tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post5997315763531224455..comments2024-03-27T23:12:08.917-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Disparities of taxation and wealth? Time to choose between ideology and civilizationDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6503109974868416672008-03-07T14:21:00.000-08:002008-03-07T14:21:00.000-08:00John Maudlin is wrong about illegal immigrants, ev...John Maudlin is wrong about illegal immigrants, even after you mentally adjust for the sheer absurdity of his estimates of consumer spending and gdp growth. Illegals are 3.5 to 4.5% of the population and earn wages far less than the average US wage, so it seems inconceivable to me how without them consumer spending would go down 7%. productivity down 10-15%? LOL.<BR/><BR/>They should all be deported. Third world immigration, except from east asia whose inhabitants have in aggregate proved capable of rapidly building soon-to-be 1st world civilizations, should cease. US hispanics are incarcerated at 3 times the non-hispanic white rate. They have an illegitimacy rate of 49.9% [1]. The incarceration rate of mexicans goes up 8-fold from the first to the second generation [2], so focusing on the short term low-crime rate 1st generation is a grave mistake.<BR/><BR/>1. National Vital Statistics Reports, Births: Preliminary Data for 2006<BR/>http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_07.pdf<BR/><BR/>2. "Debunking the Myth of Immigrant Criminality", under heading "Second Generation"<BR/>http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=403Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87521819995393208242008-01-19T09:17:00.000-08:002008-01-19T09:17:00.000-08:00zorgon laments "Why do I keep suggesting these kin...zorgon laments "Why do I keep suggesting these kinds of things when I know nobody's ever going to listen to me...? (Sigh)"<BR/><BR/>I switched to linux in....1998! I have not regretted the move since I have learned so much from linux compared to what my friends and colleagues have learned from windows and osx. After you use linux for a while, your confidence level skyrockets since you know how to solve problems that arise or how to find instant help - via forums, blogs and the like - or find the same problem and solution reported by someone else. linux and open source are the scientific process exported to society at large.NoOnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08685249095572192084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-82148470106949416842008-01-18T13:33:00.000-08:002008-01-18T13:33:00.000-08:00I have a fantasy.There are about a dozen guys who ...I have a fantasy.<BR/><BR/>There are about a dozen guys who could tip our present situation, simply by stepping forward and fessing up.<BR/><BR/>If Colin Powel were to step forward and express his righteous anger over what was done to him, the lies he was told to tell... and his complicity in creating a situation that grievously harmed the nation he loves. Wouldn't he suddenly become relevant again? Instead of a bitter, ghostlike figure, like Clarence Thomas?<BR/><BR/>If Alan Colmes were to stand up and admit: "I have been a shill for years, playing up to Hannity, and I am through," wouldn't he become a hero... and... and suddenly get an actual career? (Not on Fox, of course.)<BR/><BR/>If some member of the R'oil house, some resentful lower-order prince, were NOT to vent his frustration by diving deeper into W'h'abbism, or wallowing in drunken western pleasures, but simply leak to us out west the real deal about those photos of W with a pony?<BR/><BR/>Did anyone see that picture of W BOWING before King Ab'dullah. Yes, it was to receive a "medal". But will no one copy and viral that image?David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-92031747385071966602008-01-18T12:59:00.000-08:002008-01-18T12:59:00.000-08:00Hannity "wins" on his show because Colmes is just ...Hannity "wins" on his show because Colmes is just there to act as the sacrificial strawman. In fact, the show is structured as such that Colmes is never permitted to address Hannity directly — he must respond through a show guest.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>When you act like a rational, person, you look like Colmes. Hannity always wins on his show, because the pasty Liberal looks like a wimp -- no other reason. It is always a tough American MAN vs. the wimp -- you can turn the sound off on that show and understand better, the REAL dynamics that Fox uses. Virile guys and hot women in suits discussing the horrors of the Liberal society corrupting our morals to people who go to strip clubs for a sales meeting on Friday night, and then to Church and talk about not getting "Left Behind."</I>Naumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06741963276339044331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78682217031858002362008-01-18T12:56:00.000-08:002008-01-18T12:56:00.000-08:00(Zorgon the Malevolent again)Not only are people m...(Zorgon the Malevolent again)<BR/><BR/>Not only are people motivated by more than money, history combined with evidence shows that people are primarily motivated by non-monetary considerations. Take a look at the open-source movement, including Wikipedia and the linux projects. Conventional economics says these things can't exist. Conventional economics says humans are <I>homo oeconomicus</I>, creatures who base their actions solely on rational calculations of personal gain. If that were accurate, none of these open-source projects in which people work for free could possibly exist. Conventional economics is the confection of imbeciles, intended for the bamboozlement of ignorant fools. Conventional economics has no observable connection with reality.