Friday, November 13, 2009
European Insight to Health Care
For those of you looking for an analysis on health care systems, visit The Good German.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Dependency Ratio
I know we complain a lot about the older generation living off of the younger generations, but it's going to be a lot worse in other places. Ergo, as a public service to society, I present you the depedency ratios so you know where NOT to move to. Specifically Japan, Italy and Korea (where old people to young people is projected to be about 60%)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Symbolism Over Substance
Rush has said liberalism is always "symbolism over substance." And even though it is a bumper sticker soundbite it is true. Nowhere is this more apparent than the Copenhagen global warming meeting where pious, worthless, self-bragging, trust fund baby brats who contribute nothing to this world are going to decide what the rest of the world should do. Well, OK, actually, they're going to tell the Western world what to do, the rest of the world will just give these self-righteous pompous asses the bird as they emit more carbon than the West could ever hope to save;
I think I'm just going to print about 100,000 of these off and put them under the windshield wipers of Priuses.
HT to SDA
I think I'm just going to print about 100,000 of these off and put them under the windshield wipers of Priuses.
HT to SDA
Century "College"
Good f#cking christ.
I do not normally like cursing, but seriously, sometimes there are no other words in the entire English language that suffice to convey your utter disgust and contempt for something. And this is one of those instances.
Friend sent this to me;
And I have three major questions.
1. HOW THE EF DO YOU MAJOR IN ADULT READING, LET ALONE GET A EFFING MASTERS DEGREE IN READING??????
2. How can "Century College" dare to require you to have a MASTERS DEGREE IN READING to teach their presumed idiotic students something so simple as to HOW TO READ?
3. Isn't it kind of pointless for you to be going to a FREAKING COLLEGE if you're NOT EVEN LITERATE?????
My god, what in ef's name is the educational system in America coming to? This should be posted all of the internet in foreign countries to mock and ridicule us into international SHAME.
"Look at American college students! They're so freaking stupid they don't even know how to read. And not only that, you can actually MAJOR in READING. And NOT ONLY THAT, YOU CAN GET A MASTERS DEGREE IN READING!!! No wonder their PISA scores are so low!"
Besides which, isn't reading or literacy an either "yes" or "no" kind of thing??? Like you either read or you don't? You're either literate or you're not? Since when did it become a "study" or a "field?"
All this is, is the educational establishment milking as much money out of anything they can and keeping their cartel-lock on education where they require you to have a MASTERS degree to teach something as elementary as reading.
Think about this in comparison. You an get the "Rosetta Stone" for what, $50? And that will teach you how to read and write in SEVERAL foreign languages. Heck you can teach yourself how to read with a dictionary and a thesaurus, BOTH ONLINE FOR FREE!
But no, according to Big Education (akin to Big Oil) we need a person to spend 6 years of their life studying "reading" so they can teach it to other students who are paying around $300 for a class on reading. When all is sad and done, the money spent on getting a masters degree and the money spent on the class, comes to what? On the cheap side at least $30,000?
Good lord, next thing is going to be a masters degree on breathing...which I think St. Thomas offers.
POST POST - As some of you have commented speculating that this is probably an ESL position. I ask you then again, "WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE IN COLLEGE IF THEY CAN'T READ ENGLISH??????" It only reiterates my point. Whether you're a native American (meant in the literal sense) or a foreigner, YOU STILL HAVE TO BLEEPING READ FREAKING ENGLISH TO GO TO AN EFFING COLLEGE!!!!
I do not normally like cursing, but seriously, sometimes there are no other words in the entire English language that suffice to convey your utter disgust and contempt for something. And this is one of those instances.
Friend sent this to me;
And I have three major questions.
1. HOW THE EF DO YOU MAJOR IN ADULT READING, LET ALONE GET A EFFING MASTERS DEGREE IN READING??????
2. How can "Century College" dare to require you to have a MASTERS DEGREE IN READING to teach their presumed idiotic students something so simple as to HOW TO READ?
3. Isn't it kind of pointless for you to be going to a FREAKING COLLEGE if you're NOT EVEN LITERATE?????
My god, what in ef's name is the educational system in America coming to? This should be posted all of the internet in foreign countries to mock and ridicule us into international SHAME.
