First Blog

Regulation without representation is a corollary of “taxation without representation.” Both are dangerous, and in unmitigated multiplicity   both are illegal and unethical in the schema of democracy.  Indeed, regulations that cost citizens money to comply become a form of taxation.  To govern by regulation is a post modern form of dictatorship.  Petulance is not a form of governance, though the US Congress may claim an exemption. 

Mark Zuckerberg, on testifying before congress. Zuckerberg is the CEO of Facebook, now under review by congress for possible charges of invasion of privacy and selling of information to non Facebook agencies.  One could call this approved internal hacking. Basic conclusions. 1.         If he stumbles before the lights, he will not be the first. 2.         He will make platitudes to personal rights, as programmed by his personal handlers. 3.         He may state our users agreed to the surrender of their information, never understanding some of it is fundamentally in error. 4.         The poor lad really does not appreaciate right from wrong.  For him, it is purely operational. Typical coder thinking. 5.         He may state in post-testimony interviews, he was not understood. Ho...

3/27/18. Now retired! Spend much time watching the stock market, where many of my $$ are invested. Last week was depressing. So, I watch the business news, a lot.   Fact about business shows: they trot in well dressed bull market advocates alternatively with equally well dressed bear market advocates. After enough of this, you are totally confused. What I've noticed about these "experts" is that each uses only a few parameters upon which they rely.   These are mixed with a rather heavy helping of intuition.  Just like us in every day living. Turning to politics, we are led to our leaders and which or what are the few parameters that guide them.   For Obama, it seemed that globalism and its corollaries were at the base of his thinking.   Namely, his desire to convert the world to a globalist Utopian dream.   Simple and idealistic.   For Trump, the parameters are not that clear, but he seems to prefers a more nationalistic view of the world whe...

Facebook problems are nothing compare to the impending revelations about cloud computing, whereby the server owners (e.g. Microsoft, Google) are seriously mining  corporate and personal information.  Uploading to the cloud is considered to be private and even privacy conscious users override their concerns.  It is not! Payment of a storage fee does not guarantee privacy. Perhaps you use a cloud with your cell phone.  It may contain passwords, banking information, and personal data.  It has been mined.   When the story breaks, it will be really, really big.  And one other thing, data never dies.  You may erase it, but archival copies remain.

The modern corporate board of directors is comprised of business leaders to help the company succeed.   But how are those boards formed?   Typical scenario: CORP A CEO to CORP B CEO: I will place you on my board of directors if you place me on yours. CORP B CEO to CORP A CEO: I will place you on my board of directors if you place me on yours CHORUS: Then we vote each other outrageous salary packages no matter how poorly we perform. The brotherhood of CEO’s is more than a fraternity or sorority.   When their stock goes down, their salary still goes up; when their stock goes up, their salary goes way up. This is the ultimate back-scratching machine.   Their world is protected by process, by institution, and by tradition.   They become too big to fail.   Nice work if you can get it.

How rich is Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com?   Well, the latest data gives his worth to be about $105 billion.   That is a lot, and it make him the richest man on earth.   Here is one data point to illustrate his worth in terms of the GDP of the eight   Least Developed Countries, which are Nepal, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Niger, and Malawi.   For them, the total GDP is about $101 billion.   The combined population of these countries is 235,240,000. It is one thing to be the richest person on the planet; it is another to understand his relative worth in comparison with the poorest countries.   Not just one poor country, but eight of them combined! Table of actual values from nationmaster.com. COUNTRY GDP (billions) GDP per capita POPULATION (million)   LAND AREA (sq km) Bangladesh $115.61 $1,384.53 163.65 ...