<BR/><BR/>Dr. Brin energetially dissed Marx's labor theory of value -- and Marx's labor theory of value deserves to get slammed. Most of it is crazy, foolish, and dead wrong. Viz., Marx asks (according to his labor theory of value) how can the capitalist make a profit off hi/r workers' labor? And Marx comes up with the answer: "Only by exploiting them." But that's stupid. Capitalists can make a profit off their workers' labor in 3 ways: [1] by leveraging market inefficiencies (i.e., if the capitalist knows that the widgets his workers build cost $10 each in America and sell for only $11 in America but can sell for $50 each in Japan, the capitlist makes money); [2] by economies of scale (viz., if the capitalist realizes it costs $9 to manufacture each $11-selling widget in qty 100 but 9 cents to manufacture each $11-selling widget in qty 1 million, the capitalist makes money); and [3] by innovating and inventing an entirely new kind of widget (viz., building the first personal computer, as Woz & Jobs did, a widget for which no market existed until they built it). <BR/><BR/>None of these glaringly obvious answers appear to have occurred to Karl Marx, leading us to question whether he was drunk or brain-damaged when he scribbled <I>Das Kapital</I>.<BR/><BR/>And yet...<BR/><BR/>...And yet, Marx's labor theory of value <I><B>does</I></B> touch on something profound and basic in economics. Yes, Marx's labor theory of value is mostly nonsense...but there's a kernel of absolute truth in it. Namely, people have an innate sense that there should be some vague conneciton between the amount of skill and expertise required to do a job, and the pay you get. There should also be some vague connection twixt how successfully you do your job and what you get paid. <BR/><BR/>Marx's labor theory of value proved accurate insofar as it identified <I><B>fairness</I></B> as a crucial economic variable. Conventional economists ignore fairness in their heartless calculations. According to conventional economists, if a CEO raises shareholder value, then the CEO deserves every possible perk. But when you get a CEO who amended his employment contract to allow the corporate jet to chauffeur his daughter to high school in California from her home in Colorado every day<BR/>http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5691030,00.html<BR/><BR/>...This creates a gross sense of unfairness. Everyone realizes <I>this just isn't right</I>. No matter how much shareholder value that QUEST CEO allegedly created, this is just <I><B>over the top</I></B>. It's <B>wrong</B>. And everybody recognizes it instinctively. This kind of gross economic unfairness destroys the social glue that binds people together. And it prompts phone customers to shut down their phone lines and move to VOIP, or say "the hell with it!" and just use P2P to download TV shows and computer programs. Because when everyone perceives the system is grossly unfair, people stop having a stake in the system. They stop caring. And society starts to fall apart.<BR/><BR/>Democracy depends on people having a stake in the system. What Karl Marx realized, in a distorted and stunted way with his mostly-wrong labor theory of value, is that when people perceive the entire system as being crassly unfair, democracy starts to break down. In short, you can't do democracy in a sufficiently oligarchical society where the distribution of wealth is too greatly skewed toward the top.<BR/><BR/>This is the real reason why it's important to flatten the income distribution. Without reasonable limits to income inequality, you don't get democracy -- and without democracy, you don't get innovation and you can't get correction of bad ideas and you don't get productivity. <BR/><BR/>To put it bluntly, since 99% of the productivity gains of the last 30 years in America went to the top 1% of society, while over the last 30 years the middle class's standard of living has either remarined flat or declined slightly, it's obvious that (as one the bottom 99%) no matter what I invent or create, it's not going to raise my standard of living. So why should the bottom 99% of society care whether America's GDP rises? Why should we give a damn whether America innovates to produce new technology like flatscreen TVs with hi-def video? If I can't afford 'em, what does it matter to me? Why do I care whether America has fast broadband or slow broadband if I can't afford broadband at all and I'm stuck on dialup? Why should I care whether America has the world's best universities if my hypothetical kids are priced out of going to 'em?<BR/><BR/>Robert Putnam's book <I>Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital</I> touches on this. Not coincidentally, he notes a drastic decline in social capital during exaclty the period when the distribution of wealth has gotten wildly skewed toward the top (mid 70s to today). <BR/><BR/>The Post-Autistic Economics movement inside the academy approaches this issue from a different angle:<BR/>www.paecon.net/<BR/><BR/>So even though Karl Marx's labor theory of value was mostly foolish and wrong, we shouldn't dismiss it out of hand, because it does address a core issue in economics.<BR/><BR/>On a lighter note...<BR/><BR/>What would we do without these highly educated experts to advise us?<BR/>http://www.mostfunnypictures.com/pics/191.jpg<BR/><BR/>----------<BR/><BR/>Here's my 2 cents on Dr. Brin's laptop question -- buy a piece-of-crap used antique P3 1Ghz laptop with 256 megs on ebay for $199 and put Ubuntu linux on it. Total cost: 1/6 of the price of a new MacBook, 1/4 of the cost of a new Windows Vista laptop. As a side benefit, you'll never have to worry about viruses again. (Use the older Ubuntu 6.01 LTS, Edgy Eft, because that one requires only 256 megs. The new Ubuntu 7.1, Gutsy Gibbon, requires 384 megs of RAM.)<BR/><BR/>Why do I keep suggesting these kinds of things when I know nobody's ever going to listen to me...? (Sigh)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70424237501690504782008-01-18T12:36:00.000-08:002008-01-18T12:36:00.000-08:00Re a mac laptop.My house is full of Macs now and I...<I>Re a mac laptop.</I><BR/><BR/>My house is full of Macs now and I own 2 Mac Book Pro machines…<BR/><BR/><I><BR/>1) is it as important to buy the extended warranty for a mac laptop as it is for a PC laptop?</I><BR/><BR/>You have a year to decide (to extend to 3 years). For my work machine and Mrs. Naum machine I opted for AppleCare… …I've found Apple tech support to be much more responsive with it, even on Apple stuff (i.e., Airport Express, iPods) that I didn't purchase the AppleCare for…<BR/><BR/><I>2) do people like having a .mac account? I never saw the need and I’m not sure it’s worth the cost.