along with Household/Family income real household wealth is in the crapper, too. People cannot sell their houses for what they are "worth" and the value of their financial assets won't take them very far.
Columbia University Economics Professor Joseph Stiglitz had this to say today about the lack of economic mobility here in America. This is an incredibly bright and thoughtful guy that just cannot put 2 and 2 together. His conclusion is f***ing spot on. His "why' is just FUBAR. The U.S. has never spent more on "education". The U.S. has never had a higher percentage of college educated adults in its population. The result? Far worse mobility than at any time in our history. His recommendation? We need to spend even more on "education", despite the fact that 2/3 of the over $1TRILLION in student loan debt is in default or deferment (not paying down their loan balance). Stiglitz might be a brilliant economist but I can tell you he has obviously never managed an investment portfolio. You see, any investment that does not yield enough cash flow to cover debt service is to be avoided like the freaking plague. It never occurs to these guys that there might be something else going on. WTF??!! To be fair... I think this guy is pretty smart - but he works for Columbia and is writing for the New York Times. "No man can understand that which his salary requires that he not understand". Or something like that.
Dear Professor Stiglitz: What the U.S. economy needs is the termination of all barriers to entry for any and all services (and goods). Stiglitz mentions how mobile things were 100 years ago. Wanna know why? Nothing required a license from the State!! Want to be an "accountant"? 100 years ago you hung up a shingle and went to work, usually after working for another guy that called himself an "accountant". Same with dentistry, lawyering, electricians, doctors, plumbers, carpenters. Let the market decide if it wants to pay $50,000 for a medical procedure because you went to Harvard, rather than $5,000 to a guy that learned how take out Gall Bladders from his Dad. The result will be fast and furious repricing of all of the things The People cannot afford.
Do you know why we have so many toothless people out in rural America? Because the Dentists have a very powerful lobby that has priced millions of Americans out of the ability to pay for dental care. So now instead of a hygienest on every corner doing cleanings and drill and fill repair work (do you really think it would take more than 4 weeks to learn how to drill and fill a cavity in a tooth?) we have dozens of people on every corner with gaping holes where teeth should (and would be, if they could afford dental care) be. This is the case for every other occupation that requires a "license" to work.
So how the hell did I tie Oil and State contrived barriers to employment together? Easy. I got that kind of mind.
Just kidding.
Actually, it was the Oil issue facing the U.S. that got me to thinking about the "system". As it turns out, while the Oil situation is and has been a disaster to the U.S. economy (if Oil was still $20 per barrel and imports were continuing their multi decade growth patter does any one in their right mind think that the Household income, net worth, and employment would be the nightmare they are?) it has not brought the world to an end. It did, however, bring to an end the silly narrative that people born into poor and working class families were going to move up the economic ladder (by screwing up the economy) or that middle class people would achieve financial independence sometime before trying to figure out what Medicare, Part B meant to them personally... and, coincidently, combined with the incredible volume of knowledge and information now available at everyone's fingertips (not just ivy tower academics) thinking people are starting to question the very foundations of the "system" - The Federal Reserve. Income Taxes. Deficit Spending. Social Security & Medicare. Property Taxes. And more - and the conclusions they are coming to are most discomforting.
I have pointed out in excruciating detail why (and here, and here) even "rich" people will never, ever have financial security and can only ask why is it that they willingly waste 40 years of their lives striving for something that simply cannot be had? Giving up children & family, their health, their precious time on this earth... to concentrate their efforts on advancing in a system that concentrates all of the rewards in the top couple percent of the people? In what universe does that make sense (for the average individual)? And yet we do it.
We do it because the system has power over us. Food comes from the grocery store. Water from the tap. "Services" come from the government. We "need" insurance for Life, Health, and Liability - even though the combined take of this insures that we are stressed, unhealthy, and worrying about losing assets we don't really have. You can't make this stuff up. A Martian coming here and examining the lives and motivations of people living in the suburbs and commuting into Manhattan (or pick your city) would phone home wondering WTF is going on here.
Some of us will try to break free, but we won't make it. Our spouses, kids, friends, and extended families live in that universe, and some force akin to gravity wants us to live there, too. It pulls on us. It distorts.
But the garden is going in, the hams are hanging, and I put in a wood stove to heat the house and a cistern to supply our water. Maybe I can pull free... I wonder what the escape velocity (philosophy) of this particular gravitational field is?
