tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post6176465494954719780..comments2024-03-28T09:30:58.096-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Cynicism vs problem-solving - and a coming film about our civil warDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52658769966212153992016-02-20T11:14:44.109-08:002016-02-20T11:14:44.109-08:00New posting is up
onward
onwardNew posting is up<br />onward<br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-42513559704258130992016-02-20T11:14:20.969-08:002016-02-20T11:14:20.969-08:00Yadda. Armwaving at the vaguest things possible, l...Yadda. Armwaving at the vaguest things possible, like "globalization" about which he knows nothing. And sure, that overall-positive trend (raising 4 billions out of poverty) is stuffed with favors for oligarchs, but...<br /><br />... but notice the LAST thing he will ever look at is the things that actually, verifiably, clearly and inarguably fueld skyrocketing wealth disparity and secret-master oligarchy.<br /><br />Many, many trillions in direct tax gusher gifts to the rich. Sweetheart commodities deals letting them haul trillions for free out of public lands. Wall Stree loosenings to let CEOs steal from stockholders. And banking secrecy around the world.<br /><br />Those he won't even glance at. Why. Because HIS oligarchs did all that.<br /><br />Yes Massa! Yowza Massa!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60167743974941694962016-02-20T10:56:49.472-08:002016-02-20T10:56:49.472-08:00locum, it's imperative to separate justified a...locum, it's imperative to separate justified anger from free-floating habitual or existential anger. Brin is correct about this. "There's just no pleasing some people." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U74s8nFE7No<br /><br />"Fear of Change Phobia – Metathesiophobia." Nice!Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-55634741515032720832016-02-20T09:47:07.812-08:002016-02-20T09:47:07.812-08:00I'm not sure if'Globalism is Oligarchism&#...<br /><br />I'm not sure if'Globalism is Oligarchism'. <br /><br />I think globalism contributes, predisposes & lends itself to oligarchy, by disempowering labour, outsourcing economic opportunity, eliminating local competition & catering to monopoly formation through resource concentration.<br /><br />Defined as 'government by the few', there are many paths to oligarchy formation, including (but not limited) most hierarchical systems which concentrate resource control & decision-making in the hands of the few, regardless of the nobility of the selection criteria or the relative merit of said ruling caste, as human beings are wont to make the temporary advantages of high office, authority, power, wealth & privilege permanent and even inheritable (and, conversely, to convert permanent unpleasantness into a temporary situation).<br /><br />This desire to make the 'temporary, permanent' is self-evident in most 'progressive' concepts, including Empire Building, Incrementalism & Metathesiophobia, as evidenced by our current cultural obsession with securing non-Struddlebug Immortality for ourselves, halting 'Climate Change' & preserving pre-existing Status Quo.<br /><br />Much has been made about the Rise of Anger as a political movement, in the USA & abroad, as evidenced Pediga, the US Tea Party & other 'Hate Groups'; however, this type of Populist Anger is both inevitable & natural as 'blow back' against an entrenched ruling caste establishment, as the disenfranchised attempt to covert the permanent unpleasantness of their disenfranchisement into a temporary situation.<br /><br />Arising spontaneously, these are essentially leaderless hate groups of angry individuals who are looking for an outlet, intent on upsetting the entire establishment apple-cart, in order to redistribute power, wherein opportunists like Trump, Sanders, Le Pen & the Koch Brothers are engaged in the rather dangerous game of 'running to the parade front' with a baton, so they may pretend to lead.<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86003596855014638432016-02-20T08:12:08.833-08:002016-02-20T08:12:08.833-08:00locumranch:
Hard examples of this reversal includ...locumranch:<br /><i><br />Hard examples of this reversal include the 'Boston Tea Party' to protest the Colonial American Tea Tax...<br /></i><br /><br />Almost. Actually, the protest was against the <b>exemption</b> from the tax given to the East India Tea Company which allowed them to undercut local competitors.<br /><br />The modern-day Tea Party is being unintentionally ironic when they use the imagery of the Boston Tea Party to protest on <b>behalf</b> of tax breaks for monopolistic corporations.<br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-5753335228233796122016-02-20T08:06:31.370-08:002016-02-20T08:06:31.370-08:00locumranch:
Good 'Head Office' pick-up, L...locumranch:<br /><i><br />Good 'Head Office' pick-up, Larry_H: "Authoritarian, Si; Totalitarianism, No!" wherein even the best 'El Presidente' can be corrupted by a large enough donation from Goldman-Sachs.<br /></i><br /><br />Back when I was a college student in the 1980s, cable tv was relatively new, at least where I lived. Somehow, that movie in particular became a sort of cult favorite among my roomates. My brother's girlfriend (now his wife) used to berate us terribly for having such low cultural standards, insisting there were dozens of other, better examples of that same sort of humor. Didn't matter--that one caught on.<br /><br />The thing is, at this late date, I'm having trouble remembering the plot or the ending or anything that made "Home Office" seem so great at the time. The "Authoritarianism, Si..." line is one of the few I can actually remember.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11198806949176746582016-02-20T07:40:19.054-08:002016-02-20T07:40:19.054-08:00Jumper, if I had my way, favored nation status wou... Jumper, if I had my way, favored nation status would be tied to wages, job safety and environmental standards. Nations with first world standards would get the best trade deals and there would be little incentive for poorer nations to poison the already impoverished to get business. I should say, half a lifetime ago I worked in a battery factory, something that now happens in Mexico, I don't feel that bad about the job going away after all this time, but I wonder how the Mexicans feel about the lead dust.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79110469954976939132016-02-20T07:12:18.364-08:002016-02-20T07:12:18.364-08:00globalism is oligarchism. Very interesting. Best r...globalism is oligarchism. Very interesting. Best regards Stefano Donno http://syntaxerrorpoetry.blogspot.it/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-46860810784998086792016-02-20T05:27:52.327-08:002016-02-20T05:27:52.327-08:00Alfred, my comment of "billions" enterin...Alfred, my comment of "billions" entering the U.S. was, I'm thankful, a reductio ad absurdum, intended to force you to admit what exactly might be bad about that were it to occur. I did find it disheartening that you appear to align with the faction that ignores the carrying capacity of earth in favor of short term economic growth. Improving economic conditions without population growth is a "hard" problem, and needs badly a more focused effort. As a conservative economic progressive, I believe in change phased in gradually to avoid shock. (For example, I'd like to phase out home mortgage deductions but over a 25-year period.) Your fear of real estate bubble collapse, however likely, should be reduced as it's possible to do this slowly. (There are some little-known provisions in valuation rules that help lead to price pumping; allowing valuations to include future price rises into current valuations - not a good idea! And financial regulations should be employed when clear conditions indicating bubbles exist.)<br /><br />Also, birth rates are sadly not very indicative of population increases. Africa also has, besides high birth rates, high population increase. But I'll note a few biggies: Egypt, India, Pakistan. Large already; growing larger.<br /><br />More generally to all, I'll note that whether we like nationalism or not, we have a world system which is organized by it. We can no more abruptly discard it than we should shed our dermis.<br /><br />I disagree that free trade is dangerous only to selfish protectionist interests. In too many cases worker protections are seriously unequal. I'm not the first to propose tying favored-nation status to those protections. Certain forces, it seems, prevent it.Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-29596483113015390542016-02-20T03:59:25.814-08:002016-02-20T03:59:25.814-08:00Alfred Differ,
On your immigration issue, I looke...Alfred Differ,<br /><br />On your immigration issue, I looked into it a bit and it seems that when the foreign-born reach up to around 15% of the population, strict immigration laws are put in place. This can vary depending on the cultural closeness of the immigrants and the host nation.Deuxglasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03488986307291616948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59015408816662242782016-02-20T03:34:00.510-08:002016-02-20T03:34:00.510-08:00Laurent Weppe,
