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Sunday, September 7, 2008
A Gallon of DollarsInteresting statistics to ponder: Daily oil production in barrels of oil, where k = 000 In 1965, the
U.S. was producing 9014k In 1965, the World was producing 31206k The U.S. was producing 28% of the world's
oil and consuming 36% In 1972, the U.S. was producing 11185k (historical high) In 1972, the World was producing
53668k The U.S. was producing 20% of the world's oil In 1970, the Nixon administration formed the EPA In
1971, we came off the Gold standard. In 1973, Nixon introduced price controls on oil/gas due to the oil embargo,
which lasted 9 months. Price controls lasted until 1981 after Reagan dismantled them. In 2007, the U.S. was producing
6879k In 2007, the World was producing 81533k The U.S. was producing 8% of the world's oil and consuming 24% The
Vietnam War was 1959 to 1975 We invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. World oil production has kept
up with demand. That is why you can still buy it, maybe not at the price you want, but it is available. The high price the
U.S. pays is due to the lower value of what we exchange it for, namely American dollars. The true cost of gas has declined
due to better extraction methods of oil and more efficient refining. Refining capacities have changed also. In
1965, the U.S. was refining 30% of the World's oil; 10390k of 34514k (while consuming 36%) Today the U.S. is refining
20% of the World's oil; 17588k of 87193k. (while consuming 24%) The price controls of the 1970's was a total
failure, as most political solutions for economic ones are. We have had this type of inflation with every war this
Nation has been in. All the politicians in Congress and the Presidents understand this, but you will find few if any to admit
it. They can't put forth this type of honesty since if the American public starts to understand it they might lose their
bottomless pit of money. In brief form this is how it works. The President goes to Congress and asks for, say
4 trillion dollars. The Congress agrees to 3.45 trillion dollars. This request goes to the Treasury Dept., which passes it
on to the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve says ‘sure why not as long as you pay interest on it, since it really
is a loan.' The Treasury prints the money and the President gets his funding and then gives us all a tax break; like that
made any sense. Remember that this is done in the present when dollars have a value of say x. When these new funds
enter the market place no one knows that they are new money. (Freshly printed.) So everyone assumes they have the same value
as all the other money circulating, namely x. However once the new money is into circulation it's value changes to x-
since you have more dollars chasing the same amount of goods. Governments love this type of arrangements since they can purchase
goods at tomorrow's dollar value at today's dollar prices and the people eventually pick up the tab. It's called
INFLATION. The HUGE increase in Oil prices is not due to just a supply/demand formula, but rather the American dollar
isn't worth what it once was and continues to fall as irresponsible politicians spend and create it at will. Some of the
increase will always be due to increasing demand, which is a signal for more supply. That supply has kept up with demand on
a WORLD market. Unfortunately the U.S. is no longer a major player in the supply side.
In 1913 the Federal Reserve was created, then followed by WWI. The value of the dollar declined 52% From
the beginning of WWII till the end of the Korean war it declined 50% During the Vietnam War it fell 70% and has continued
the decline through all Administration/Congress sessions. Note that from the year 2000 it has declined another 50%.
There is little evidence that this trend is changing. As an economist friend of mine once told me, ‘you can always add
more zero's.' In 1900, gold was $20 an ounce. Recently it went over a $1000 a 500% increase. According
to the IMF (International Monetary Fund) the price of Gold and the price of Oil has tracked almost exactly since 2002 and
a silver quarter will buy a gallon of gas as it did in 1947. In 2004 the U.S. printed 500 billion dollars.
So why is the price of gas so high? It isn't, the price of money is so low. In current dollar value the price
of a gallon of gas is almost the same as in 1980-1981, 10 years after the so-called oil embargo. Supply and demand (unit
of demand) definitely have an influence on what you pay for a product, like money. A product that governments excel at producing.