"Look at American college students! They're so freaking stupid they don't even know how to read. And not only that, you can actually MAJOR in READING. And NOT ONLY THAT, YOU CAN GET A MASTERS DEGREE IN READING!!! No wonder their PISA scores are so low!"
Besides which, isn't reading or literacy an either "yes" or "no" kind of thing??? Like you either read or you don't? You're either literate or you're not? Since when did it become a "study" or a "field?"
All this is, is the educational establishment milking as much money out of anything they can and keeping their cartel-lock on education where they require you to have a MASTERS degree to teach something as elementary as reading.
Think about this in comparison. You an get the "Rosetta Stone" for what, $50? And that will teach you how to read and write in SEVERAL foreign languages. Heck you can teach yourself how to read with a dictionary and a thesaurus, BOTH ONLINE FOR FREE!
But no, according to Big Education (akin to Big Oil) we need a person to spend 6 years of their life studying "reading" so they can teach it to other students who are paying around $300 for a class on reading. When all is sad and done, the money spent on getting a masters degree and the money spent on the class, comes to what? On the cheap side at least $30,000?
Good lord, next thing is going to be a masters degree on breathing...which I think St. Thomas offers.
POST POST - As some of you have commented speculating that this is probably an ESL position. I ask you then again, "WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE IN COLLEGE IF THEY CAN'T READ ENGLISH??????" It only reiterates my point. Whether you're a native American (meant in the literal sense) or a foreigner, YOU STILL HAVE TO BLEEPING READ FREAKING ENGLISH TO GO TO AN EFFING COLLEGE!!!!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Natasha Calendar - Photos Finished
The Natasha Calendar will be ready within a couple weeks, the PERFECT gift for the aspiring, junior, deputy, official or otherwise just plain male economist in your household. Just to whet your appetite, this is a picture we THREW OUT!
You WILL buy the Natasha Calendar.
You WILL conform.
(Besides, revolvers, assault rifles and heels? Come on! How much better can it get than that?)
You WILL buy the Natasha Calendar.
You WILL conform.
(Besides, revolvers, assault rifles and heels? Come on! How much better can it get than that?)
Monday, November 09, 2009
Well It's About Freaking Time
When France gets its head out of its ass before the US does, you know it's over.
What amazes me is how this easy solution is never suggested. Not because it's too easy, but because grandma and grandpa would revolt if you dared to make them work another (GASP!) 5 years so the freaking country doesn't collapse and their grandchildren might have a freaking shot at a normal economic life.
What amazes me is how this easy solution is never suggested. Not because it's too easy, but because grandma and grandpa would revolt if you dared to make them work another (GASP!) 5 years so the freaking country doesn't collapse and their grandchildren might have a freaking shot at a normal economic life.
Capitalism vs. Socialism Speech - Part 13
One more after this and then the "professionally edited" version I will load up one of these days;
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Is There a Doctor Economist in the House?
I have a serious question, and though it may seem innocent, forgive me because sometimes innocent-childlike logic exposes some of the more fraudulent people in society.
Is breast cancer (or any cancer) curable?
The reason I ask is because, sure enough as I'm going to the hardware store, there at Caribou Coffee is in great bright pink letters, "Amy's Blend NOW AVAILABLE!!!!"
Amy being an unfortunate young woman who died of breast cancer whilst under the employ of Caribou.
The reason I ask is because like Africa, like poverty, like any other noble charity, how many billions/trillions have been spent to no avail? We cure polio, malaria, etc., etc., in relatively short order once we dedicated ourselves to it, but as time goes on, I am more and more suspicious as to whether cancer CAN be cured, or whether this is just another tragedy being taken advantage of by unscrupulous people looking to avoid real work.
So if there are any medical/biological/doctor like Cappy Cap readers that can attest to whether the cure for cancer is possible or just a scam to raise money for professional crusaders and make more coffee sales for Caribou, I would certainly appreciate it.
Is breast cancer (or any cancer) curable?
The reason I ask is because, sure enough as I'm going to the hardware store, there at Caribou Coffee is in great bright pink letters, "Amy's Blend NOW AVAILABLE!!!!"