I live in France too and have used...Laurent Weppe,<br /><br />I live in France too and have used the health care system and it works well. It does ease your mind not having to worry about having your life savings wiped out and in debt by a catastrophic accident or illness or even lesser ones. It isn’t perfect but in general it is very good. <br /><br />We lost a great writer in the death of Umberto Eco. He will be missed.<br /><br />The EU is very dysfunctional and just about everyone sees it now. Some parts are worthwhile such as the free trade zone and having some common rules and regulations but in a real crisis, Bruxelles is more than worthless, it is actively harmful. It is no wonder because for 25 years or so the EU was a place where you sent second-rate and over-the-hill politicians. Not all were bad, some were top-notch, but they were just a handful.<br /><br />In my opinion, the problems of the EU stem from the spirit of compromise run wild. When there were only a few members it worked but as the membership rose the pressure to get a deal, any deal done, resulted in watering down the important EU decisions so much that they became meaningless and dangerous. They set up a single currency and central bank without the corresponding budget and banking controls. They set up a parliament without law-making or taxation powers and to make matters worse they split it between two cities. They abolished frontiers without setting up an EU-wide border control. The created an EU president and foreign minister who have no authority whatsoever to do anything. The EU needed a constitution so they made one which is 70,000 words long and is so obscure in its language that even constitutional lawyers can’t understand what it actually says. All this came about because the objective was to make a compromise and get a paper signed at whatever the cost. It was the process that was important and not the content of the result. I guess their idea was to get an institution created and then hope that it will eventually do something. <br /><br />Maybe we should allow the EU to burn down and build back on its foundations. The US allowed the Articles of Confederation to burn down and what they build on its ashes was much better. That is what Europe should do.<br /><br />You said only one thing that is true of England. It is cold, wet and has the worst weather. Napoleon described England as a “nation of shopkeepers” but those shopkeepers kicked his ass all the way to Helena so don’t underrate the English.<br />Deuxglasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03488986307291616948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63825643521996729322016-02-20T00:44:27.343-08:002016-02-20T00:44:27.343-08:00@Duncan - forgot non-Americans were also participa...@Duncan - forgot non-Americans were also participating here.<br /><br />America has a very different system from NZ. We're both equally capable of using scale + data to curb health care costs. But we don't; while you do. Why?<br /><br />The “extortion effects” I asserted earlier were patently obvious in every industrialized country - save America. Why? Well, it's supposed to work as Alfred posits - ‘negotiating the price of an ambulance before the crisis hits’ - but that never really happened. Instead, private insurers found myriad convoluted measures to pass the buck around, ultimately sticking it to the patients. Costs kept spiraling out of control here, far beyond inflation. Meanwhile a few players extract (extort) impressive profits (as rents - sometimes patent royalties, often real estate).<br /><br />How do they do it here? Carefully deployed cynicism. <br /><br />In 2016, the "debate" on health care in America often proceeds roughly as follows:<br /><br />Q: Why does it cost 2-6x as much to get the same medical care in America as it does in any other developed country?<br />A: We have the best health care in the world! 'Merika rules! Freedom! Damn the Muslim communist Kenyans and lying blond vixens who say otherwise through their secret email servers and corrupt conspiracies! She’s a liar! Damn the (epithet for homosexual men), up with flags! I have a plan that will fix everything (through rainbows and fairy dust and God's blessing) – you can read it on my website! Christians are being persecuted by pseudo-scientists praying to Darwin! Damn the trial lawyers!<br /><br />In 1968, the “answer” would have included, “I won't pay a penny for medical care to help some poor [minority slur]’s child! I have to take care of my own!" The unstated (in 2016) notion lies near the heart of the matter - racial politics at play. <br /><br />In 2016, there's a lot of ground for hope (in America). Hillary hopes to improve Obama's basic structure, and 'goad' the 'free' market into curbing costs. Sanders hopes to overhaul the system, and eradicate extortion the same way you (and nearly every other industrialized country) did it. The Republicans, meanwhile, scream that it's all an evil plot.donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-46776941452117519092016-02-20T00:29:56.355-08:002016-02-20T00:29:56.355-08:00In response to an expensive entitled empowered wor...