</I><BR/><BR/>Seems to be a waste of money with little payback, though an imap email account and limited iDisk space are alluring to some, but I believe mostly a set of Mac faithful for which Apple does no wrong ever…<BR/><BR/><I>3) Does parallels run automatically? Then you need to buy the XP you’ll use?</I><BR/><BR/>Yes, there is a convergence mode that plops your Windows app icons right into your OS X dock. But you will have to plunk down dough for a copy of Windows XP (or Vista).<BR/><BR/><I>Does Parallels simplyu let you install Linux instead of XP? What version’s best and simplest?</I><BR/><BR/>Yes. In fact you can have any number of virtual machines. I use it sometimes to test web server stuff… …I think any Linux distribution can be installed, but at present, I am partial to Ubuntu…<BR/><BR/><I>5) If my new mac comes with updated iLife... can I then install the new iLife on my other macs at home from the same disks?</I><BR/><BR/>I'm sure it's doable, but I have not done it… …seems like you could just drag the app off of the disk onto your Applications folder but I am not certain that Apple hasn't imposed some restriction to prevent copying on to machines other than the one you bought… …though I will say you probably don't want to go through any install wizard to install…Naumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06741963276339044331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39144129323262660112008-01-18T10:15:00.000-08:002008-01-18T10:15:00.000-08:00Doug, that is precisely my point.Contrary to the c...Doug, that is precisely my point.<BR/><BR/>Contrary to the common thesis of Capitalists, people are motivated by more than money. (People vote against their perceived and real economic interests all the time.)<BR/><BR/>One person who understood this quite well was... Adam Smith.<BR/><BR/>Good Unions foster a sense of camaraderie of the working class... but you can't have that if you tear out all the vaguely socialistic-sounding stuff... so modern "Vichy" unions have only their own personal benefit to consider.B. Dewhirsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07949715179057866177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59077847588199447422008-01-18T09:28:00.000-08:002008-01-18T09:28:00.000-08:00Homer Simpson, upon becoming head of the power pla...Homer Simpson, upon becoming head of the power plant worker's union...<BR/><BR/>Homer: How much does this job pay?<BR/>Carl: Nothing.<BR/>Homer: D'oh!<BR/>Carl: Unless you're crooked.<BR/>Homer: Woo-hoo!<BR/><BR/>Q) How many union members does it take to change a lightbulb?<BR/>A) Ten. You got a problem with that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70075227575397387722008-01-18T06:28:00.000-08:002008-01-18T06:28:00.000-08:00Z, without delving into whether violence is justif...Z, without delving into whether violence is justified or unjustified (at which point we'd need to point out the long and bloody labor history from the other direction-- calling in the Pinkertons or the Army), I should point out that most of the Unions we see today have largely abandoned the ideological underpinnings of 'real' unions.<BR/><BR/>(Yes, I'm treading close to a No True Scotsman, but I trust we all know there are good and bad ways of instituting any collection of people.)<BR/><BR/>These 'Vichy' unions have indeed created their own pseudo-feudal hierarchies with ties to organized crime (and business). This is, partially, the consequence of them being a more palatable alternative to more radical unions like the <B>IWW</B>, of whom I'm very much in favor. (Somebody thought it would be a good idea to throw them all in jail, hold MacCarthy hearings with them very early on the list of 'are you now or have you ever been' organizations, etc.)<BR/><BR/>Transparency, accountability, and the ability to recall representatives are the key to a successful organization.B. Dewhirsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07949715179057866177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47783737054723372252008-01-18T03:09:00.000-08:002008-01-18T03:09:00.000-08:00Warren Buffet wasn't exactly born middle class him...Warren Buffet wasn't exactly born middle class himself. His father was a congressman and an investor. Still, your statement is mostly true.<BR/><BR/>Marc, I'd actually like to hear why you like unions so much, because I'm not that fond of them. <BR/><BR/>Any group that has as many ties to organised crime as unions seem to can't be all that great. Government, for example.<BR/><BR/>Not to mention the needless violence. Tossing a bomb onto a bus because the driver operated it instead of following with the strike? Not cool. (and yes, I've seen that one happen)<BR/><BR/>But the reason unions bug me the most? There's no competition. I don't mean just no competition at the employer end to hire from this union or that union or from no union, but workers don't get to choose between this union or that union or just working without union protections. When organizations get that big and unnaccountable terrible things happen.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-5976590965281554972008-01-17T18:28:00.000-08:002008-01-17T18:28:00.000-08:00Warren Buffet wants his taxes higher for one simpl...Warren Buffet wants his taxes higher for one simple reason. He loves a civilization that’s been very good to him. He earned his money and thinks the next batch of billionaires ought to. Instead of inheriting it.<BR/><BR/>Re a mac laptop. <BR/><BR/>1) is it as important to buy the extended warranty for a mac laptop as it is for a PC laptop?<BR/><BR/>2) do people like having a .mac account? I never saw the need and I’m not sure it’s worth the cost.<BR/><BR/>3) Does parallels run automatically? Then you need to buy the XP you’ll use?<BR/><BR/>4) Does Parallels simplyu let you install Linux instead of XP? What version’s best and simplest?