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What are you listening to?
I’ve been on an old country binge. Don’t know why, really.
I think maybe the approach of Fall makes me reflective.
Not in the shiny way, but in the looking back way.
Sinin’ Country
Not country by any stretch, but I’m digging it right now.
What’s on your playlist?
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I see my own Congressman, Thad McCotter (who’s a good guy and the only Republican I voted for in the last election) is running for President and trying to get into the debates. Hardly anyone is taking him seriously as a candidate, but I like the guy and would like to see him in the debates myself.
His proposal on Social Security goes further than I would with the program, but I think it’s a good idea on general principles. The grand irony being that, if we did allow people to put all or part of their Social Security contributions into private funds like a 401(k), it would become a genuinely socialist program.
Although people who don’t know what “socialism” is sometimes call the current system “socialist,” it isn’t. It’s actually just a fairly mundane, mandatory pension system wherein current workers pay for the retirement of current retirees, not much different than the way many private pension and even life insurance policies work. If we had a system wherein all workers automatically took money out of their paychecks to buy into stock-based mutual funds, then all workers would be part owners of the companies that run much of the country. Thus, “privatizing” Social Security would be real, honest to God, old-fashioned Socialism. Shh, don’t tell anyone!
It’s also a very good idea. Not only would even the poorest Americans finally truly own something that could never be taken away from them, and have a direct stake in our economic system, but it would tie Wall Street to Main Street in a way it never has been.
Indeed, one of the main objections to this idea has been the claim that it would mean Wall Street cronies would get to “play with” all that money. Um, no, what it would mean is that every politician in every district in America would have a direct interest in regulating the behavior of publicly traded corporations to make sure they behave in a way that is productive for all Americans.
If everybody owns stock, everybody has a stake in the market, and people who screw with the market are screwing with everybody. Although at first glance it looks like we’re handing Wall Street all sorts of control, what it would do in the long run is take a lot of the control away from Wall Street, because everyday voters would care a lot more about what happens in the market and would exert pressure on politicians to keep things stable and responsible.
In short, it’s a good, solid, progressive idea. And, yes, socialist, moving us towards having workers owning the means of production.
McCotter’s idea goes too far with it, but I’d like to see him in the debates so we can talk more about this as a country. I would prefer something much more like George W. Bush’s plan, which is to give people an option to invest a small portion of their payroll tax contribution into highly regulated 401(k) style accounts, in exchange for slightly lower returns from the main Social Security fund. This good idea was tragically shot down by Democrats a few years ago, but that doesn’t mean the idea should die. We really ought to be doing something like that; a society in which everybody has a true ownership stake would have positive effects all up and down the economic spectrum–and not always in the ways some people think, either. You want to equalize the social classes? Make every American an owner.
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Just two weeks ago, Jaymaster shares a new Red Hot Chili Peppers song. I think, “wow, that’s kind of laid back from them but very cool.
Then, just now, I made a run to the local supermarket–a big, mainstream, chain supermarket, not some small neighborhood joint, and what do I hear playing over the store music system? This:
No $#!+. That very song. My favorite bands from the ’90s are now Muzak.
Time to pack it in Jay, we’re old. The Chili Peppers are our Wayne Newton. 
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I see the Democrats had two jarring election defeats recently. Republicans should enjoy high-fiving each other, and Democrats should be gracious about it. That said, it would be foolish for Republicans to presume this has some great portent for the next election; typically, the party in power in the White House does poorly in off-season elections, because supporters of the party in power are lazy and its opponents are often in an angry frenzy. During the Presidential cycle things are much less predictable because the President is actually out there campaigning for himself, defending his record, and criticizing a direct opponent and not a nebulous “other party.”
Personally, I view Obama as the odds-on favorite to win re-election next year. Trying to read too much into the tea leaves of “approval ratings” is almost always a mistake, especially this far away from election day (over a year). The Obama team has plans for going on the offensive that may not look much like “hope and change” and a lot like “politics as usual,” but that’s because politics as usual is what works.
For full disclosure’s sake the only Republican running I could possibly vote for myself is Romney; there isn’t any other credible candidate in the Republican field (currently) who I can even consider. Besides, I think Obama deserves re-election. That said, my prediction isn’t based on what I -want- to happen (I wanted McCain to win in 2008, voted for him, but predicted he would lose), but what I think will happen. If Republicans want to beat Obama, they’re going to have to work very hard. A sitting President is very hard to knock off, and Victor Davis Hanson’s opinions notwithstanding, the President has a sizeable base of support and has won the admiration of some people who had serious doubts about him in 2008. There’s plenty to criticize the GOP on, and their current message doesn’t seem very coherent. We’ll see how it all plays out, but I’ll go on record right now that I think Obama will win next year. We’ll see how I do with that prediction.