It's unfortunate that we can't produce wheat, corn, silver, gold, oil or any commodity as easily. In favor
of the war in Iraq? Like all those Government programs? Then don't cry about $4.00 for a gallon of gas. You are going
to pay for it one way or another. In the U. S. you can control the banks and investment houses to a certain extent, one being
artificial low interest rates, but you can't control the rest of the world. The value of the U.S. dollar is simply what
it will buy and on the World markets, that ain't much. The President and Congress will never pass the bill directly to
you, by raising your taxes, but do it in a way that hides your paying for it, with a gigantic credit card. A credit card that
works in the USA, but one that is being increasingly refused abroad. A basic economic fact, which politicians continually
ignore especially at election time is TANSTAAFL. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. (somebody always pays)
stats. taken from BP statistical reviews of world energy
Thursday, June 19, 2008
A Barrel of OilThere are three things that effect the price of a barrel of oil. Supply and Demand : The market price is when the two
are in balance. Currency : The value
of what you are trading for the oil. Governments: The controls and regulations imposed on oil or none. The price
of oil has over the past 100 + years have varied. In 1869 oil sold for over $80 a barrel, then quickly dropped to less than
$20 a few years later. It maintained this low price until the 70's, when it peaked out at over $60. The Nixon administration
placed price controls on the country as well as the beginning of the EPA. Since that time, no new refineries have been built
and very little drilling for more oil. Nixon however did promote the Alaskan pipeline, so he isn't total evil. In the
early 80's, the Reagan Administration phased out price controls (would you believe). The price of oil quickly dropped
to $20 + and stayed in that area until 9/11 aftermath , namely our invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Does that tell you something? The worldwide demand for oil is
on the rise, but not for American dollars. The demand for American dollars is falling. Nobody wants them since they continue
to be worth less than in the past. The reason for this is because we keep making more dollars, but we are not making more
oil. Governments are extremely good at producing more currency, but poor at producing more oil. As a matter of fact our Government
has done, its best to insure that no more oil will be produced, at least in our own backyard. A 1947 silver quarter will still buy a gallon of gas as it did in 1947. The reason of course is that Government
can't make silver either and a silver quarter is valued at around $4.30. When
you listen to the politicians about economic issues always keep in mind that they and their News media cousins really don't
know what they are talking about or CARE. An example of this even when most of
the idea is correct reflects this economic ignorance. Newt Gingrich is promoting a petition to Congress titled Drill Now.
A petition that Congress may listen to. One of Newty's ideas is to dump a third of the USA oil reserves on to the market
to punish all the speculators in oil. I assume he thinks they are responsible for the high price of oil. Politicians have a great talent for finding scapegoats to cover up their irresponsibility. The big oil companies, China, India, Saudi Arabia, speculators and eventually global warming. I pray that the day before Newty does this he tells me, as I'm sure he will all of his friends;
in order that I can sell oil options short. Then I can be as rich as he is. Proven
oil reserves are not a measure of future supply. ‘Proven oil reserves' is oil that can be extracted at current price
levels and current technologies. The higher the price of oil the more proven oil reserves appear. Shale oil alone in this country is triple the amount that is in Saudi Arabia. Also sand oil in Canada is 8
times that of Saudi Arabia. Brazil has just made a huge discovery in the Atlantic
Ocean. Alaska is another place with 12 billion gallons of oil. Conservative estimates place available world oil at 4.5 trillion barrels, which translates into 140
years at current worldwide usage. We can't drill our way out of this? The
government sure can't. Alternate energy resources are inevitable, but only
if we keep the irresponsible ignorant politicians out of the picture, who have a propensity to exploit every variable that
doesn't fit their blueprint of the world. Similar is the recent law banning
incandescent light bulbs by 2012. Trying to force the American people to use the light bulb that Congress approves; the spaghetti
fluorescent bulb. While LED lights are already hitting the markets through natural market forces and will eventually replace
the incandescent, unless the politicians get involved. Note: Congress can't
produce light bulbs either. Some thoughts from 8th grade Economics
A101; a course that our current candidates for President skipped. Scarcity; everything
is scarce. Shortages; availability at a specific price. Pricing; Everything is priced at its maximum, just like your time and efforts. (we all want to be paid the
most we can get) Supply and Demand; How much there is and how many want it. You have to love our politicians and their rhetoric on how they are so concerned about what you pay
for a gallon of gas and what they are going to do for you; when they are the ones that have distorted the market place so
badly, that you pay over $4.00 a gallon. Then like dictators of the 15th and 16th Centuries give us
permission maybe to do a little exploring here and maybe build another Nuclear plant and maybe, if I'm elected I'll
allow you to buy the light bulb you want.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
THOU SHALL NOT KILL
Except if, you are a hired killer from
the State of Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Indiana
Illinois
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North
Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming
And let us not forget the U.S. Government
I have always been against the death penalty, just as I'm against the killing of anyone. Even
when the state executes someone it's still murder. The State doesn't kill anyone in an execution. What happens is
that some other person is hired to do it. It takes another person to, pull the switch, inject the poison or pull the lever
on the trap door; called a hangman or executioner if you like. I've always wondered if there is a long line of applicants
for that job? The wide acceptance of State executions is a combination of historical
precedence and that the State is more important than the individual. In addition, we can trust the State to do the right thing.