<BR/><BR/>5) If my new mac comes with updated iLife... can I then install the new iLife on my other macs at home from the same disks?David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75885292851065158052008-01-17T10:01:00.000-08:002008-01-17T10:01:00.000-08:00Brendan Podger said... A bit late in he day to ...<I>Brendan Podger said...<BR/> A bit late in he day to be commenting but there is so much to comment regarding others comments.<BR/><BR/> Marc: You have to be very careful about tariffs since they tend to have a negative effect on the industry being protected: lack of competition tends to lead to lack of innovation.</I><BR/><BR/>>> We have had a lot of innovation, but competition has taken our aerospace industry and moved it to China. We only have two future products; Intellectual Property Law, and Weapons.<BR/><BR/>We did pretty well with Tariffs and strong Unions. Is there any progress we are seeing with no tariffs and "globalism" from the right, coupled with the other team of thieves on the left who come up with Oxley Sarbanes. By all accounts, we have the so-called Free Trade, and of course, Ford is moving to Mexico, and Halliburton is moving to Dubai. Not much has been made in the news that while Dubai was buying our ports, they also bought about 7 weapons manufacturing plants. Did you know that the UAE is developing Nuclear weapons?<BR/><BR/>Once you read about that, do a google search on Siebel Edmunds and then we can discuss this whole securing the nation farce.<BR/><BR/>Our biggest growth right now in the US is security companies -- oh, and private mercenaries.<BR/><BR/>>> See what happens with electronic voting? Coincidence theorists vs. Conspiracy theorists;<BR/><I>Rocky said...<BR/><BR/> I thought something fishy was going on in NH. Monkey business in the New Hamphire primaries... Looks like on the hand-counted votes, Obama's percentage matched with pre-election polling. On the optical scan votes, the numbers were exactly the same, but flipped between Clinton and Obama. Someone manipulated the vote. Guess which company made the voting machines?<BR/><BR/> 10:39 AM<BR/>Anonymous Stefan Jones said...<BR/><BR/> Rocky, did you read the whole article? It largely debunks the "flipped totals" claim.<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>Stefan. <BR/>While we can use some statistical analysis, and pontificate that people in the city MIGHT have voted more for Hillary than Obama -- you cannot really KNOW who won without a recount of paper ballots. No recount on that renamed diebold machine. Lot's of former hackers talking about helping to build it. A few people going to prison in Ohio for 18 months for RIGGING THE ELECTION. In retrospect, we keep learning that "conspiracy theories" have merit. Maybe we can just do things that don't require a debate afterwards?<BR/><BR/>Without Ohio going to Bush, it would have been President Kerry. Now, that may or may not have been totally the outcome of fraud (though, I'd have to believe this is the ONE TIME BushCo didn't lie, cheat and steal).<BR/><BR/>Now, NH might be OK, but what about Florida? There will be more strange things that can't be explained, and more plausible reasons why the Rove preferred candidates win. These accidents seem to always go the way of CorpGov. Meanwhile, Kucinich has to go to court to force MSNBC to let him in the debates. I thought we were supposed to have more than two states weigh in before we decided who was the Democratic candidate? Kucinich got more votes than Republicans in New Hampshire who are welcomed in debates -- and NH only has a 7% Democratic population. Would this be the same discussion if California were first?<BR/><BR/>To have a Democracy, you have to have people thinking things are fair. I can tell you, that at LEAST half of us don't, and we think if they don't cheat us in NH, they will cage some voters and cheat us in Florida. I have ZERO confidence in this election process and it's outcome. It's going to be Hillary vs. McCain, and I don't think I want to stick around for the next great depression in this country while people try to blame the "socialist" who signs NAFTA version 2. It's a sock puppet fight and this is all the elites making us fight each other as we debate nonsense like Fair Tax and Evolution.<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile, the times when the US was most competitive, and everyone OWED US MONEY, was when we had strong Unions, and often when we had tariffs -- why do I have to debate history with people? Why? The Libertarians and Republicans keep bringing up these economic theories, that have no basis in reality. The only way supply-side economics (let the barons have everything) works is when you replace increased wages with cheap credit. Gee, can I get three loans on my house to buy that flat panel TV?<BR/><BR/>The economics are a fraud, the election is a fraud, and we are turning into a police state. All these problems are created so that the elites can get rid of our pesky Democracy, as they did in Chile with the help of Negroponte and Nixon cronies.Fake_William_Shatnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027049743048836086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6006000425587061212008-01-17T09:32:00.000-08:002008-01-17T09:32:00.000-08:00David Brin said... If HP doesn't repair and ret...<I>David Brin said...<BR/><BR/> If HP doesn't repair and return my laptop soon, I'll have to run out and buy that much-delayed Macintosh laptop. I am very much looking fwd to it, but delayed because you ALWAYS delay a computer till you need it. And my flight to Liechtenstein looms.<BR/><BR/> Any advice? Which model to get? Best deal/reliability?<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>I'm a Mac fan for sure (not a FanBoy). I've consulted and used PCs as well.<BR/><BR/>IN a recent report -- I'm thinking it was C|Net or some other big Mag. The PowerBook Pro was compared to other PCs RUNNING WINDOWS. It beat the next PC by 43 to 41 on their WinMark score, and even AlienWare at third place costing more. Great quote; "It is interesting that Apple won this test, not because it just barely won, but because they could care less about how fast they run Windows."<BR/><BR/>>> ON the desktop, there are definitely better values to be had for basic computing. ON the laptop -- the importance of getting rid of headaches increases, and Apple wins the reliability battle.