<br />In response to an expensive entitled empowered workforce, the would-be oligarch eliminates tariffs, trade protections & borders, exports industry to undeveloped climes, exploits cheap foreign workers under the pretense of economic UPLIFT (White Man's Burden), and reintroduces cheaper foreign imports at home to take profits, suppress the local economy & hasten industrial flight which reduces (in turn) local employment opportunities, real wages & creates a relative oversupply of labour while driving down worker entitlement, expense & bargaining ability. <br /><br />The would-be oligarch also promotes EDUCATION as a false solution to local worker unemployment, especially if education is a limiting factor in worker supply (and/or expense), leading to a relative educational oversupply which drives down local wages further.<br /><br />In the most extreme cases, the would-be oligarch gains singular control of the local currency (aka 'Company Scrip'; the 'Euro'; the USD) and manipulates its relative value to control worker behaviour by incentivising worker saving & spending habits, encourage wage slavery through the accumulation of worker debt and maximise corporate profits by exploiting the differential between the manipulated retail price & fair market value, a process that some refer to as either 'The Company Store', the Walmart Game or the British Colonial Model.<br /><br />This process is reversible, though not easily, as reversal requires the reinstitution of nationalism, tariffs, trade protections & borders which (in turn) empowers native workers by forcing the local economy to reindustrialise.<br /><br />Hard examples of this reversal include the 'Boston Tea Party' to protest the Colonial American Tea Tax, 'Burning British Wool' to break Britain's textile monopoly over Colonial India, a ban on imported automobiles that led to the 'Volkswagen' & the Third Reich, the 'Wine Wars' between France, Italy & Spain, and many examples of militant 'Buy Local' Trade Unionism.<br /><br />And, yes, Globalism is not the only villain in the Rise & Rise of so many oligarchic Reginald Perrins. There is also Currency Manipulation (as above) which serves as the Velvet Glove; and, then, there is the Iron Fist of paramilitary enforcement as the systemic means to perpetuate injustice, wage slavery, rule obedience and victim-blaming.<br /><br /><br />Best<br />___<br />Good 'Head Office' pick-up, Larry_H: "Authoritarian, Si; Totalitarianism, No!" wherein even the best 'El Presidente' can be corrupted by a large enough donation from Goldman-Sachs.<br />locumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90346800921868699342016-02-19T20:24:08.178-08:002016-02-19T20:24:08.178-08:00Alfred - donzelion
In health care - who are the c...Alfred - donzelion<br /><br />In health care - who are the customers?<br /><br />The way it works here (NZ)is like a union - all of us are members of the "union" and "union officers" negotiate on our behalf<br /><br />The "union officers" are called PHARMAC - they look at the effectiveness of medicine and negotiate with the drug suppliers <br /><br />Something similar happens with the rest of our health care, our elected representatives appoint people to obtain those services for us<br /><br />They can always achieve much better terms than an individual could, they have the advantage of volume plus more and better data<br /><br />duncan cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153725128216947145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-50138256465884093332016-02-19T20:17:20.582-08:002016-02-19T20:17:20.582-08:00locumranch:
Confederacy, Si; Federalism, No
Are...locumranch:<br /><i><br />Confederacy, Si; Federalism, No<br /></i><br /><br />Are you throwing out a quote from..."Head Office"?<br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79659173562958561722016-02-19T20:15:23.480-08:002016-02-19T20:15:23.480-08:00Again re Incrementalism...
I suppose its a questi...Again re Incrementalism...<br /><br />I suppose its a question of perception and scale (as it relates to time)...<br /><br />In terms of the evolution of man and his long period of hunter-gatherer small group existence... I call the shift to agriculture very rapid... the New World shift maybe a factor of ten faster... and if we consider that cultural evolution accelerates in line with technology... then we might expect that similar large adjustments could also increase in speed of impact... which might bring us down to ten or fifteen years when another occurs.<br /><br />The concept that the speed of cultural change accelerates is worthy of consideration... and I stand by it. (e.g. consider the example of gay rights and the speed of change which is here being discussed).<br /><br />I stand by it.Tom Crowlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04444476865484424912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34968526534216526662016-02-19T19:57:21.591-08:002016-02-19T19:57:21.591-08:00Ah, I'm starved for intelligent debate.