You Grok?
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Financial (and Social) (In)Security
Saturday morning cartoons, nay, every kid media production, has evolved into one loooooong commercial to influence buying habits, influence votes, or to influence sympathies.
Sometime shortly after that unfortunate development that media strategy spread to adult media content. There is not single story written in the Mainstream Media that does not contain an agenda - even if that agenda only covers a by-line.
Read this article from Yahoo News about how Americans are being forced to put off "retirement" (defined as the day they quit working and sit around yelling at the TV).
Seems reasonable.
The writer's explanation:
Of course its only partially correct. Yes, we are living longer and, yes, Corporations are no longer interested in being your lifetime provider. Nowhere does the article mention we have all become more and more financially insecure despite/because of decades and decades of tax creep from FICA taxes (Social Security/Mediacare payroll "taxes"). Nowhere does the article mention that our total career span is about the same - 35 years - and that we are starting later and finishing later - ostensibly to become "educated" (as if that only occurs under the watchful eye of someone else and only in your twenties). If one does not get serous about a career until 30, you know after a 5 year undergrad program, back pack Europe, and MBA, you will, by economic and mathematical necessity be required to work until at least 65. After all, you did not finish having children until your 40's, and you have a 30 year mortgage. Nowhere does the article mention that many of today's over 50 workers have sacrificed marriages and having children because corporations required that they be "educated" in order to work at jobs that required little training, weren't all that fulfilling, and resulted in the outcome that the article's featured hedge fund analyst has experienced at the end of his prime working years - not much money, no family, no home, no job.
And for this he slaved away in Wall Street salt mine?
The brutal reality is this: Funding Social Security and Medicare through FICA taxes and state income taxes (in the case of California) and/or property taxes (in the case of the Northeast Big Blue states) are the primary reasons that many people my age have no family (they could not afford children) and have no money. Yet Lefties like Senator Elizabeth Warren are worshipped for their deeply flawed research/writings/assertions on the subject. Go figure.
(Note that birth rates in the U.S have plummeted. This trend is nothing new. When I am bored I will graph the increase in FICA taxes per person and the fertility rate of Americans. I bet they correlate inversely 100%, not that that implies causation - except when it does.)
Not that FICA taxes and state income and property taxes (property taxes have enabled municipal workers to enjoy tremendous financial security at the expense of everybody else) are solely responsible. No, they are responsible for the preponderance of The People's financial insecurity. To be fair, there are some other (materialism/consumerism) contributing factors - but these other factors pale next to these. Well, sort of. The monthly bill from cell phones, internet access, and cable is really far more damaging than widely perceived.
Now the government has these people by the gishgas. This is how democracy/corporatocrocy works in 21st century America.
------------------------------------------------
Gasoline prices are at a record for this time of year. But imports are down buy 1/3. This is not the drag on the U.S. economy that it was just 5 years ago. Europe is a different story.
----------------------------
I spent the last 2 weeks reading Ray Kurzweil's "The Singularity is Near". Stuart Staniford and Stephen B. recommended it to me. Fascinating. Peak Oil might well be just a "stressor", especially if Kurzweil's calculation on the development of Solar energy collection technology is correct, but The Singularity (or some sort of Singularity Light) might be something far, far more impacting.
I highly recommend the book.
Sometime shortly after that unfortunate development that media strategy spread to adult media content. There is not single story written in the Mainstream Media that does not contain an agenda - even if that agenda only covers a by-line.
Read this article from Yahoo News about how Americans are being forced to put off "retirement" (defined as the day they quit working and sit around yelling at the TV).
Seems reasonable.
The writer's explanation:
The labor force has been getting older for decades for reasons that range from longer life spans and better health to companies' replacement of defined-benefit pensions with higher-risk 401(k) plans.Also seems reasonable.