Combine all of the above with various religious cliques we easily accept the idea that the State has a duty to enact revenge
on those who commit murder. What we too often forget or ignore is that the State
is comprised of individual people just like yourself. An abstraction does not perform executions other individuals do. You
might want to term them legal killers. In other words, the State with it's monopoly on force can commit murder if it has
good reasons to. The key word here is ‘reasons.' When some one is found
guilty of deliberate murder other people condemn them. People who can make mistakes, which often can be corrected except when
you kill someone (you can't bring an innocent person back). The history of
the human race shows our love of killing each other, although recent history is showing a reluctance to continue on this obnoxious
path of self-destruction. The last thing the citizens of a country should do
is trust the government to kill anyone, when they can barely deliver the mail, secure our borders, or hang on to our savings
(Social Security) to mention a few. The obligation of our government is to protect its citizens from those who do harm to
them. Not exterminate those citizens that they (the government) think needs killing. The
government should be the leader in ‘thou shall not kill' not promoting murder with its own bloody hands. Permanent incarceration fulfills the need of society protection without the gruesome revenge of a
few, who think they have the absolute facts. Only God knows everything, if there is a God. If we want to stop or at least
minimize the taking of innocent life, then it needs to start at the top with our Government and Judicial system setting the
example.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Why are they here?
Unconditional amnesty is a term that can
have many meanings in the context of dealing with millions of individuals. The real question is, do we want these individuals
as citizens and what are the qualifications as such to become a US citizen. If our answer is definitely not, then a massive
hunt will need to take place to find, arrest and bus these individuals back to Mexico, which works out to be approximately
200,000 bus trips. With that in mind, note that Mexicans started in this country in the
1590's, which is probably earlier than your ancestors. Of course back then they didn't cross a border, rather the
border moved. In 1846, war broke out between the U.S. and Mexico over the U.S. annexation
of Texas. Mexico was defeated, and in 1848 the two nations signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty gave the U.S.A.
an enormous amount of land, including what would later become the states of California and Texas, as well as parts of Colorado,
Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada, in exchange for a token payment of $15 mil. One more
important piece of land changed hands in 1854, when the U.S.A. bought what is now southern Arizona and New Mexico from the
Mexican government for $10 million. This land deal, known as the Gadsden Purchase, brought the U.S. a railroad route, and
helped open the West to further expansion. With two strokes of a pen, almost overnight, tens of thousands of Mexican citizens
had become citizens of the United States. Over the next 100 years, Mexican population
in the States varied, depending on economic conditions. Prior to the depression, Mexicans were courted to enter the U.S.A. Then during the depression they were chased back into Mexico. During World War II over 4 million were brought
in to this country to help the war effort in farming. After the War was won and we were through with them. Eisenhower as President
developed a deplorable program nicknamed Operation Wetback. Bands of local law enforcement agents roamed the streets of our
south west States arresting anyone that looked like a Mexican and busing them or shipping them back to Mexico. Many where
here legally and American citizens. Currently it is estimated that there are 20 million
illegal immigrants in the U.S.A. Whether or not this number is realistic is anyone's
guess and probably is just that. No one cared about illegal immigration until the 9/11
disaster. Then the paranoia from our President with Congress support sharply increased. Their ease at violating basic fundamental
rights with the Patriot Act has only been surpassed by their political exploitation of illegal immigration, including Oklahoma's
latest hoopla laws on the subject, which by the way are totally unconstitutional, but then when did that matter. The US Governments first responsibility is protecting our borders. It was one of the founding principles of
the U.S. Constitution. The blatant failure of our Government to perform its first responsibility is the first item to consider.
