First Blog

A hypothetical possibility Suppose a rare coin dealer offers for sale a newly discovered cache of mint condition silver dollars dating from the late 19th century.  The pitch says they were found in the ocean on some century-old shipwreck. Prices are $150 (minimum) per coin range.  Suppose the coins are kinda-fake.  They are genuine, in the sense they have not quite pure silver content, but identical to the real thing.  But they are fake, in the sense they were minted last week. (So cheap is the current price of silver in comparison. Less than $16 each at current market prices.)   So while they are counterfeit they are not quite fake - melt-value wise Note. The "mint" condition implies little post processing is required. Detecting such coins would require a rather serious and scientific assay analysis by metallurgists that can perform such tests.  You could buy one or twenty of these coins with the confidence of resale by your estate. I don't know, but I will not

An interesting point about our military leaders and those of any responsible country is that they are scholars of war, conflict, weapons, strategy and tactics.   They all attend a war college to learn their craft.   Almost all have read extensively on the subject.   Some are historians of their profession. Many are articulate communicators about their operations, needs, equipment, troup strength, training, and promotion practices. They are sincere professionals – whether you agree with them or not. Now contrast this with the typical politician, especially elected officials.   Few have studied politics.   Few understand much more than pre-written talking points on any topic.   Few have any training on compromise and the other crafts of legislation. Most leaders probably rely more on intuition and instinct than any form of analysis. Putting your faith in politicians is therefore a risky belief. Next contrast this with pundits and news commentators.   Now we are dipping down yet

Here's a tidbit for the very depressed. Even if Zuckerberg promised to wrap all Facebook data in some kind of digital chastity belt, the partners and friends who originally scraped the personal data still have it.  It is still being used, and it is still a marketing tool. And it will live as such a tool as long as it has value.  Years, probably.  You see, hacked or otherwise procured data is forever.  This is also true for hacked information from any of the hundreds of hacked servers worldwide. Modifying the old joke: What lasts longer than true love?  The old answer was venereal disease.  The new answer is your data . DATA IS FOREVER

Many cities such as San Francisco have a multitude of unsolvable problems such as poverty, ineptness, homelessness, and squalor. Yet each has a small population of wealthy and rich people with guilt problems. It is possible such localities have taken to heart the nature of “sanctuary” for the similarly impoverished group of aliens, sympathetic but small enough to manage as a substitute problem.  Cleansing guilt through sanctuary this way is little more than throwing crumbs at the real problem they are indisposed to solve.

I know I’m there with my kin in the “stockyard of investors,” waiting for relief, hoping for green pastures, but fearing I’m meant for the block. I moo a lot, but uneasiness is all around me.  Up a little, down a little more. Will I be totally corrected? Not just 10% but 20% or more. Signed, Small Time Investor

Do you like pizza?  Of course, you do.  I do too. But did you know cheese contains casomorphins, which have an opioid-like effect? Indeed,  concentrated dairy products, like cheese, have especially high levels of opiates, even morphine.* The argument is you get hooked on cheese because of these opioid-like chemicals.  Naturally, this means most humans over all of time were addicted in this way.   Strange but so claimed.  The next thing we will see is a push to eliminate pizza. California will be first. "Keep the aliens; deport the pizza."  Let's have pizza tonight - double the cheese, please. :) I can see it now, the Mexican drug cartels opening pizza parlors offering "special pizza" delivered, though delivery may take a month or two.  *Just Google "cheese and opioids"

Success involving good luck comes in equal measure to failure involving bad luck.  Sounds true, but is  it really? He had the wisdom of experience, not of intelligence.   Sounds true, but can it be really? Which is the more powerful motivator.:   Ambition or Politics? Politics or Power? Reward or Position? Action or Reticence? Beliefs or Money? Money or Power? Fame or Power? Answer.  Yes to all of them.  This is what make us so complex.  There is no simple order of priority. Mathematically, we not not ordered or even partially ordered.  Our motivations are not at all ordered much beyond ordering life or death. Even that has issues. To govern by regulations is just another form of dictatorship. 

You know you're getting older when... You frequently see commercials featuring a middle-aged woman walking around with a cartoon bladder and selling some medication to help with peeing too often.  Indeed, almost every bodily organ has a cartoon avatar helping pitch some medication to fix it.  Look them up! These meds are expensive!  Other medications about sleeping better come one after another. Pillows and snoring too! You get by mail ads from the Neptune society - featuring cremation specials.  You get multiple requests for getting cash from a reverse mortgage. Your kids call you just checking to see if you answer the phone. You find yourself with aches and pain in places you never knew had nerve endings. You remember you forgot something important, but can't recall what it is. You keep a spare key to the house in a hidden place, because you know you'll need it any day now. You've seen clothing styles come and go, sometimes three times. More items to come

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. How to question Zuckerberg. 1.         Ask him what is the word-length of the user agreement their users accept. 2.         Ask him how many actually read the agreement – or simply click on

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 where it remains divided int

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.