<BR/><BR/>I use at least 100 different applications. Bouncing around in multimedia, video, web creation, and just having fun. A Windows PC remains stable and good for tasks if you keep it simple. If you start adding PhotoShop, a video app, another thing to burn DVDs, something else to fill in the gap for a good image browser, maybe an application to prevent viruses and trojan horses that NOBODY installs when they do speed tests (ahem), and maybe a database, and of course Microsoft Office -- that computer will quickly act as screwy as a squirrel on acid. You also make it a huge deal to re-install Windows about every year -- which is what I recommend if you want to keep it from turning into a dog.<BR/><BR/>The ability to find your home computer, because Leopard shares it's IP address with .Mac as soon as you go online -- is a huge and un-complex thing. Networking and moving files just work. <BR/><BR/>The great thing is, that you can still run Windows. Install Parallel's desktop, and install Windows XP on top (Vista has too much thrashing and DRM to make the experience very fun in a virtual OS). All applications are seamlessly available, and you can fall back to a previous installation by taking snapshots. Or run "versions" of Windows. Or install Linux. Just look to have more than 2 Gigs of RAM. Getting an upgrade at DealRam.com is not a big deal.<BR/><BR/>It all depends on your budget. < $1,000 and I would say, get a PC.<BR/>Above that, and you have the MacBook. It's decent, and is good for undemanding users who just want something stable. The Mac gets rid of a lot of hassles. But compared to the bells and whistles on the $1,200 PCs, looks anemic -- if you can fix a computer, upgrade drives on your own, and debug DVD driver -- then the PC is the better value. If you buy from Dell -- tell them you are a midsized company, the bargain components go to home users. I have not kept track on whether you should avoid HP, or they build a good computer again. I've hassled with PCs and built a few and I'm done with wasting my time not getting things done.<BR/><BR/>In the $2,000+ range, the Mac is the best laptop, bar none. I have the 17" and spent the extra $100 for the high rez screen. I'm going to get the 350 gig Western Digital drive for laptops, and spend another $100 on RAM at NewEgg. But I need to do Video work, so the standard drive just doesn't have the room.<BR/>For a jet-setter, that new Air laptop seems nice, if you know how to get Videos off of DVDs (cough* MacTheRipper *cough). But it's pretty dang expensive. For people where money is not an issue, and who don't demand too much from a computer, it's sweet -- I'm not that person, however.<BR/><BR/>A good place to find deals on Mac and computer related items, RAM and such; http://dealmac.com/<BR/><BR/>If you want to get into web development, and do some really cool things, install the free Developers tools. I'm geeking out on Quartz Composer right now that allows me to do real-time video conversion, grab data from the web, and display the stuff with fairy dust effects (if I like that kind of thing).<BR/><BR/>>> There will be some changes to get used to -- but Vista is more like OS X than XP. The good thing is, that OS X is more logical, and after a while, you will have better muscle memory of how to get things done. Not as good as OS 9 (in my opinion) for less motion to get the job done,... but it's like working with the right tool. Very hard to describe how much more effortless it is to just do things.Fake_William_Shatnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027049743048836086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60228682929215535442008-01-17T08:57:00.000-08:002008-01-17T08:57:00.000-08:00Agreed, Marc.As I said earlier, there are plenty o...Agreed, Marc.<BR/><BR/>As I said earlier, there are plenty on the left who've got their heads in the sand as well.<BR/><BR/>As much as the GOP, the DLC is bought and paid for by a different click of the 10,000 golf buddies who run the show. It isn't black and white by a long shot, we only need to listen to Buffet talk about why his taxes should be higher to see some of that... <BR/><BR/>Very frustrating.B. Dewhirsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07949715179057866177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8392045501152746942008-01-17T08:43:00.000-08:002008-01-17T08:43:00.000-08:00TwinBeam said... Marc: Many of the "Fair Tax...<I>TwinBeam said...<BR/><BR/> Marc:<BR/><BR/> Many of the "Fair Tax" complaints you list have already been thought through and countered by the proponents.<BR/><BR/> That doesn't mean they're right - but simplistic arguments against the fair tax do have simple answers, as you should expect. Never assume your opponents are total morons, or at least that they haven't heard your "top of the head" arguments before and come up with counter-arguments, however good or poor.<BR/>...<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>I agree with you. But, I'm sad to say, I used to think that you could discuss these things. It's really hard to sip tea and discuss Bank Robbery, as if someone were liberating money.<BR/><BR/>I made the mistake of listening to Neal Bortz today,... they didn't use any of these complicated rationalizations, or the "fixes" that will be promised but of course, be torn from their hands by evil Democrats. They calmly talked about 25% sales taxes, and that everywhere a consumption tax has been tried, the EVIL governments would sneak in an income tax again. What they don't mention is, that sales tax ends up not bringing in enough revenue -- so it is supplemented by income tax anyway.<BR/><BR/>I could bring up a complex argument, that sales tax will naturally differ, based upon what a state wants to add on top. So, Big City, only has 25% tax, while Mayberry has 40% because they have to pay for things. The Big City, uses a high property tax -- which is easily made back by the businesses there, because they will be getting all the Mayberry residents business. Do Mayberry residents want to pay less? Isn't that reasonable to assume?