The second is the incompetence of the massive bureaucracies that deal with people trying to get into this country. Immigration into this country is part of our entire heritage and the legalities of it have changed over the
years. We are a country of only 300 million people yet we have a higher standard of living, more freedom and the most powerful
country the world has ever seen. A country built on immigration from the rest of the world.
Can you blame the people in Mexico wanting to come here, when all they had to do was walk down that road and cross some imaginary
line to have a decent job and to be free. The Mexicans that have come here didn't set
out to be criminals or break laws, they were trying to escape the squalor, poverty and oppression in their own country. We encouraged them to come here and we let them in. We should offer these
people citizenship as we have done over the past 200 years to the millions of people who have made this country what it is.
This offer needs to be done to encourage them to apply, but done in the spirit that represent the United States of America
and not the vendetta of a Conservative fringe group, nor the opportunism of a Liberal politician. Building
a fence and arresting families based on what they look like, places us on the same level as the totalitarianism of Russia
with their Berlin Wall or the Ming Dynasty of ancient China. If our forefathers were here
today they would be appalled by us.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
IT'S UP TO MOMIn the latter part of the 18th Century, when this country was basically
formed, there were three groups of people that were not considered in the Constitution of this new republic; Slaves, Indians
and Women. Now women had some basic rights, however they were not permitted to vote. Without this right, their exclusion from
government and representation left them at best with a second class citizenship. Abortions were not new to the colonist, as they have not been new through out human history. In colonial
days abortions before ‘quickening' were openly advertised and performed. It
seems that God designed the reproduction process with certain facts that you can't ignore. The first, being is that a
new life such as a fetus is inside of the women and a part of her. It's not part of the electorate or part of the country
or for that matter part of any society. Now God might have done it a lot of ways, but in fact God simply didn't trust
anyone else. The fetus didn't come out of mom as an egg to be taken care of by the tribe. It also wasn't born tiny
as a Panda offspring, to be cared for since it was too dangerous at that size. The problem was the size of its brain as compared
to the rest of the body, Thus it couldn't jump up and run around hours after it was born. Last Dad wasn't to be trusted
at all, considering that God hides the newlife existence for the first three to four months so that Dad doesn't even know
it exists; or anyone else for that matter. It would seem that
that the responsibility of a newlife has been placed in the hands of Mom. And done so by powers of Nature, God, The Planet,
the Solar System, the Galaxy we occupy or The Universe? If a
woman wants to abort a newlife, how are you going to stop her. If she wants to keep a newlife, you can't stop her. Societies
in the past haven't been able to do this unless you believe in criminal actions against the mother. If you pass laws denying
Mom the right to abort a newlife, as in the USA in the 1960's or pass laws forcing Mom to end a newlife by the state,
as in China in the 1980's. You could then pass laws that every woman must have at least 2 children. Is there really a difference? To
say that having an abortion is murder is to charge Mom as the murderer and then to execute her? After all, it is first degree.
What you are really doing is trying to take the responsibility
of that newlife away from where God placed it. And that is with Mom. As
long as the newlife is inside Mom it's part of HER, and in a sense it's not anyone's business. Not President Bush,
the US Congress, the Supreme Court nor you either. It doesn't matter what you think or believe the facts are it's
hers, NOT YOURS. It only exists due to her and the father that created it. After that, it's totally in her control. You
aren't part of the picture. Only Dad has a say, if she agrees with him or if he even knows. You may strap her down on to a table and destroy it or deny her proper medical attention.