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I have a friend who is looking to hire someone or some lab to grow (MBE/CVD/PVD) a part, generally using one of: PbTe, InGaSb or HgCdTe.
If you can help please drop a comment here or drop me an email.
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Rick Perry says we should have a tough, frank talk on Social Security.
OK, I’ll bite Governor. I suggest that, since most people making millions of dollars per year cannot “earn” such money–almost no human being can except by manipulating the economic system our government designed in the first place–we simply eliminate the earnings cap on Social Security, so that everyone pays payroll tax no matter how rich, but cap benefits at a reasonably comfortable middle class level. That is a reasonable, responsible thing to ask people who have, after all, done disproportionately well in our system. They pay disproportionately for the benefit of the society that made their disproportionate wealth possible in the first place. No reason to hate them, envy them, punish them or covet what they have; just ask them to pay reasonable freight on what the rest of us made possible for them in the first place. And honor and thank them for same. Warren Buffet thinks so, and so do I.
This of course means some will draw less from the system than they put in, but that is a perfectly fair and reasonable thing to do, since it’s there to provide bedrock security for all and not a high return.
And while we’re at it, can we stop scaring people about how Social Security is going to go “bankrupt?” There is no time in which the bills “come due.” Social Security is not a “Ponzi Scheme,” that’s a lie we should all stop repeating. The Federal Government is not a private entity and never has any point at which all its bills “come due;” the system is designed to include paying debts over generations, because unlike men and their ephemeral business affairs, the government isn’t mortal. We’ve been running a national debt since this country was founded, with only one or two years in our entire history where we didn’t have a running debt; the U.S. government was designed by the Founding Fathers to run on debt. That debt naturally grows with every generation because the population grows and because of inflation. The system is not in any danger of going to go bankrupt. So let’s be really frank and stop making up scare-stories like that. It may make you popular with misguided activists but we both know it’s bullcrap.
And finally, let’s be frank and honest about this: the system could arguably use some improvement, but it’s there to provide -safety-, i.e. security, not maximum possible return for your dollar.
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It’s the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
It completely changed how I saw the world, especially when it came to American foreign policy. It changed my involvement with the world too. It is tempting to write at length about that, and my feelings about where American politics have gone since then, but I’ll refrain, at least for today. It’s time to remember what happened and honor those who were murdered and those who willingly gave their lives trying to save lives.
It’s tempting to go find photos, but you’ll find them aplenty online and on TV. Today is a day, I think, to pray and meditate upon that day. I don’t have any more to say that’s worth adding.
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If you’re anything like me, you can’t stop thinking about Bugs Bunny when listening to this great Rossini overture:
Got anything to share?
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It’s always tempting to use a platform such as a popular blog for special pleading, and the temptation is usually resisted, thankfully, because it would really kill the editorial, for starters. Anyway, you get my point, and you know where I am going: I am cashing in all that restraint, drawing on whatever credibility I might have to pass along the following, by which I was personally affected — the man who gave up his life to save another in this story was a friend of my brother’s — to ask readers to consider making a contribution:
David Reichenberg had just turned fifty when his life was tragically cut short during hurricane Irene as he attempted to save the life of a young child who had been struck by a fallen high voltage power line. The selfless instincts he exhibited were the embodiment of his life.
Although Davids’s life was beset with financial and personal challenges, his infectious joy and faith never wavered. He was a beacon of light to his neighbors and friends and a pillar of support to his wife and four children. David was a model of integrity in his business and was always looking to assist his neighbors, friends and community.
Now it is our turn to demonstrate our selflessness as we ensure that his devoted wife and dear children should not have to suffer the pain of financial deprivation. A special annuity fund has been established that will secure the future needs of his family and the costs of special education for their autistic son. A group of dedicated financial trustees has been appointed to administer the fund on behalf of the Reichenberg family.
The full website, with more information, media, and how to donate, can be found at this link.
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I think it’s high time we finally admit something: for decades we have operated under the theory that if we just export American-style corporate capitalism to China, China will become a more free, less oppressive state.
Decades later, this experiment has proven to be an abysmal failure. The 2011 Freedom House Report on China shows that they have not budged one inch in the last year, or in the last decade for that matter. So far as I can tell, they haven’t changed much in almost 40 years, and are now more oppresive than they were in the 1980s.
Freedom of religion? Nonexistent. Freedom of press? Nonexistent. Freedom of speech? Nonexistent. Freedom of assembly? Nonexistent. Right to petition government for redress of grievances? A tiny little bit. Right to vote? Nonexistent. Right to run for office? Nonexistent. Right to make a living doing whatever you want? Exists only for a tiny percentage of the population.
Forced abortions? Normal. Infanticide? Common. Ethnic minorities? Trampled. Political prisons? Enormous. Forced (i.e. slave) labor? Common.
But if you are in the right place at the right time, maybe you can make a buck and get to keep it. For now.