Locum...Ah, I'm starved for intelligent debate.<br /><br />Locum - "Globalism is an oligarchic tool designed to destroy the middle classes, devalue labour, perpetuate the Federal Company Store & maximise corporate rent capture."<br /><br />Hmmm...when Walmart buys and resells goods from China, they buy from the cheapest supplier, passing savings to Wal-mart customers. A legitimate manifestation of globalization. Some American suppliers lose; other American suppliers win (e.g., contractors installing Wal-Mart parts into homes/vehicles). It can balance out.<br /><br />When Walmart negotiates with Wal-Mart (non-unionized) employees, they buy labor from the cheapest suppliers, and also pass on savings to the middle class. Also (mostly) legitimate.<br /><br />HOWEVER, Walmart goes one step further - by paying employees less than they can afford to live, those employees draw public assistance to make up shortfalls (esp in health care). Works like this: rather than 1 employee for a 40-hour workweek, Wal-Mart hires 2 employees for two 24 hour workweeks. Although Wal-Mart pays for 8 extra hours of work, they save on health care costs. Better still, so long as Wal-Mart can reschedule shifts to meet Wal-Marts "needs" - those employees cannot seek other gainful employment to make up the extra 16 hours they needed to work. The workers are trapped and dependent (further increasing negotiating leverage). Indirectly, THAT practice sends billions into the Wal-Mart shareholder's pockets every year - from taxpayers to Wal-Mart.<br /><br />Globalization gives them billions. But exploiting power differentials gives tens of billions.donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14936438990163298192016-02-19T19:37:06.048-08:002016-02-19T19:37:06.048-08:00Yeah yeah... "globalism" is how oligarch... Yeah yeah... "globalism" is how oligarchs ripped us off. It could NEVER be the trillions of dollars of tax and other gusher gifts that the GOP has given to the oligarchs... noooooooo not that. Never that.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-58838363299095856922016-02-19T19:26:05.024-08:002016-02-19T19:26:05.024-08:00@Alfred - to respond to your subsequent point -
...@Alfred - to respond to your subsequent point - <br /><br />"if you do not see [health care prices] earlier, you cannot do what you must in a free market. Customers must be aware of prices being charged because they are the only participant with a real incentive to lower them."<br /><br />Health insurance in America always permitted you to negotiate the 'price of the ambulance' in advance. Just not the 911 access surcharge, the fuel surcharge, the parking surcharge, the ambulance driver fee, the gurney rental fee, the defibrillator fee...<br /><br />In this context, more than most others, 'price' is a moving target that reflects power at any given time. The insurer MIGHT earn its money by negotiating forcefully with the ambulance driver to include all those costs. But that is hard - ambulance drivers have strong bargaining power when they respond to a crisis. The insurer MIGHT earn its money by squeezing the policyholder - much easier (esp. once the crisis arises). <br /><br />The ultimate effect of that power imbalance, multiplied by every supplier in the health system (and many hundreds could participate in a single health procedure) - is that the same procedure costs 2-6x in America what it costs in Europe. Pharmaceuticals get the most attention in this story (the same drug typically costs much more in America than elsewhere) - but the problem extends through every single health supplier - from the hospital janitorial services contractor through the billing/records subcontractor - the insurer always has an easier time exploiting the policyholder than any single supplier (and pocketing the savings themselves, rather than passing them on to the policyholder).donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1030042702095999172016-02-19T18:55:37.852-08:002016-02-19T18:55:37.852-08:00@Alfred - on health care only (we agree significan...@Alfred - on health care only (we agree significantly on immigration) - <br /><br />"The point of insurance is to prepare in advance an acceptable price point."<br /><br />Yes, in theory, the insurer is supposed to earn its money by acting as my 'advocate' and keeping prices in line with what we agreed when I bought the policy. However, in practice, (1) insurers are still private entities seeking to maximize profits (even 'nonprofit' providers), and (2) it's much easier for them to maximize profits by squeezing policyholders than it is to squeeze the suppliers.<br /><br />ObamaCare is a gamble that the government can drive a convergence of interests through manipulating competition (e.g., in exchange for a subsidy, insurers refrain from dumping policyholders the second they look likely to cost more to the insurer than the profits the insurer takes from their payments). Since it was enacted, the pace of price increases for health care has slowed considerably (but will that hold?). 'Single payer' COMPELS convergence (Laurent's description of what his father went through in France is how it's supposed to work). <br /><br />In a true "free market" - prices on health should be lower in America for the same procedures then in Europe because, frankly, we're better at deploying economies of scale (compare any goods other than health care, and the European price is always higher unless it's offset by subsidies, as with solar power). But for health care, prices are 2-6x HIGHER in America than in Europe for the same procedure. To me, that is evidence of "bad faith" by insurers (or cynical bullying). It's not that these companies don't do their job in America - it's that their job is ultimately to earn as much as possible - and they earn more at policyholder's expense than by keeping supplier prices down.