Both being different faces of the same coin. Denying her proper medical attention is the basic tool of the state in making
abortions illegal. To state that abortion is legal or illegal
is actually a statement of whether a woman gets medical attention during an abortion or not. It has nothing to do with whether
she will keep the newlife or not, but rather with her safety. Both
sides of the debate run to extremes due to the fact, that their values are colored by their religions and the desire to force
those beliefs on to others. All based in the belief that moms aren't capable of governing themselves. If Mom isn't
capable of governing herself than neither are the men. A lot
of this argument is whether or not we OWN ourselves. The Founding Fathers said ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain unalienable rights, that among these are
LIFE LIBERTY and the pursuit of HAPPINESS.' To put it another way, these rights are yours by you being here. They were
given to you by God. They are yours by the fact of your nature, that you are a human being. Not handed out or controlled by a politician. The unfortunate thing is that the above is from our
Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution, as evidence by the constant wavering of opinions by our irresponsible POLITICAL
judicial system; a system that is more prone to arguing their language than protecting ideals or principles. Self-ownership is the basic foundation of this country, and that includes everyone. I've
always wondered if women had been given the right to vote in 1789 would we even be discussing this now. I'm not a proponent of abortion, what I'm a proponent of is the right for everyone
to live ones life as they see fit, not as the state wishes with its handing out rights as it sees fit. God had to have said ‘Let's leave it up to Mom.'
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
p2p and you
Peer to peer
sharing is another area that has come about with the computer revolution;
in particular the Internet. This rapid advancement
has, as expected caught a lot of people, or if you like companies with their pants down. I’m of course talking
about the music and movie industry. Industries that have influence wealth and thus power. Two organizations out
there are the RIAA for the music folks and the MPAA for the movie ones.
As I write
this I’m listening to Bach’s Six Partitas, played by Glenn Gould. There’re on my other computer in
a file format called mp3. Not sure where I got it or how. I also have the original record (called vinyl’s now), purchased
sometime in the 70’s. I believe I paid $4.00 for it. Today I noticed that on Amazon the Six Partitas will cost me $
12.00 for the first three and $12.00 for the other three. So $4.00 in now $24.00, which works out to a nice 600% increase.
Do any of you out there remember when CDs first came out and how we were all told
that they were better and would provide cheaper and more music for everyone. When was the last time you bought a CD for $4.00.
Of course there is inflation to contend with and we all know how expensive CDs are to make.
Then their where tapes. First the eight track ones, then the small ones you could carry in you car as well as your pocket.
You could also buy a tape playing machine that also recorded the tape in order that you could give it to your friends or enemies.
You could also record radio broadcast. You could also trade one of your tapes for another from someone else.
And guess what; it was done all the time.
It was called copyright infringement or
stealing for an easier term. Also the term piracy is used a great deal. All of these terms can have numerous meanings
depending on what you are trying to achieve. When dealing in the world of P2P I would like to put forward some definitions
of these terms in order to explain what has or is happening.
Sharing is when you give up half of that cookie you are eating to someone else, which leaves you with only a half of the cookie.
In other words you have lost something.
Stealing
is when you sneak into your friends cookie jar and take a cookie that doesn’t belong to you and your friend is less
one cookie.
Trading is when you give one of your
cookies to someone and they in turn give you one of theirs.
Piracy was a term to define thugs that use to roam the seas and attack other ships
killing people and then stealing everything
they had. None of the above terms honestly explain the huge amount
of Internet traffic that is going on with the giving (?) of music or movies.
Before I continue with this analysis let’s clear up a few points. This dissertation is NOT about taking a DVD or CD
and copying it then selling it as the original or even as a copy. Nor is it about buying/renting a DVD/CD then ripping it
to your PC in order to give it away by way of the Internet.
When you download a movie
or music, your friend still has all his cookies.
It isn’t stealing, it’s
getting it for free. Therefore, you are possibly guilty of getting something for free. Well almost free. You had to buy a
computer and then there is that ISP fee every month.
Piracy is the same as stealing. Like
thugs use to roam the seas and attack other ships
killing people and then stealing everything they had. It isn’t
piracy to download a file since no one has been killed and everyone has his cookies.
If I were to place piles of 1000 dollar bills in my front yard and you would pass by, would you pick up one of the piles?
If you did, I technically could have you arrested for trespassing and stealing.
If I was a law enforcement agency it should be called entrapment, although it frequently isn’t.
If you place anything on the Internet it can be copied. Not downloaded necessarily, but usually you can copy it. This is because
it has already been placed on your web browser for viewing.
If you have a TV you can record what is playing on it. Using that VCR from the past or the new digital TV recorders.