Of course its only partially correct. Yes, we are living longer and, yes, Corporations are no longer interested in being your lifetime provider. Nowhere does the article mention we have all become more and more financially insecure despite/because of decades and decades of tax creep from FICA taxes (Social Security/Mediacare payroll "taxes"). Nowhere does the article mention that our total career span is about the same - 35 years - and that we are starting later and finishing later - ostensibly to become "educated" (as if that only occurs under the watchful eye of someone else and only in your twenties). If one does not get serous about a career until 30, you know after a 5 year undergrad program, back pack Europe, and MBA, you will, by economic and mathematical necessity be required to work until at least 65. After all, you did not finish having children until your 40's, and you have a 30 year mortgage. Nowhere does the article mention that many of today's over 50 workers have sacrificed marriages and having children because corporations required that they be "educated" in order to work at jobs that required little training, weren't all that fulfilling, and resulted in the outcome that the article's featured hedge fund analyst has experienced at the end of his prime working years - not much money, no family, no home, no job.
And for this he slaved away in Wall Street salt mine?
The brutal reality is this: Funding Social Security and Medicare through FICA taxes and state income taxes (in the case of California) and/or property taxes (in the case of the Northeast Big Blue states) are the primary reasons that many people my age have no family (they could not afford children) and have no money. Yet Lefties like Senator Elizabeth Warren are worshipped for their deeply flawed research/writings/assertions on the subject. Go figure.
(Note that birth rates in the U.S have plummeted. This trend is nothing new. When I am bored I will graph the increase in FICA taxes per person and the fertility rate of Americans. I bet they correlate inversely 100%, not that that implies causation - except when it does.)
Not that FICA taxes and state income and property taxes (property taxes have enabled municipal workers to enjoy tremendous financial security at the expense of everybody else) are solely responsible. No, they are responsible for the preponderance of The People's financial insecurity. To be fair, there are some other (materialism/consumerism) contributing factors - but these other factors pale next to these. Well, sort of. The monthly bill from cell phones, internet access, and cable is really far more damaging than widely perceived.
Now the government has these people by the gishgas. This is how democracy/corporatocrocy works in 21st century America.
------------------------------------------------
Gasoline prices are at a record for this time of year. But imports are down buy 1/3. This is not the drag on the U.S. economy that it was just 5 years ago. Europe is a different story.
----------------------------
I spent the last 2 weeks reading Ray Kurzweil's "The Singularity is Near". Stuart Staniford and Stephen B. recommended it to me. Fascinating. Peak Oil might well be just a "stressor", especially if Kurzweil's calculation on the development of Solar energy collection technology is correct, but The Singularity (or some sort of Singularity Light) might be something far, far more impacting.
I highly recommend the book.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
U.S. Oil Production
It is difficult to wrap my mind around the incredible increase in U.S. production of Crude & Condensate.
As it turns out, there was a great deal more $100 per barrel Oil than nearly any one thought possible (int he U.S., anyway). I should think that there will be one heck of a lot of $150 Oil - if we ever even need to find out.
When the wind (or data) changes, one must tack to the wind. I am not interested in being long Oil at the moment.
As it turns out, there was a great deal more $100 per barrel Oil than nearly any one thought possible (int he U.S., anyway). I should think that there will be one heck of a lot of $150 Oil - if we ever even need to find out.
When the wind (or data) changes, one must tack to the wind. I am not interested in being long Oil at the moment.
Monday, January 21, 2013
The Great MLK and the Defilement of his Legacy
Happy MLK day!
I am a huge MLK fan - so much so that I would be very, very happy to have his likeness replace Lincoln's on the penny and $5 bill. MLK was the real emancipator. Lincoln fought a war that didn't need to be fought and caused the violent/diseased death of well over 1 million people (the 660k quote of soldiers that dies during the conflict is almost surely a vast understatement, and to that one must add the deaths of those that died of their wounds in the years after the Civil War as well as the deaths of the orphaned children and widows of the deceased soldiers).
Of course, no one listens to me. Unfortunately, no one listened to MLK, either.
While the Liberal media will be filled with propaganda today, I would like to offer an alternative view of the data. If I assert that MLK was the real emancipator, I would also assert that the "Black (only) Leadership", with a tremendous assist from The Left, has done its best to undo the achievements of the Late, GREAT, MLK.
African Americans have separated and segregated themselves from the larger society in a fashion unprecedented in history.
So much for a color blind society. I wish MLK could be here to see this, and to strip the bark off of the "Black (only) Leaders" for what they have wrought.
For those of you who actually ARE color blind/gender blind/faith blind, that reject the use of force to achieve political and social policy goals as well as the lie of multiculturalism, and who embrace the acceptance of us mongrel races, I wish you peace and salute the content of your character.
And to you, Martin Luther King, Jr. May your message take root and have a voice once again.