<br /><br />"There is also the need for tort reform."<br />California set a medical malpractice cap at $250,000 back in 1975 - and despite the most important reform already being in place, health costs kept escalating without restraint. Either the insurers didn't realize that tort reform had already been achieved - or they raised their prices regardless of any unexpected liabilities, simply because they could.<br /><br />A more cynical take: Advocates for 'tort reform' today are often the same people who advocate 'voodoo Reaganomics' - and for the same general reason: 'supply side' theory cuts their tax bill, and tort reform cuts their insurance bill. In both cases, the middle class derives minimal benefit over time, but so long as they believe they got 'something' - they overlook the fact that the real benefits flowed to a handful of well-positioned (and very cynical) elites. donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69160454519773894282016-02-19T18:18:00.591-08:002016-02-19T18:18:00.591-08:00Aside from his mistaken assumption about my GOP me...<br /><br />Aside from his mistaken assumption about my GOP membership, it appears that David (not-Frost), Frost (Robert; not-David) & I agree that (1) "Good fences make good neighbors", (2) Nationalism & Labour Unionism complement each other (as in 'peas & carrots'), and (3) Globalism is an oligarchic tool designed to destroy the middle classes, devalue labour, perpetuate the Federal Company Store & maximise corporate rent capture.<br /><br />Sadly, though, he did not realise that my comments in support of Sander-style Socialism were partially facetious (neither literal nor littoral) as socialism (in general) has been proven to encourage the lowest common denominator, disincentivise competitive exceptionalism & lead directly to the metaphoric oceanic 'bottom' where all self-scuttled boats go, forever unaffected by any rising, mutually beneficial or positive-sum tides.<br /><br />Nominating Sanders is, IMHO, is our best hope to ensure the utter FAILURE of both US political parties & the Establishment that they represent:<br /><br />Confederacy, Si; Federalism, No.<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36733471157166876942016-02-19T18:08:41.743-08:002016-02-19T18:08:41.743-08:00Heh. Yah. I think I got that backwards. Ratchets d...Heh. Yah. I think I got that backwards. Ratchets don't really make any noise when they move forward.<br /><br />A number of my friends are already asking why the FBI doesn't use the resources they already SHOULD have. They correctly understand that passcodes are a fig leaf.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80932557417120808792016-02-19T17:45:43.821-08:002016-02-19T17:45:43.821-08:00“The birth of agriculture? The discovery and invas...“The birth of agriculture? The discovery and invasion of the New World by the Old World?”<br /><br />The first spanned thousands of years of glacially slow increments. The second? It too the English 150 year… that’s a century and a half… after Columbus to even try a colony. <br /><br />And did I say MILITANTLY moderate incrementalism?<br /><br />donzellion I tried hard to follow the logic of your main paragraph… a second time. I am sorry but I could make no sense of it. Perhaps I am getting old. Sorry.<br /><br />Re apple blocking the FBI… theater. See where I talk about the ratchet effect in The Transparent Society. <br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22122861961364153752016-02-19T17:41:49.910-08:002016-02-19T17:41:49.910-08:00If you are shopping for best ambulance prices duri...If you are shopping for best ambulance prices during the crisis, it is far too late. I am fully supportive of those who do NOT want to see prices at that point. However, if you do not see them earlier, you cannot do what you must in a free market. Customers must be aware of prices being charged because they are the only participant with a real incentive to lower them.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-3018395087144220602016-02-19T17:35:26.124-08:002016-02-19T17:35:26.124-08:00The ratchet says... click, click, click
__________...The ratchet says... click, click, click<br />____________________________________________<br /><br />Sacramento – Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) released the following statement regarding phone encryption and court orders:<br /><br />"Like many Californians, I am appalled that after two months and a federal court order the manufacturer of a phone used in a terrorist attack is unwilling to help law enforcement access crucial evidence. <br /><br />I introduced AB 1681 precisely to help law enforcement continue to protect the public. My bill preserves the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable searches and ensures that a time tested, judicial process of obtaining a probable cause search warrant, remains intact.<br /><br />As a retired law enforcement officer with 30 years of experience and as the former Commander of the Sacramento Valley High-Tech Crimes Task Force, I have worked tirelessly to protect the public and our children from sexual exploitation. We cannot sit idly by while pimps and pedophiles are exploiting our children by intentionally using unbreakable encrypted phones to shield their illegal activities from law enforcement. We have a responsibility to keep our children safe and to combat human trafficking."Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.com