Amy being an unfortunate young woman who died of breast cancer whilst under the employ of Caribou.
The reason I ask is because like Africa, like poverty, like any other noble charity, how many billions/trillions have been spent to no avail? We cure polio, malaria, etc., etc., in relatively short order once we dedicated ourselves to it, but as time goes on, I am more and more suspicious as to whether cancer CAN be cured, or whether this is just another tragedy being taken advantage of by unscrupulous people looking to avoid real work.
So if there are any medical/biological/doctor like Cappy Cap readers that can attest to whether the cure for cancer is possible or just a scam to raise money for professional crusaders and make more coffee sales for Caribou, I would certainly appreciate it.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Explaining "Rent Seeking" to Joe Soucheray
Garage Logic, as some of you know, is one of my favorite radio shows to listen to. Joe Soucheray is no doubt incredibly busy and so, on the rare occasion, I send an e-mail or a letter to the show, it usually is lost in the pile or never read. Not out of spite, but sheer time-saving, I decided not to really write into radio shows or call, simply because you rarely get on and by the time you do, the platform has moved on, it's a waste of time. But I slipped recently after Joe was talking about the behavior of "Mysterians" because all he was describing was "rent seeking." I wrote a letter, but then caught myself and realized, it isn't worth driving to the post office.
However, I do believe that in order to understand leftist ideology and psychology, we all could use a lesson in rent seeking and what it is. Therefore, I post the letter, that was never sent, below;
Dear Joe,
I’ve been listening to your show for about 5 years now however when you speak about The Mystery I think you do not realize you are explaining an economic phenomenon that you are unaware of called “rent seeking” and hopefully in my explaining this to you, you may be able to solve The Mystery.
“Rent seeking” is a form of economic behavior where a person or an entity wishes to extract compensation or wealth for essentially doing nothing, or in short, getting paid to produce nothing of worth. A text book example would be the US mafia in the 1930’s offering “protection” for various shop owners when in reality it was nothing but extortion. Regardless, the example still holds. The mafia acts like it is offering a service (protection) and receives compensation for this “protection” even though no real service or good has been produced.
Today you do not have such flagrant examples of “rent seeking,” but they do exist and are largely the primary sources of employment for your “Mysterians” and goes a long way in explaining The Mystery. The primary and most common example you cite on your show would be your mysterian politicians who are on constant crusades to enact various legislation that limits the freedoms of Americans under the guise of protection. Most of your liberal (and for the most part, conservative) politicians do nothing productive nor produce anything of worth. Therefore to make it look like they are actually working they have to seek out “crusades” or fabricate “crises” so they may keep their jobs as politicians. Fresh in my memory is the ban on candy cigarettes in St. Paul. This does nothing to help society. There was no crisis, there was no problem. And therefore there was not one cent of production in enacting this law, but you still pay these elected officials to do such nonsensical things.
Another example of rent seeking would be your professional protestors or activists. These people do not produce anything of value, but regardless, be it through ACORN or some other non-profit organization, they are still paid to essentially produce nothing of value. The kid working at Burger King is producing more for this nation than a professional activist from Macalester.
Lawyers that sue companies for fraudulent claims is another example of rent seeking. One can claim that a lawyer is providing a service for a plaintiff or a defendant, but in the end, the lawyer produced nothing. He or she simply took money from a company that actually did produce something of value. The finance industry is another. An investment bank repackaging mortgages into CDO’s or ABS’s creates no additional value in doing so. It is merely taking a commission to repackage production that is already existing.
Whatever the instance of rent seeking may be, the key to understanding rent seeking and how it relates to The Mystery is that people who engage in rent seeking put themselves ahead of society. And not only do they put themselves ahead of society, they must engage in an “act” or a “farce” as if they are doing some kind of real work so as not to destroy their egos and permit them an excuse to deny they are actually just living off of society. Therefore you will never see a Mysterian just sit there on government assistance for that would be too much of a blow to their pride. But at the same time you will never see them work hard to become an engineer, a doctor, a pharmacist, etc., because the schooling required is too difficult. Therefore you see the majority of your Mysterians employed in very rent seeking industries;
Education – very few people who work in education actually educate children. Most are in administration and counseling and literally do nothing to advance the education of the children. Even those that do, based on international PISA scores, do a poor job overall.