We most often talk of the evolution that occurred.  Yet, some evolutionary steps that could have happened never did and never will. This is a story of one example. Evolution that doesn’t happen.  I thought of this years ago, but never had a really good example.  Thanks to the BBC series  Blue Planet II – Coasts , we see the story of a bachelor sea lion that  discovers a way to trap yellowfin tuna.  Normally, any sea lion could never catch the very speedy tuna. But our bachelor thought up his method to herd the tuna into the dead end of a very shallow coastal region in the Galapagos.   When it first tried, the tuna escaped though the sea lion herded them into the shallows successfully. The problem? He could herd and close the trap at the same time.  Then he recruited some “friends” and they worked together to trap the tuna with one of them closing of the escape route.  Each enjoyed their own 60 kilo tuna – big meal-deal.  The crea...

If you need an online calculator, one for just about anything, check out this website https://goodcalculators.com/ ----------------------------  Blame it on the Physics The first multiple choice tests were developed in about 1915 by Frederick Kelly, an education specialist.  This test was a timed reading test, produced because Kelly viewed human judgement of reading skills fundamentally flawed.  The idea was to make testing more objective.  This worked and was widely adapted. Just 22 years later physics teacher Reynold Johnson devised a method of identifying pencil marks against a key to automatically grade them, saving countless hours of hand grading. Johnson was hired by IBM to develop the device.  Multiple choice test became the premier testing vehicle – to this day. This first device recognized the marks electronically. However, in 1955, the first patent to recognize marks optically was issued to Everett F. Lindquist, an education professor....

Facts: 1. There have always been loners with mental illness problems. 2. There have always been guns readily available. 3. There have always been youngsters expelled from the schools for anti-social behavior. 4. What is new is the many social media sites that nurture and encourage the mentally ill toward horrific acts - including terrorism.  Recommend: A. Suspend Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and all other social media sites. B. Increase the minimum age to purchase firearms. C. Increase the number of law enforcement individuals specializing in online potential threats. Now, if mental health professionals are given "veto" authority on gun possession, you have invented a new court system with no laws, and no case system.  Probably not good.  

Costco Membership. I've had a Costco membership since 2013.   I've bought a bunch of stuff valued in the thousands over that time.  But yesterday, when I added something to my "cart,"  Costco decided to verify me.  BTW, always paid all bills at the register, no exceptions. This process asked a lot of questions about me, things I could not imagine they even knew, and certainly I never told them. An example is the question they asked about the state of my residence in 1961.  Yes, 57 years ago!  This was a concern to me. I called Costco about this.  After three levels of supervisors I learned that Costco has contracted with another company to perform these verifications.  The last supervisor I talked to had no clue what the questions were, only whether I passed their test. What this means to you and to me is that there is a database of information out there about your information, past and present, your buying habits, your ability to pay,...

Paying more for the same thing does not improve the product. OR A product does not improve simply by paying more for it. You can't entertain yourself to a good education.  (Now and then you need to work. Now and then you need to think.) Standardized tests will not go away and not get any better. Things that immobilize or paralyze the soul:  self-doubt, self-pity,regret, doubt, indulgence, hate guilt, failure, hopelessness, false words Things that nourish the soul: love, confidence, purpose, success, hope, work. Things that are past the point of no return:  road & bridges, honesty, compromise, good will, respect. Many are the people with great potential, but no direction.  Their course often follows a random path of great leaps. Achievement is an accumulation of many, often minute, steps toward a single goal.  Nothing great can occur in a single day without many months or years of careful preparation. The diary is a wonderful way of talking to your future sel...

Post-modern Sports. In the beginning, like when I was a kid, sports was completely devoted to sports. I read about who’s doing well, whose not.  I read about trades and how they might affect the team.  I read about the draft and the talents of the draftees.  Rarely did I read about money, except for the superstars.  But now, we see less of this as sports has evolved.  The evolution?  Here's a sketch. Sports teams, talent, prospects, achievements, hopes, potentials, front-runners. Sports money, who’s making the most, minimal salary scales, how much this player can demand, owner’s net worth, league’s rulings on player behavior. Sports personal issues such as domestic abuses, arrests, dress style, diverse opinions, executing contract options. Sports and politics, athlete’s opinions, athlete’s political expressions, athlete’s standing on personal principles, league rulings on politically oriented dress. Only tangential these days is a...