My friend Jared first observed this (or at least, was the first to observe it to me): We thought we would corrupt Communism in China with Capitalism. We didn’t. We’ve spent a generation subsidizing it, and the Communist regime there remains as powerful as ever, if not moreso. It’s time we admit this, and ask ourselves why in blazes we are still treating China as anything other than a country ruled by jackbooted thugs. Jackbooted thugs who are not our friends, nor friends to the Chinese people. Jacbktooted thugs who are using that money to make themselves more powerful.
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I think Mike has an anger management problem.
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Although often forgotten, the purpose of Labor Day is to celebrate the worker. Not the capitalist, not the employer, but the actual workers who make almost everything good we have in this society possible. Whether it’s the steel worker, the grocery store clerk, the janitor, the cop: the people who work by the sweat of their brow by the hour to produce all that this country has. And it is meant to pay tribute to the massive positive contributions labor unions have made in this country over the last century-plus of progress.
Here’s to my fellow laborers, whether you create things with your hands or with your mind: you are the real productive class. Most of the good things we have in this country, we have because of you.
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I was stoked to hear a new song from the Red Hot Chile Peppers on the radio last week. I didn’t realize they were working on an album. I’m a pretty big fan. I only heard the very tail end of the song, so I looked it up on youtube later.
Pretty decent tune. No mistaking the band, that’s for sure.
What really stuck out at me though was the prominent cowbell. I’ve always thought that was a peculiar instrument. I expected its popularity to fade with the 1970’s, but nope, here it is today, still going strong.
I suspect the now infamous Saturday Night Live skit in 2000 did a lot to insure the continuing popularity of the cowbell.
And I figured that might make a good topic for a weekend music thread.
So what songs can you think of? Any genre, any style.
Here’s a few.
Probably one of the first cowbell songs I liked.
Another genre, a few years later (and no, I don’t expect you to listen to all 15 minutes!)
Even the King couldn’t escape its allure!
I want more cowbell!
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Whatever system you have, it is perfectly designed to create its current outputs.
Discuss.
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So I read some are predicting another massive market crash. It wouldn’t surprise me. The stock market is so bloody irrational, and stocks are based on P/E ratios that just don’t make any damned sense to me anymore, almost like baseball trading cards or comic books more than a real investment that pays real dividends. I foresee in another generation or so a very big re-evaluation of what a “publicly traded corporation” really is and why we have so damned many of the bloody things.
I also notice that the looming problem of defaulted student loans is getting more and more notice. One way or another, there’s probably tens of billions of dollars in loans for college that never get paid off because we loaned money to people under the ridiculous theory that any degree is going to help you in this job market, and that degrees are what make people smart and productive. I pray for the day when we restore the college degree to what it was supposed to be: for very specific highly technical fields, or for rarefied types of scholarship. Or we just throw out the pretense and start publicly funding grades 13-16 the same way we fund K-12, and treat a liberal education like it’s supposed to be treated (helpful, but not necessary for being intelligent or well-informed or skilled or productive).
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It appears that some Western companies have been helping the Libyan dictatorship. This is unsurprising; a number of American, European, and other “western” companies are helpful to a number of the world’s despots. The real question is, when are we going to start making that illegal? It’s a simple matter: “you may do business in the United States or with these dictatorships, take your pick.”
I’d love to see the administration push for that.
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This is quite graphic and should be watched:
I have a growing loathing for the conservative element in this country that, now that Bush is no longer President, cannot find the fundamental patriotism and human decency to stand up and support the President in acting on Libya. The only criticism Obama might deserve–maybe–is for not being more aggressive in support of the Libyan rebels. In this area, many so-called “patriots” on the Right have become indistinguishable in their moral vacuuity from the far left that opposed Afghanistan and Iraq during the Bush years.
Oh, you only support America going to war when you actually like whoever is President? You don’t like him so you won’t support your country when it takes action?
And don’t even get me started on the vomit-inducing so-called “Christians” who oppose taking out these brutal dictators because supposedly, somehow, keeping dictators in power helps Christians or helps Israel. If that’s what it takes to protect Christianity, then Christianity is a despicable religion. If that’s what it takes to support Israel, Israel does not deserve support.
Fortunately, real Christians oppose monsters like this even if it might cost them something. And I’m pretty sure most Israelis would not choose their own security if the cost was eternal barbarity like this in the Arab world. It is the morally vacuuous “hey this might be bad for Israel so we shouldn’t help the rebels” crowd, and the “sometimes dictators protect Christians so we should leave the dictators alone” mentality that I’m so sickened by. These are monsters you’re turning a blind eye toward, you bastards. Yes, you *are* your brother’s keeper.
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If the PHP programming language was done by Brits. Capital idea!
The might well do several other languages that way.
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Got any funny?
(Don’t try to paste embed code, it won’t work here for some reason. Just post links, we’ll convert for you as we can.)
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