I am a huge MLK fan - so much so that I would be very, very happy to have his likeness replace Lincoln's on the penny and $5 bill. MLK was the real emancipator. Lincoln fought a war that didn't need to be fought and caused the violent/diseased death of well over 1 million people (the 660k quote of soldiers that dies during the conflict is almost surely a vast understatement, and to that one must add the deaths of those that died of their wounds in the years after the Civil War as well as the deaths of the orphaned children and widows of the deceased soldiers).
Of course, no one listens to me. Unfortunately, no one listened to MLK, either.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
While the Liberal media will be filled with propaganda today, I would like to offer an alternative view of the data. If I assert that MLK was the real emancipator, I would also assert that the "Black (only) Leadership", with a tremendous assist from The Left, has done its best to undo the achievements of the Late, GREAT, MLK.
African Americans have separated and segregated themselves from the larger society in a fashion unprecedented in history.
- "Blacks only" schools. And here. So much for the victory of "integration".
- "Blacks only" Beauty Pageants.
- And since black beauty is different than white beauty, so is the news. Hence, Blacks Only Journalists.
- And to keep the races "pure" - Blacks Only dating web sites. (we wouldn't want inter-racial mongrels - like my kids - running around, now would we? I am trying hard not to vomit here and every time I see a "Jewish Singles", "Black Singles", "White Supremacist Singles" advertisement - because in reality Supremacist should be added to the first 2 as well as the last 1.)
- Of course, we need a Society of Black Engineers because loads on buildings, bridges, infrastructure is different in Black communities. Or is it just Black math is different than White Math?
- So. Your college is fully "integrated"? Well, except for your Fraternities and Sororities.
So much for a color blind society. I wish MLK could be here to see this, and to strip the bark off of the "Black (only) Leaders" for what they have wrought.
For those of you who actually ARE color blind/gender blind/faith blind, that reject the use of force to achieve political and social policy goals as well as the lie of multiculturalism, and who embrace the acceptance of us mongrel races, I wish you peace and salute the content of your character.
And to you, Martin Luther King, Jr. May your message take root and have a voice once again.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
"There's More to Life Than Being Happy"
Recently, I stumbled on this excellent article "There's More to Life Than Being Happy" at a reflective moment. I have not read Frankl's book as yet, but that is something that I shall soon remedy.
Even without the benefit of having read the book I feel I can relate to Frankl's assertion. I am "of a certain age", a time in life where one is "mature" and "experienced" yet still en compos mentis (for now). I have seen much success in life - and much failure. When I speak of "success" and "failure" I do not speak of financial or material outcomes.
I think the first rule of "meaning" is remaining alive. I have been to the burial ceremonies of so many friends and acquaintances that died young while "pursuing happiness" - sex, alcohol, food, drugs, sports cars, et al - that I have lost count. The staying alive part might seem obvious, reading or writing this at our leisure here on a Sunday morning but it must not have seemed so obvious to the Dearly Departed when they were doing whatever it was that they were doing to become Departed.
Just take a look around! Lots of angry and hostile people in traffic, in line at the airport, on Facebook. Are "we" more angry than we used to be? Sure seems that way. Could it be our loss of purpose? While I can't be sure, that seems to be the case, too. And that makes perfect sense (to me, in any event).
I can't seem to find much in the media that does not relate to politics and the economy. Oh, there's still the sports section and/or the entertainment section I guess... but since I am not really much of a sports fan and would rather beat my toes off with a hammer than watch TV I don't see much else (no doubt a result of my self-limiting behavior). Of course, I see it as anger/hate/resentment stirred up to elicit a political response, but I see something else, too. I see a system that conspires to convince people to chase material advantages that are not possible to gain - and convinces people to give up marriage, children, family to pursue that which cannot be had.
The educational system, corporatism, Feminism's war on children and family, FICA and property taxes, and the reality of Life's seasons have conspired to leave so many of my contemporaries broke, childless, single, separated from the corporate cocoon, and now 50+. I personally know dozens of former Feminist warriors (their counterparts, the underachieving alcohol/drug infused males of their age have long since gone to ground - it was their funerals I mentioned above) that are now in this very, very uncomfortable position.
