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Latest economic numbers are in

Kinda sad…if you’re one of those people into thriving economies of liberty and democracy. I maintain that all of this talk about “when things get better” and “when the economy improves” are missing a key component: how? I believe our economy is: * Too dependent on government spending (Thanks Dems!) * Way too biased toward [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

C’mon…are we really socialist?

Not that Obama has violently overthrown the bourgeoisie with his rag-tag band of suicidal Democrat proletariat workers, it’s not uncommon to hear that we are now in a “socialist country”. I would submit that this is not the case. First of all, a socialism and/or communism generally have a policy of seizure and redistribution that [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

Utopia = Broke

A decade or so ago, when comprehensive health care policy began to really take center stage, it was not uncommon to hear something like “well look at Europe, they have a centralized government sponsored health care system, and none of the doomsday scenarios have come true!” This point was notably absent in the most recent [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

Hoover City Tax Extension?

Last night we went to our daughter’s future school for information on enrollment for next year. We were extremely impressed, and are really looking forward to our daughter’s experience there. During the presentation we were asked several times to vote for a tax extension on April 27th. The tax extension will extend a property tax [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

Key point: The Operational vs. the Transformational

I’ve only been in the ‘official’ technology workforce for 15 years, but this is enough for me to sip a beverage, stare at the horizon and wax philosophical about the whole thing. This involves pondering the patterns of the whole and of the parts, and the mechanics in which they interact. I’ve worked at no [...]

Filed under:corporate, politics, random

Nekkid Digital Scanners

Man…I’m getting too cynical on the blog! I need to start coming up with something fun or positive! Here…here’s an internet smiley until I can come up with a happy fun post! I b’journal’d a few weeks ago about those nekkid body scanners for airports. I also talked about how laughable it was that the [...]

Filed under:infotech, politics

Our Black Box Economy

In the last b’journal entry I mentioned “black box”. The term “black box” has several meanings but one definition is a “closed system with little understanding of what happens inside”. You feed something into these systems and something comes back out. You don’t know how it works, it just does it. Our economic system has [...]

Filed under:God, corporate, economy, politics

The TSA and Naked people

You have to laugh at these assurances of privacy as the Gubmint tries to explain to us that it’s ok take naked pictures of the population before they can get on an airplane. First of all, they tell us that the images “can’t be stored” as the news reports show video of the scans. Duh. [...]

Filed under:infotech, politics

On Google indexing you. What are you worried about?

So I’m seeing all these statuses on Facebook about blocking Google from indexing you. I see these things and I have to chuckle. In the U.S., a great deal of our personal data is completely available to everyone. In some cases for just a few bucks. Have you ever wondered what happens to all of [...]

Filed under:infotech, politics

The free market is irrelevant in the shadow of The Gubmint

Recently I watched a History channel special on the dust bowl of the 30′s. I already knew of it from my younger education in Iowa–which had slightly more interest in things Agricultural–but it was interesting to see such a detailed look. One of the quotes bugged me a bit. It said something like “Herbert Hoover [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

The real reason Federal spending is out of control

First, let’s eliminate the faux reason: It’s not about party. All parties have proven completely irresponsible when it comes to spending. It’s also not about the president. As we’ll see, the president simply cannot control spending. And this is the problem. The Executive branch is supposed to send a budget to Congress, and have it [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

Healthcare

Not too long ago the Government decided “we want everyone to have a house.” Now they have decided “we want everyone to have healthcare”. Don’t get me wrong, these are both laudable goals. But are a bunch of folks who win 2, 4, and 6 year popularity contests really the best people to think through [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

Cash for clunkers…a good idea?

You would think that I wouldn’t be in favor of such a commie idea as the “Cash for clunkers” program. And while I’m not ‘for’ it per se…it’s actually an effective policy for it’s kind. Here’s why. It’s temporary. It’s short term, and even if they make it long term it’s a whole lot easier [...]

Filed under:economy, oil, politics

Fiscal insanity in Cali, and beyond

In case you missed it, California has completely run out of money, and has begun paying with “registered warrants”. These are basically IOU’s with a little interest tacked on. This is like an addict–who has completely lost concept of reality–asking to borrow money, then paying you back with a piece of paper that says “I’m [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

When the Republican bumper stickers fade

So today a socially conservative Republican admitted to cheating on his wife. This is a politician who was being floated as a potential true Christian conservative presidential candidate. I’m not going to comment on the individual aspects of this. The situation speaks for itself there. We’re all fundamentally broken and there is plenty of judgment [...]

Filed under:politics

The clock is ticking

As I’ve mentioned, slowly but surely all of our debt is flowing toward the federal government. Most of this process is not visible, but sometimes you get small windows into one of the waterfalls in this toxic river. Here’s one. Fannie Mae needs 19 billion. They get this by selling stock to the gubmint, who [...]

Filed under:economy, geeky, politics

Debt flowing to the Federal Gubmint

Yeah, yeah. I sound like a broken record. But we need to pay attention because this stuff is getting very serious. The Gubmint is printing too many Gubs. Like rivers of toxic waste all this debt is flowing into the ledgers of the federal government. Fannie Mae is already out of money from their first [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

The coming bankruptcy of the Federal Government

Finally some people are starting to acknowledge that this is a possibility. It’s gonna happen folks. The Federal government will either go bankrupt, or print money to pay debts. The reason? We want to live beyond our means. We want government to be our god and meet all of our needs. We have no means [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

Give Obama a chance?

I know this blog has turned into a polifinancial rant platform lately…but there is serious stuff afoot. This is an extension from a conversation on Facebook, in which the general principle of “give the guy a chance” was proffered. While I would normally think this is a good idea, with Obama’s presidency, I don’t think [...]

Filed under:economy, politics

The Myth of the Republican Party

Somewhere about a decade ago, Republicans bought the lie that people didn’t like Republican ideas. And thus, they stopped being Republican. This slow decay in the party is now complete, and it’s too late baby…oh it’s too late. Since when did 713 billion in debt become a Republican ‘alternative’? This is kind of like in [...]

Filed under:economy, politics