November 2011
2 posts
Shoppers unfazed as man dies at Target →
What a horrible sign of the times when people care more about getting to a sale than they do about saving another person’s life. There seem to be more and more examples of this kind of behavior popping up. A month or two ago there was a video from China of a toddler being hit by not one vehicle, but two vehicles and no one stopping to help the child. How can people have such little...
Smoking-Gun Document Ties Policy To Housing Crisis →
I find it to be irresponsible journalism and analysis on the part of the main stream media and government investigators that this story is still news. This should have been the first area that people dug into to determine the cause of the subprime mortgage crisis and yet not many people know that this is the cause of the entire problem.
When are people going to learn that you can legislate...
June 2011
1 post
Dear Congress: Please Stop Robbing Us →
It’s worth reading this article to get an idea of the unfair financial advantage that elected officials have put themselves in with comparison to the average person. So much for being “public servants”.
Societal Entropy
I know I’m not the first person to discuss this idea, but it has struck me recently as an idea to think about. A friend of mine and I were discussing ways America has been deteriorating and he mentioned that we need to scrap the old rules and make new rules that apply to the ways society works today. In some ways this makes sense; in others, not so much.
When the country was first...
April 2010
1 post
Unintended consequences of lowering salt in... →
I had a little fun with imagining the unintended consequences of a push by the government to lower people’s salt intake. Read the article first and then continue on below.
1. The “voluntary reduction” of sodium in food won’t happen until there is a reduction in demand for high sodium products (I think that is economics). Therefore the government will just have to...
November 2009
1 post
Blackouts Plague Energy-Rich Venezuela -... →
Here is an excellent example of why having the government run business leads to rationing, poorer goods and services and the powerful getting more power.
October 2009
2 posts
Here's Why the Economy's Growing →
It’s great that the economy grew, but the cost at which we grew seems far to great a price to pay. We need the government to stop trying to spend our way out of a recession and prevent future tax payers from footing an enormous bill.
Promise of free money leads to scuffle between... →
This entire article is a very sad commentary on our society. We have people fighting for money that our country doesn’t even have. It so sad to hear more of these stories than stories of neighbors showing love to neighbors or of people overcoming with their own determination. We simply have people becoming dependent on the government for everything in their lives - jobs, food, education,...
August 2009
1 post
The National Endowment for the Art of Persuasion? →
Here is a thoughtful review of one questionable government activity. It makes me nervous to see the government becoming more involved in directing organizations to act in ways outside of their stated missions.
July 2009
1 post
Health Care Rights?
It’s difficult to get through the day with out encountering the topic of Health Care in the United States. There is so much discussion on it in Washington, in the press and among individual friends and family. One comment that has stood out to me for some time is the claim that Health Care should be or is a right for all citizens.
At first, that idea sounds very noble. Why...
April 2009
1 post
Woman calls 911: I'm locked inside my car --... →
There is something seriously wrong with our education system. The end result is that stupid people just rely on the government to solve the problems they are to stupid to think through. It’s terribly sad.
March 2009
3 posts
NC Sterilization Program →
This is one of the most disturbing stories I have ever read about our government. North Carolina (and other states) ran a eugenics program from the 1920’s to the 1970’s that many times forced sterilization on people because they were mentally ill, homosexual, promiscuous or had other charicteristics that were deemed inferior. It was started by a few rich people (one the heir to...
Soup Kitchen Cell Phone →
Is there something wrong with this picture? Maybe I’m being overly-critical, but it seems that our country has it’s priorities out of line when people are in soup kitchen lines and can still afford cell phones.
What is our lifeblood?
Barack Obama said last Tuesday that our country’s lifeblood is credit and I have heard other politicians make similar statements. At first it sounded like a sensible statement, but the more I thought about it the more it sounded faulty. To put it another way, that statement means our country’s lifeblood is our ability to get ourselves into debt.
Making it easier to get ourselves...
February 2009
4 posts
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending... →
It’s incredible to read this article from 10 years ago and then realize that this was one of the first steps that got us into the economic mess we are in right now. Politicians make decisions with short-term view points (winning them votes) and don’t consider the long-term ramifications of their actions. It doesn’t matter how good an idea “feels” on the surface if...
ABC News: Man Living in Cave Faces Foreclosure →
This is by far one of the most unique housing stories I have read.
U.S. Bancorp CEO Davis rips TARP - TwinCities.com →
It’s interesting to hear a bank CEO actually speak out on what the government actually told them to do with TARP money and indicate how the government intends to control them after forcing them to take the money.
The US government is taking part in a lot of shady practices at the moment that are quickly marching us away from freedom and capitalism.
Full Disclosure
There appears to be a backlash against capitalism going on in America at the moment due to our current economic troubles. I’m of the opinion that we haven’t been watching capitalism in action over the last several years, but a bastardization of it - although that’s a different conversation all together. We have watched the economy tank, in part, due to unscrupulous people proclaiming to...
January 2009
2 posts
Super Bowl Party Favorite →
Consider making this masterpiece for your Super Bowl party.
The next road to happiness.
Why does the “economic stimulus” discussion taking place right now sound like the same old story in another package? For thirty years, politicians told us that everyone deserved a house and did everything they could to make that happen. They pressured companies to make bad loans and, along with Wall Street, found ways to make those loans easier to swallow.
So they encouraged us to...
November 2008
5 posts
CARPE DIEM: State Unemployment Rates →
Just some interesting statistics on state unemployment rates across the country.
'Giving Thanks' - Los Angeles Times →
The simplest messages can have so much meaning.
Hulu →
In an effort to lower expenses on the homestead I got rid of my DVR. Not an easy choice. I really, really enjoyed recording shows and watching them at my leisure. But I discovered Hulu through a friend of mine and, while not a perfect substitute, this might provide me enough entertainment at my fingertips to get by.
Be Extraordinary →
This charity website was started by a group of underclassmen at Northwestern. They took third place (if memory serves) in the inaugural year of the NU Venture Challenge and have made their idea a reality. It’s exciting to see entrepreneurialism move forward. Check it out.
Just wondering
Have we gotten to the point in the country where the first thing you wonder about a person when you meet them is whether they are a Democrat or Republican and not something more important?
October 2008
3 posts
Fairness
Is your definition of fairness based on outcomes or opportunities?
Steep and Cheap →
This website is great for finding gear at cheap prices.
Thoughts on the financial and credit crisis
I’ve been giving this credit and financial crisis a great deal of thought over the last couple of weeks trying to determine the root cause of the problem and what it will take to fix it – that’s what engineers do. The most tragic outcome of this entire episode is that government, Wall Street and individual consumers have managed to destroy the trust that’s necessary for a capitalist society...