What was the purpose of their lives? To end their family's line? That's what happened. Generations of ancestors before them survived ocean crossings, wars, childbirth, disease and pestilence, and all of their efforts to survive and pass on their genes, family history, and purpose in life could not survive the influence of Gloria Steinem & Co., Goldman Sachs, and the perceived need for Health Insurance and an oversized, 4 bedroom home devoid of children. Go figure.
There are some tremendous advantages to a long life (that is, besides the obvious), especially if you can overcome the hypocrisy of age. If you have lived this long, you were either lucky or you overcame the risks that come with the arrogance of youth. I roll my eyes with exasperation every time some sanctimonious blowhard steps up to a microphone, Tweet, or Web rant. I know the truth. Every one of us has a story that would make Caligula blush or make Keith Richards appear temperate - or are pissed off that they didn't. Personally, lets just say I lived large and leave it at. But most of that did not give/bring me the purpose that helped me to this long, prosperous, and fecund life experience I was lucky enough to pull down.
But I digress...
There are a number of entrenched and powerful interests that desperately need to skew your personal purpose compass. Corporations, municipal employee unions pensions, governments from local to federal, and various political interests are out to leave us broke, childless, and dependent - with all of that resultant anger you are witnessing around you. Just listen to the conversation within the American Body Politic. A never ending discussion about the economy and jobs. Not a word about the Freedoms and Rights of man. Just a never ending stream of insults and invective.
Where is the purpose in that?
Even without the benefit of having read the book I feel I can relate to Frankl's assertion. I am "of a certain age", a time in life where one is "mature" and "experienced" yet still en compos mentis (for now). I have seen much success in life - and much failure. When I speak of "success" and "failure" I do not speak of financial or material outcomes.
I think the first rule of "meaning" is remaining alive. I have been to the burial ceremonies of so many friends and acquaintances that died young while "pursuing happiness" - sex, alcohol, food, drugs, sports cars, et al - that I have lost count. The staying alive part might seem obvious, reading or writing this at our leisure here on a Sunday morning but it must not have seemed so obvious to the Dearly Departed when they were doing whatever it was that they were doing to become Departed.
Just take a look around! Lots of angry and hostile people in traffic, in line at the airport, on Facebook. Are "we" more angry than we used to be? Sure seems that way. Could it be our loss of purpose? While I can't be sure, that seems to be the case, too. And that makes perfect sense (to me, in any event).
I can't seem to find much in the media that does not relate to politics and the economy. Oh, there's still the sports section and/or the entertainment section I guess... but since I am not really much of a sports fan and would rather beat my toes off with a hammer than watch TV I don't see much else (no doubt a result of my self-limiting behavior). Of course, I see it as anger/hate/resentment stirred up to elicit a political response, but I see something else, too. I see a system that conspires to convince people to chase material advantages that are not possible to gain - and convinces people to give up marriage, children, family to pursue that which cannot be had.
The educational system, corporatism, Feminism's war on children and family, FICA and property taxes, and the reality of Life's seasons have conspired to leave so many of my contemporaries broke, childless, single, separated from the corporate cocoon, and now 50+. I personally know dozens of former Feminist warriors (their counterparts, the underachieving alcohol/drug infused males of their age have long since gone to ground - it was their funerals I mentioned above) that are now in this very, very uncomfortable position.
What was the purpose of their lives? To end their family's line? That's what happened. Generations of ancestors before them survived ocean crossings, wars, childbirth, disease and pestilence, and all of their efforts to survive and pass on their genes, family history, and purpose in life could not survive the influence of Gloria Steinem & Co., Goldman Sachs, and the perceived need for Health Insurance and an oversized, 4 bedroom home devoid of children. Go figure.
There are some tremendous advantages to a long life (that is, besides the obvious), especially if you can overcome the hypocrisy of age. If you have lived this long, you were either lucky or you overcame the risks that come with the arrogance of youth. I roll my eyes with exasperation every time some sanctimonious blowhard steps up to a microphone, Tweet, or Web rant. I know the truth. Every one of us has a story that would make Caligula blush or make Keith Richards appear temperate - or are pissed off that they didn't. Personally, lets just say I lived large and leave it at. But most of that did not give/bring me the purpose that helped me to this long, prosperous, and fecund life experience I was lucky enough to pull down.
But I digress...