<BR/><BR/>So either states are forbidden from changing the tax rate (States rights anyone?), or someone will have a better deal, and then Mayberry is going to have to have a separate form of tax anyway, because their businesses will be complaining about going under. You are always right back where you started. UNLESS you use the police.<BR/><BR/>Because we have a big neighbor to the North called Canada. And instead of looking for Nukes crossing the border -- you will have to make sure that John Doe didn't just buy that jacket somewhere where there are lower taxes.<BR/><BR/>So, you have to hire more police, and have more checkpoints and close down the borders. Every shopper is under suspicion for ILLEGALLY buying things from non-taxed sources. <BR/><BR/>>> This is above and beyond that it's a total waste of time in trying to discuss economics with morons. I'm sorry to feel like I'm smart and they are dumb, or that I need to educate myself on THEIR propaganda to win an argument. I'm 42 years old now, and I've never WON an argument with an idiot in my life. I've only ever been able to talk to reasonable people -- and somehow they always seem to be Progressives, or Libertarians who just need a bit more study.<BR/><BR/>The schools and the TV which were telling you they were "liberal", whatever that means -- have done a too effective job. I had to debate in a blog last night about Glenn Beck calling FDR the meanest of Presidents. All over again, it was the discussion that entitlements weakened the American character and that the WAR helped us out of the Depression.<BR/><BR/>>> They don't recognize that we are on the verge of another Depression, and all we've done since FDR and Unions fixed the economy is to give Conservatives everything they want? This is Reagonomics being successful -- and they now want Ron Paul?<BR/><BR/>The real problem is, that I've been respecting Conservatives, MORE than their leaders like Neal Bortz do. If you can't stop people from drinking the poisoned Kool Aid by reason, I think I'm just an angry Liberal now who has decided the only thing left is to humiliate them. You are trying to tell me to bring reason, to a school-yard brawl with 10-year-olds. I'm trying to tell you, I've been there and done that.<BR/><BR/>When you act like a rational, person, you look like Colmes. Hannity always wins on his show, because the pasty Liberal looks like a wimp -- no other reason. It is always a tough American MAN vs. the wimp -- you can turn the sound off on that show and understand better, the REAL dynamics that Fox uses. Virile guys and hot women in suits discussing the horrors of the Liberal society corrupting our morals to people who go to strip clubs for a sales meeting on Friday night, and then to Church and talk about not getting "Left Behind." <BR/><BR/>So many Conservatives are waking up to Bush, and then going back to get beaten up by someone else who acts just like Bush. Meanwhile the media and the Diebold machines are throwing the election to Hillary, and I get to listen to these same fools blame Socialist Hillary for instituting more Reagan policies (or, merely Corporate Kleptocracy with a smidgen of philosophy).<BR/><BR/>I can guarantee you, that Mexico and the Middle Ages does not suffer from lazy, over-entitled people. Yet somehow, the free market makes people poor -- go figure. If people don't realize these things -- they never are going to realize them. They will blame Mexico, or someone else that the TV tells us to blame.Fake_William_Shatnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027049743048836086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74721422299139507252008-01-17T03:56:00.000-08:002008-01-17T03:56:00.000-08:00Thanks, Dewhirst, for the kick in the pants. It ha...Thanks, Dewhirst, for the kick in the pants. It has led to more reading on my part. I still believe the U.S. would distort and exempt according to corporate wishes, not democratic wishes.Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-55801396808468185182008-01-16T23:23:00.000-08:002008-01-16T23:23:00.000-08:00DB: Yes, the Fair Tax is regressive - the more you...DB: <BR/>Yes, the Fair Tax is regressive - the more you save, the less you pay. <BR/><BR/>So a lot more people would save a lot more than they do under the current system, which discourages savings. <BR/><BR/>The increased pool of investment funds, combined with somewhat depressed consumption, would drive down the rate of return on investments. <BR/><BR/>That, in turn, would slash the rate of wealth concentration. In fact, it might very well cause a sharp recession that wipes out a big chunk of the fortunes of the super-wealthy.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes simple changes can have surprisingly complex - even counter-intuitive - results.<BR/><BR/>But I'm not an official advocate of the Fair Tax - I'm just playing devil's advocate against unthinking, knee-jerk rejection.<BR/><BR/>Funny, I should think you, of all people, would have given more thoughtful consideration to an idea that would make the costs of government more transparent to everyone.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Regarding Afghanistan - I tend to agree we started off well in Afghanistan - it could be viewed as a somewhat moderated form of Jerry's plan. <BR/><BR/>We should have caught or killed bin Ladin and called it quits - the message would have been sent, in a form the rest of the world could respect as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19015587236245907152008-01-16T21:58:00.000-08:002008-01-16T21:58:00.000-08:00(Zorgon again, logon still blown)TwinBeam remarked...(Zorgon again, logon still blown)<BR/><BR/>TwinBeam remarked:<BR/><BR/><I>Jerry Pournelle's initial - and un-repudiated - reaction to 9/11 was "build monuments in the offending nations" - as in bombing a few cities (probably in Afghanistan) into rubble, then bouncing the rubble. Or making them into glassy plains. (..)<BR/><BR/>I suspect it would have worked - it does seem an appropriate counter to the "macho" mode of thinking common to the region - i.e. respecting those who demonstrate aggression and strength, despising those you perceive as weak.