Politics/government – with no competition from the private sector there is no urgency to work hard or be efficient let alone productive. You just tell people what they want to hear and never bother studying what laws (or perhaps lack of laws) would be best for society and still collect a check. Barack Obama is a perfect example of a life-time rent seeker who has done nothing (bar write a book) productive yet still collects a check.
Colleges – There is no limit to professors in worthless subjects such as sociology, women’s studies, anthropology, communications, journalism, etc., that require no rigorous study, yet still provide employment (usually financed in part by government money). You could pay taxes to get a road or more defense, but instead your money goes to one of the “prematurely gray-haired woman” you talk about to espouse theories of philosophy to her students that will never result in a penny of worth or production.
Non-profits – Non-profits are big rent seekers because their goal is first and foremost NOT to solve a problem, but to employ people to act like they are solving a problem. I would even claim some non-profits purposely avoid solving the problem because that would be the end of the cash stream for them to do nothing. The UN is a perfect example of the world’s largest non-profit that has achieved nothing yet has been compensated to the amounts of many billions of dollars.
There are other industries, but I assume you get the idea of what types of industries would employ Mysterians.
Why you have a “mystery” or why Mysterian’s behavior does not make sense is because it is contrary to reality. It is hypocritical. They need a job and some kind of employment not just for money, but for pride. But since the reality is that they are producing nothing, when they are criticized or this reality is pointed out, they then come up with the most inane and irrational explanations and excuses because their entire life existence, their entire purpose of being is being called into question.
“Don’t tell me we don’t have any money” is a perfect example of Garage Logicians calling out these rent seekers on their hypocrisy. Americans spend more money on their education system (per pupil) than any other country in the world. Yet they constantly need more money. Their illogical excuse is that it is for the children and how dare you cut off funding for children. In reality they are just cowards for hiding behind children to keep their unnecessary jobs.
The “Flower Pot Gang” is another example. Basically middle aged women who were rich enough to afford to run for public office because they were bored. Nancy Pelosi is another example who was nothing but the daughter of Baltimore’s mayor. And Mark Dayton is a perfect example of a bored “trust fund baby” who has nothing to do but run for public office even though he is not qualified and has no real skills. These people did not run for office because of some noble intent to become a statesman, they ran because they were bored, had the money, wanted an easy job and needed something to point to in their lives as being an accomplishment. And when you question their policies or their qualifications, you get bland, vague, indirect answers that never really answer direct questions because you are getting too close to the truth; they put themselves ahead of the people they represent, they do NOTHING and they don’t want to be exposed.
Therefore I think if you look at these rent seekers as merely people looking for an easy job, whose egos and personalities cannot handle the fact they are not producing anything of worth, and they find no problems putting themselves ahead of society you might be able to understand the Mysterian’s behavior better as well as the Mystery overall.
Good luck
However, I do believe that in order to understand leftist ideology and psychology, we all could use a lesson in rent seeking and what it is. Therefore, I post the letter, that was never sent, below;
Dear Joe,
I’ve been listening to your show for about 5 years now however when you speak about The Mystery I think you do not realize you are explaining an economic phenomenon that you are unaware of called “rent seeking” and hopefully in my explaining this to you, you may be able to solve The Mystery.
“Rent seeking” is a form of economic behavior where a person or an entity wishes to extract compensation or wealth for essentially doing nothing, or in short, getting paid to produce nothing of worth. A text book example would be the US mafia in the 1930’s offering “protection” for various shop owners when in reality it was nothing but extortion. Regardless, the example still holds. The mafia acts like it is offering a service (protection) and receives compensation for this “protection” even though no real service or good has been produced.
Today you do not have such flagrant examples of “rent seeking,” but they do exist and are largely the primary sources of employment for your “Mysterians” and goes a long way in explaining The Mystery. The primary and most common example you cite on your show would be your mysterian politicians who are on constant crusades to enact various legislation that limits the freedoms of Americans under the guise of protection. Most of your liberal (and for the most part, conservative) politicians do nothing productive nor produce anything of worth. Therefore to make it look like they are actually working they have to seek out “crusades” or fabricate “crises” so they may keep their jobs as politicians. Fresh in my memory is the ban on candy cigarettes in St. Paul. This does nothing to help society. There was no crisis, there was no problem. And therefore there was not one cent of production in enacting this law, but you still pay these elected officials to do such nonsensical things.