There are a number of entrenched and powerful interests that desperately need to skew your personal purpose compass. Corporations, municipal employee unions pensions, governments from local to federal, and various political interests are out to leave us broke, childless, and dependent - with all of that resultant anger you are witnessing around you. Just listen to the conversation within the American Body Politic. A never ending discussion about the economy and jobs. Not a word about the Freedoms and Rights of man. Just a never ending stream of insults and invective.
Where is the purpose in that?
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The Web Makes Lying Harder, But Not Impossible
The Web has made the spread of disinformation and outright lies more difficult - but not impossible.
Due to the confrontation of facts true believers of all stripes are forced to retreat to deep within the ranks of their compatriots, where deep in these voids truth is not important - where adherence to the belief system, the world view of the group, is what counts.
In the Land of the Know-Nothing "the chant" is king. Repeat a untruth over and over and over and it becomes truth.
I have no love lost for the American Right. The only group I despise more is the Left. Not that they are inherently more evil (though historically the Great Evils of history are universally occupied by their ancestors), they merely have less "right" to be so disgustingly ill informed. As I have often said... if a person was born in a trailer park in Arkansas, raised on Confederate flags, Budweiser beer commercials, and the "Marlboro Man" I don't expect very much intellectually. Those born and raised with a silver spoon in their mouth, complete with prep schools, Ivy League Colleges, summers on the Vineyard have absolutely no excuse to be so f***ing daft.
That your political special interest group cannot prosper (or even exist) in the absence of outrageous lies and disinformation is indicative of serious flaws in your premise.
Why does the Left promulgate these outrageous lies? (That's rhetorical. They do it because it is working, at least for the moment.)
Lie #1: 25% of American Women have been the victim of a sexual assault. The mathematical absurdity of this simply boggles the mind - yet no has been able to challenge this nonsensical assertion and survive politically. Does anybody know where the source for this silly assertion comes from? From a long since discredited article in "Ms. Magazine" from 1987. Why is it still in common usage? Because it works.
Lie #2: Women earn $.75 to men's $1 for ever hour of equal work. How does the media and academia get away with this one in this day? The largest employer in the country now is government. Is there a pay discrepancy there? If not, then the pay discrepancy in the private sector would be much higher by mathematical necessity (if you don't immediately see why that is, well, I don't know what to say to you). So where is the discrepancy? Are female physicians paid differently than male physicians? What about male/female nurses, or any other worker in the healthcare field? This group represents 18% of GDP. Total government spending at 35% + of GDP. Since there is no evidence WHATSOEVER that there is any pay difference in government or healthcare (comparing apples to apples) for the silly 75 cents on the $ statistic to be accurate would require that the remaining 47% of GDP to have a 50 cents to the $ ratio. You think I would pay my male plumber, computer repair person, horse farrier 2X what a female would charge me? Why would anybody do such a thing? Especially since women control over 85% of consumer spending decisions?
Lie #3: African Americans suffer interracial violence and/or "racism" at the hands of White Americans. Here is what I said in a previous post, and I am sticking to it:
A White American is 52.5 TIMES more likely to suffer a violent assault or murder by a Black American perpetrator than is a Black American to suffer violence from a White American.
Black Americans murder White Americans at 18X the rate that White Americans murder Black Americans.
(CORRECTION!! The above 2 data points, are stated poorly... what I should have said was this: The African American community creates/manufactures inter-racial violent criminals at 52.5X the rate that the White American Community manufactures inter-racial violent criminals. When it comes to inter-racial murderers, the African American community manufactures inter-racial murderers at 18X the rate that the White American community manufactures/creates interracial murderers for the period 1990 to 2010. In 2010 alone, that multiple dropped to 14X.)
For the past decade nearly 35,000 White women have suffered forceable raped each year by a Black Perpetrator. The number of Black Women suffering a forceable rape by a White Man averaged less than 10 per year. 35,000 to less than 10.
Gang rapes of White Women by Black Men - about 3000 per year. Gang rapes of Black Women by White Men? Virtually unheard of, with the glaring exception of the Duke rape case.
The number of White Women murdered each year by Black Men averages over 500 per year. The number of Black Women murdered by White Men is less than 10 per year.
In fact, ALL White Male violence on Black Women is statistically non-existent (not saying it does not happen... just saying lottery wins are far, far, far, more common statistically)... and White Male violence against Black Males is only slightly more common statistically.