</I><BR/><BR/>Since Saudi Arabia produced 15 of the 19 hijackers, this would have required the United States to turn Riyadh and Mecca into "glassy plains." Mecca remains the most sacred site for 1 billion Moslems, and the Kingdom of Saud, as the home of Mecca, remains the most sacred of all Islamic countries. The resulting worldwide Moslem uprising would have made the firestorm over the Dutch cartoons look like an episode of Mr. Rogers.<BR/><BR/>After the Kingdom of Saud's oil refineries and wells were destroyed by mass waves of suicide bombers larger than the human waves who attacked U.N. forces at the Chosin Reservoir, and after the straits of Hormuz were closed by supertankers sunk by fanatical jihadists screaming "Death to the West!" I leave it to the imagination of the interested spectator to predict the level of economic chaos produced by a long-term 80% reduction in oil supplies to Europe, Japan and America. <BR/><BR/>Dr. Pournelle has two earned doctorates but, as Carl Sagan ponted out, "A PhD is not an innoculation against foolishness." It's worth noting that Dr. Pournelle spent the majority of his life making lots 'o bucks working for the big U.S. government who size and alleged paternalism he so vociferously despised. <BR/><BR/>Can we please have enough with the insinuations of electronic vote-hacking of the HIllary-Obama primary in New Hampshire? Please, people. Enough. Okay? Just...enough. There are a lot of real problems out there, lots of genuine conspiracies -- but we don't need this kind of paranoia. <BR/><BR/>Let's spend our time thinking of all the ways we can defeat the group of fringe lunatics who've taken over the Republican party and discreditng them so permanently that they get banished into political outer darkness along with the Flat Earth Society and the Ku Klux Klan. Let's not waste our valuable ingenuity and time fretting about tinfoil hat Diebold voting-machine conspiracies in the NH primary.<BR/><BR/>Alas, America did not "do great in Afghanistan." The Taliban now controls half of Afghanistan again, mainly because Americans shut down the poppy growing farms that were most Afghan farmers' only means of income...while the Taliban now encourages the farmers to grow as much opium as they possibly can (i a about-face from the Taliban's previous attitude toward opium cultivation).<BR/> <BR/>America's military action in Afghanistan remains a classic example of the philosophy of the modern Republican party -- <B>"it doesn't matter if we get it done, as long as we get it spun." </B><BR/><BR/>thinkprogress.org/2007/11/23/ resurgent-taliban-in-control-of-half-of-afghanistan/<BR/><BR/>www.nytimes.com/2006/09/05/world/asia/05afghan.html<BR/><BR/>www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/ c/a/2006/09/17/MNGIHL7B4O1.DTL<BR/><BR/>"Opium production in Afghanistan...reached an all-time high in 2007":<BR/>www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ content/article/2006/12/01/AR2006120101654.html<BR/><BR/>Oh, and Dr. Brin -- love that lede about "troglodytic microcephaly." But, you know, this is <I><B>exactly</I></B> what the Repub hatemongers like Karl Rove snicker at and twist to their advantage. <I><B>You</I></B> know what those big words mean. <I><B>I</I></B> know what those big words mean. But when you use those kinds of big polysyllabic Greek- and Latin-based words, you're apt to come off like a high-and-mighty elite effete intellectual, instead of a regular guy. And that gives the ostriches as well as the working stiffs a perfect excuse to ignore everything you say. <BR/><BR/>"Backward-looking folly" works as well as "troglodytic microcephaly," though I'll grant you it doesn't have quite the same ring. Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov managed all they accomplished with an average vocabulary suitable for a fifth grader -- you don't need to use fancy words to soar to the heights of eloquence. <BR/><BR/>And remember -- the people arrayed against us are the same sneering no-neck thugs who ridiculed Adlai Stevenson for being a "pointy-headed intellectual" and smeared Oppenheimer for his "excessively intellectual" bent. Those haters of reason and facts still hold lots 'o levers of power: read Peggy Noonan's 2004 op ed column, in which she ridicules people with education and ideas, people with learning, people who prefer logic and facts to follwing a mindless mob stirred by hate-mongered emotion:<BR/><BR/><I>Mr. Bush is the triumph of the seemingly average American man. He's normal. He thinks in a sort of common-sense way. He speaks the language of business and sports and politics. You know him. He's not exotic. But if there's a fire on the block, he'll run out and help. He'll help direct the rig to the right house and count the kids coming out and say, "Where's Sally?" <BR/><BR/>He's responsible. He's not an intellectual. Intellectuals start all the trouble in the world. And then when the fire comes they say, "I warned Joe about that furnace." And, "Does Joe have children?" And "I saw a fire once. It spreads like syrup. No, it spreads like explosive syrup. No, it's formidable and yet fleeting." When the fire comes they talk. <BR/><BR/>Bush ain't that guy. Republicans love the guy who ain't that guy. Americans love the guy who ain't that guy.</I><BR/><BR/>Wall Street Journal, op ed, 2004.<BR/><BR/>That's what we're up against -- people who hate and fear intelligence and education. That doesn't mean we should avoid using our intelligence or our education...but let's at least not use it to unnecessarily piss off the ostriches, okay?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38847584441717706882008-01-16T20:55:00.000-08:002008-01-16T20:55:00.000-08:00TwinBeam, some things are idiotic and some that t...TwinBeam, some things are idiotic and some that tout themselves as “simple” are “simply stupid.” The consumption tax is not only regressive. It inherently allows those who do not HAVE to spend their money to accumulate rent-paying property instead. And then more next year and then more and more with no natural brake at all. The INEVITABLE outcome is feudal aristocracy.