Another example of rent seeking would be your professional protestors or activists. These people do not produce anything of value, but regardless, be it through ACORN or some other non-profit organization, they are still paid to essentially produce nothing of value. The kid working at Burger King is producing more for this nation than a professional activist from Macalester.
Lawyers that sue companies for fraudulent claims is another example of rent seeking. One can claim that a lawyer is providing a service for a plaintiff or a defendant, but in the end, the lawyer produced nothing. He or she simply took money from a company that actually did produce something of value. The finance industry is another. An investment bank repackaging mortgages into CDO’s or ABS’s creates no additional value in doing so. It is merely taking a commission to repackage production that is already existing.
Whatever the instance of rent seeking may be, the key to understanding rent seeking and how it relates to The Mystery is that people who engage in rent seeking put themselves ahead of society. And not only do they put themselves ahead of society, they must engage in an “act” or a “farce” as if they are doing some kind of real work so as not to destroy their egos and permit them an excuse to deny they are actually just living off of society. Therefore you will never see a Mysterian just sit there on government assistance for that would be too much of a blow to their pride. But at the same time you will never see them work hard to become an engineer, a doctor, a pharmacist, etc., because the schooling required is too difficult. Therefore you see the majority of your Mysterians employed in very rent seeking industries;
Education – very few people who work in education actually educate children. Most are in administration and counseling and literally do nothing to advance the education of the children. Even those that do, based on international PISA scores, do a poor job overall.
Politics/government – with no competition from the private sector there is no urgency to work hard or be efficient let alone productive. You just tell people what they want to hear and never bother studying what laws (or perhaps lack of laws) would be best for society and still collect a check. Barack Obama is a perfect example of a life-time rent seeker who has done nothing (bar write a book) productive yet still collects a check.
Colleges – There is no limit to professors in worthless subjects such as sociology, women’s studies, anthropology, communications, journalism, etc., that require no rigorous study, yet still provide employment (usually financed in part by government money). You could pay taxes to get a road or more defense, but instead your money goes to one of the “prematurely gray-haired woman” you talk about to espouse theories of philosophy to her students that will never result in a penny of worth or production.
Non-profits – Non-profits are big rent seekers because their goal is first and foremost NOT to solve a problem, but to employ people to act like they are solving a problem. I would even claim some non-profits purposely avoid solving the problem because that would be the end of the cash stream for them to do nothing. The UN is a perfect example of the world’s largest non-profit that has achieved nothing yet has been compensated to the amounts of many billions of dollars.
There are other industries, but I assume you get the idea of what types of industries would employ Mysterians.
Why you have a “mystery” or why Mysterian’s behavior does not make sense is because it is contrary to reality. It is hypocritical. They need a job and some kind of employment not just for money, but for pride. But since the reality is that they are producing nothing, when they are criticized or this reality is pointed out, they then come up with the most inane and irrational explanations and excuses because their entire life existence, their entire purpose of being is being called into question.
“Don’t tell me we don’t have any money” is a perfect example of Garage Logicians calling out these rent seekers on their hypocrisy. Americans spend more money on their education system (per pupil) than any other country in the world. Yet they constantly need more money. Their illogical excuse is that it is for the children and how dare you cut off funding for children. In reality they are just cowards for hiding behind children to keep their unnecessary jobs.
The “Flower Pot Gang” is another example. Basically middle aged women who were rich enough to afford to run for public office because they were bored. Nancy Pelosi is another example who was nothing but the daughter of Baltimore’s mayor. And Mark Dayton is a perfect example of a bored “trust fund baby” who has nothing to do but run for public office even though he is not qualified and has no real skills. These people did not run for office because of some noble intent to become a statesman, they ran because they were bored, had the money, wanted an easy job and needed something to point to in their lives as being an accomplishment. And when you question their policies or their qualifications, you get bland, vague, indirect answers that never really answer direct questions because you are getting too close to the truth; they put themselves ahead of the people they represent, they do NOTHING and they don’t want to be exposed.