----------------------------------------------
So... in the day of instant fact checking and readily available data why do intelligent, educated, rational people that reject superstitions and prejudices of yesterday continue to want to believe propaganda that would have made Joseph Goebbels proud?
That was NOT a rhetorical question. Fill me in. I'd really like to know.
Due to the confrontation of facts true believers of all stripes are forced to retreat to deep within the ranks of their compatriots, where deep in these voids truth is not important - where adherence to the belief system, the world view of the group, is what counts.
In the Land of the Know-Nothing "the chant" is king. Repeat a untruth over and over and over and it becomes truth.
I have no love lost for the American Right. The only group I despise more is the Left. Not that they are inherently more evil (though historically the Great Evils of history are universally occupied by their ancestors), they merely have less "right" to be so disgustingly ill informed. As I have often said... if a person was born in a trailer park in Arkansas, raised on Confederate flags, Budweiser beer commercials, and the "Marlboro Man" I don't expect very much intellectually. Those born and raised with a silver spoon in their mouth, complete with prep schools, Ivy League Colleges, summers on the Vineyard have absolutely no excuse to be so f***ing daft.
That your political special interest group cannot prosper (or even exist) in the absence of outrageous lies and disinformation is indicative of serious flaws in your premise.
Why does the Left promulgate these outrageous lies? (That's rhetorical. They do it because it is working, at least for the moment.)
Lie #1: 25% of American Women have been the victim of a sexual assault. The mathematical absurdity of this simply boggles the mind - yet no has been able to challenge this nonsensical assertion and survive politically. Does anybody know where the source for this silly assertion comes from? From a long since discredited article in "Ms. Magazine" from 1987. Why is it still in common usage? Because it works.
Lie #2: Women earn $.75 to men's $1 for ever hour of equal work. How does the media and academia get away with this one in this day? The largest employer in the country now is government. Is there a pay discrepancy there? If not, then the pay discrepancy in the private sector would be much higher by mathematical necessity (if you don't immediately see why that is, well, I don't know what to say to you). So where is the discrepancy? Are female physicians paid differently than male physicians? What about male/female nurses, or any other worker in the healthcare field? This group represents 18% of GDP. Total government spending at 35% + of GDP. Since there is no evidence WHATSOEVER that there is any pay difference in government or healthcare (comparing apples to apples) for the silly 75 cents on the $ statistic to be accurate would require that the remaining 47% of GDP to have a 50 cents to the $ ratio. You think I would pay my male plumber, computer repair person, horse farrier 2X what a female would charge me? Why would anybody do such a thing? Especially since women control over 85% of consumer spending decisions?
Lie #3: African Americans suffer interracial violence and/or "racism" at the hands of White Americans. Here is what I said in a previous post, and I am sticking to it:
A White American is 52.5 TIMES more likely to suffer a violent assault or murder by a Black American perpetrator than is a Black American to suffer violence from a White American.
Black Americans murder White Americans at 18X the rate that White Americans murder Black Americans.
(CORRECTION!! The above 2 data points, are stated poorly... what I should have said was this: The African American community creates/manufactures inter-racial violent criminals at 52.5X the rate that the White American Community manufactures inter-racial violent criminals. When it comes to inter-racial murderers, the African American community manufactures inter-racial murderers at 18X the rate that the White American community manufactures/creates interracial murderers for the period 1990 to 2010. In 2010 alone, that multiple dropped to 14X.)
For the past decade nearly 35,000 White women have suffered forceable raped each year by a Black Perpetrator. The number of Black Women suffering a forceable rape by a White Man averaged less than 10 per year. 35,000 to less than 10.
Gang rapes of White Women by Black Men - about 3000 per year. Gang rapes of Black Women by White Men? Virtually unheard of, with the glaring exception of the Duke rape case.
The number of White Women murdered each year by Black Men averages over 500 per year. The number of Black Women murdered by White Men is less than 10 per year.
In fact, ALL White Male violence on Black Women is statistically non-existent (not saying it does not happen... just saying lottery wins are far, far, far, more common statistically)... and White Male violence against Black Males is only slightly more common statistically.
----------------------------------------------
So... in the day of instant fact checking and readily available data why do intelligent, educated, rational people that reject superstitions and prejudices of yesterday continue to want to believe propaganda that would have made Joseph Goebbels proud?
That was NOT a rhetorical question. Fill me in. I'd really like to know.
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