<BR/><BR/>The entire agenda of the right has been to favor passive income over earned income or the delivery of goods and services. Adam Smith would have hated their $%$# guts.<BR/><BR/>As for response to 9/11, we did great in Afghanistan, smoothly and powerfully allying ourselves with local forces, with a level of competence that proves it was already planned out under Clinton Clarke. W had at most time to say “Go!” which explains why he wanted “his war”. One fully his own.<BR/><BR/>Problem is, after the Taliban fell, we had a godlike reputation for utter and unassailable competence. If we had stopped there, the “speak softly” part of TR’s advice would have sent everybody in the region scurrying to please us. <I>As the iranians offered to do!</I> Oh, Condi Rice. What a piece of work.<BR/><BR/>Now? That reputation for invincibility is Bush’s greatest victim. It is gone, gone, torched. And so is the dterrent we had, after the fall of Kabul.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84342342722344855062008-01-16T18:36:00.000-08:002008-01-16T18:36:00.000-08:00Jumper, you need to do some reading.No deductions....Jumper, you need to do some reading.<BR/><BR/>No deductions.<BR/><BR/>(Gravel does a fine job of explaining the logic behind it... just ****ing google it.)<BR/><BR/>In point of fact, VAT* isn't so complicated that Europeans can't understand it... and they've got several of the nations with the highest standards of living in the world, so it isn't exactly -impossible-.<BR/><BR/>* Yes, I know VAT != Fair Tax.B. Dewhirsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07949715179057866177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-5913063483255684942008-01-16T18:34:00.000-08:002008-01-16T18:34:00.000-08:00A bit late in he day to be commenting but there is...A bit late in he day to be commenting but there is so much to comment regarding others comments.<BR/><BR/>Marc: You have to be very careful about tariffs since they tend to have a negative effect on the industry being protected: lack of competition tends to lead to lack of innovation.<BR/><BR/>Good to hear we are getting close to a totally black substance. Perhaps the Disaster Area spaceship in "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" is not that far of too.<BR/><BR/>Sunshine: Some bad science but on the whole a good film (7/10). Nothing like Sundiver, David, so no need for the lawyers. Same goes for Mass Effect.<BR/><BR/>BP: In 1998 they made the pledge to drop there Greenhouse Gas emissions down to 1990 levels by 2010. According to the advertising they have been plastering around, they made it 2 years early! When you add the fact even US car companies are realising that the gas guzzler's time is up:<BR/><BR/><I>THE world's biggest car maker, General Motors, believes global oil supply has peaked and a switch to electric cars is inevitable.<BR/><BR/>In a stunning announcement at the opening of the Detroit motor show, Rick Wagoner, GM's chairman and chief executive, said ethanol was an 'important interim solution' to the world's demand for oil, until battery technology improved to give electric cars the same driving range as petrol-powered cars.</I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59666536107320960742008-01-16T18:28:00.000-08:002008-01-16T18:28:00.000-08:00Most of these appealing-to-populists tax reform sc...Most of these appealing-to-populists tax reform schemes leave out the fine print, such as the actual list of exemptions from a "sales" tax. Sold some stock, but no sales tax. Sold my house, but no sales tax. Sold my yacht, but no sales tax. Bought some stuff wholesale, paid no sales tax. 200,000 tons of coal, as a matter of fact. Paid no sales tax. Get it?Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27513452791806167852008-01-16T18:22:00.000-08:002008-01-16T18:22:00.000-08:00Jerry Pournelle's initial - and un-repudiated - re...Jerry Pournelle's initial - and un-repudiated - reaction to 9/11 was "build monuments in the offending nations" - as in bombing a few cities (probably in Afghanistan) into rubble, then bouncing the rubble. Or making them into glassy plains. <BR/><BR/>I suppose the idea of overwhelming military retaliation - revenge, rather than an attempt at reform - horrifies the typical liberal mindset. <BR/><BR/>But his pragmatic logic was that nations in the area wouldn't love us much less, and they would certainly fear us enough that all nations in the area would quickly take steps to make sure they were not next. <BR/><BR/>I suspect it would have worked - it does seem an appropriate counter to the "macho" mode of thinking common to the region - i.e. respecting those who demonstrate aggression and strength, despising those you perceive as weak.<BR/><BR/>He also commonly states that what we have spent on the Iraq war could have bought us energy independence by now, so that we could afford to simply ignore the middle-east.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10492434327649286322008-01-16T18:04:00.000-08:002008-01-16T18:04:00.000-08:00Anyone out there want to try their hand at coding ...Anyone out there want to try their hand at coding it for Android?<BR/><BR/>Google is having a contest, after all...B. Dewhirsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07949715179057866177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85407416784232483552008-01-16T18:02:00.000-08:002008-01-16T18:02:00.000-08:00Dr. Brin, regarding your proposal for p2p networks...Dr. Brin, regarding your proposal for p2p networks, would you speculate as to how these networks could interfere with government wiretapping?<BR/><BR/>That is to say, if people could text each other wirelessly directly, would the FBI be unable to monitor the messages? (I assume they can do that now.)<BR/><BR/>If the phones are programmed to do this only when no other networks are available, how difficult would it be to hack the phone (as was done to the iPhone recently) such that it could text p2p all the time?<BR/><BR/>I'm just speculating as to why your suggestion may have been ignored. If your plan would limit government authority, that would be a powerful incentive to ignore your idea.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.com