Therefore I think if you look at these rent seekers as merely people looking for an easy job, whose egos and personalities cannot handle the fact they are not producing anything of worth, and they find no problems putting themselves ahead of society you might be able to understand the Mysterian’s behavior better as well as the Mystery overall.
Good luck
Australia National University
I almost attended ANU, regardless, from a reader;
A friend of mine had sent me an audio link to a seminar of yours where you are saying that no leftist has ever been able to come up with an arguement to "Why would you be a doctor if a janitor and a doctor got paid the same amount?"...I am in Australia and in my first year of University and I have just finished a course that looks at the world from a Marxist perspective. Evey moment of it was hell for me, but nontheless i survived. In this though I asked the lecturer why on earth I would study to be a laywer if a Laywer and a receptionist got paid the same amount and the answer he gave me was "for societies recognition". I had no idea so i questioned him further and he firmly believes that if we were more ethical people who had not been brainwashed by a capitalists society we would want to work harder to help the world and take on the harder jobs for the same pay. I think it is a load of rubbish as it will never happen and there is no way that is how it works, but i just thought i would share that answer with you. Teaching ethics in schools will make the chance of socialism actually working higher.
What I get a kick out of is that this academian idiot who teaches this class is more than willing to change how a $35 trillion global economy works based on his HUNCH that people will just altruistically work harder for "social recognition."
He is an f*cking idiot in the truest sense. He also offers nothing of value to this country (or rather, Australia) and therefore the only place that will employ him is a public university, not the real world or private sector. The only reason he advocates socialism is because he is too damn lazy to study something real like engineering or accounting and instead wants to parasite off the rest of society as a freaking ethics professor as those who did major in something worthwhile work up the wealth to pay the taxes for this lamprey's salary.
Truly ironic he teaches "ethics."
A friend of mine had sent me an audio link to a seminar of yours where you are saying that no leftist has ever been able to come up with an arguement to "Why would you be a doctor if a janitor and a doctor got paid the same amount?"...I am in Australia and in my first year of University and I have just finished a course that looks at the world from a Marxist perspective. Evey moment of it was hell for me, but nontheless i survived. In this though I asked the lecturer why on earth I would study to be a laywer if a Laywer and a receptionist got paid the same amount and the answer he gave me was "for societies recognition". I had no idea so i questioned him further and he firmly believes that if we were more ethical people who had not been brainwashed by a capitalists society we would want to work harder to help the world and take on the harder jobs for the same pay. I think it is a load of rubbish as it will never happen and there is no way that is how it works, but i just thought i would share that answer with you. Teaching ethics in schools will make the chance of socialism actually working higher.
What I get a kick out of is that this academian idiot who teaches this class is more than willing to change how a $35 trillion global economy works based on his HUNCH that people will just altruistically work harder for "social recognition."
He is an f*cking idiot in the truest sense. He also offers nothing of value to this country (or rather, Australia) and therefore the only place that will employ him is a public university, not the real world or private sector. The only reason he advocates socialism is because he is too damn lazy to study something real like engineering or accounting and instead wants to parasite off the rest of society as a freaking ethics professor as those who did major in something worthwhile work up the wealth to pay the taxes for this lamprey's salary.
Truly ironic he teaches "ethics."
When Predictions Fail
You should not listen to those who made the predictions in the first place. And the current environmentalist nutjobs are no different today.
An interesting discovery by the good Colonel that shows what the global warming zealots are predicting is nothing more than them spouting off their religion just as they did back in the (wonderful decades known as) the 60's and the 70's with no real care whether it's reality or likely to come true.
This is a cult.
This is a religion.
You brainwashed masses in America better learn this global warming thing is a scam and you're being taken in on it.
An interesting discovery by the good Colonel that shows what the global warming zealots are predicting is nothing more than them spouting off their religion just as they did back in the (wonderful decades known as) the 60's and the 70's with no real care whether it's reality or likely to come true.
This is a cult.
This is a religion.
You brainwashed masses in America better learn this global warming thing is a scam and you're being taken in on it.
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