If you buy a tape you can copy it. If you buy a CD or a DVD you can copy it and to literally any format you want.
If you have a radio you can copy its broadcast.
This copying has been going on since the
Industries stopped making vinyl’s and went to more convenient and profitable ways of providing you with entertainment.
(profitable to them of course)
So, who is responsible for the fact that you can copy?
If you buy a record (vinyl) you can’t copy it. At least not without a lot of expensive
hardware.
I can’t remember anything about the MPAA or the RIAA in the past. I guess
they were around, but never read about them filing law suites against kids for copying . Or the FBI raiding some ones home
for illegal tapes. This only began when they had the ability to track or find out who is doing it or think they
know.
And it has to do with loss $. claims. Thanks to the
Internet rather than a few copying and giving to their friends you have 100 million people world wide giving the stuff
away. The Industries have one hell of a job ahead of them. Keep in mind that they are not on a noble cause of
copyright protection, but rather one of collecting the money they think they deserve. It has gotten to a volume that
they now think they can see. Where as before they had no way of knowing. Their claims of financial loss actually are
some what dubious and suspect. The industries seem to be hanging on to the past rather than moving with the rest of
the world, using scare tactics and attorneys. Trying to make deals with the IRS as well as ISP’s.
The real losers are the Artist, that for the 85% they give to the Industry
that can’t protect them. (Actually for most it’s 95%) The irresponsibility of the Music and Movie Industry to
its artists borders on criminality. If any lawsuits are to take place, they need to be between the artists and the Industries.
It is the Industries that put out on to the market place CDs that can easily be ripped (copied)and DVDs that can be
re-burned into avi fills, which are easily traded on a world wide Internet. The millions of people out buying or downloading
I can assure you are not interested in hurting the Artist. Just the opposite, they love the artist, which is why they go to
lengths to get their works. They care more for the Artists more than the Industries do; to them it’s a simple meal ticket.
Notice that you never hear of any research that should be going on in this area, by the movie or music industry. Of course,
that would cost money and it’s a lot more entertaining to hire henchman to threaten people as well as the Internet itself. It’s not stealing
It’s not sharing
It’s not piracy
It’s giving something
away To say that people are downloading music and movies
are stopping them from buying them is absurd. There is no way you can prove this. It’s an assumption on the part of
the Industries. Most out there can’t afford the cost of a DVD or CD so they wouldn’t buy them anyway.
You would think that rather than alienating the public the Industries would figure out how to use the Internet to protect
their clients or to put it another way. . . make more money.
They might want to
hire the Pornography Studios to show them how it’s done since this industry has exploded in volume using the Internet,
but then sex sells. When using a P2P software you
give files away. You do not copy the file and give it to anyone. As a matter of fact you don’t copy anything. The P2P
copies it and distributes it over the whole world. Those who do the stealing are those who rent a DVD then rip it to
an avi file and start giving it away on a P2P. Or they are guilty of giving something away that doesn’t
belong to them.
Note; As of this writing downloading music or a movie is NOT
illegal. It’s the uploading or giving away that is illegal. Hence don’t give anything away (or share as
the P2P enthusiast like to call it). Most P2P programs have a share folder; simply keep yours empty. However, when you
download something you become part of a Network that is distributing that something.
Some interesting facts;
The MPAA has just 6 members.
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution; (The Walt Disney Company)
Paramount Pictures
Corporation;
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.;
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation;
Universal City Studios LLLP; and
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
It’s said that there are around 6 million individuals using p2p programs in the USA. I have no idea if that is correct
or even close. I do know that according to the p2p I use there are around 5 million using it world wide. That’s a very
large number of criminals.
The movie Industry fought television, claiming that people would stop going to the theaters.
The movie industry fought the VCR with the same claims.
The radio and music Industry fought the idea of tapes, saying that no one would listen to the radio or buy records.
The movie and Music Industry promoted the use of CDs and DVD’s . Doing so with a lot of false claims on pricing and
more variety.
Seems they were wrong on all areas. If you use a p2p in order to download a movie or music and
are concerned about the FBI breaking down your door and confiscating your computer; then simply don’t save anything
on it. Save it elsewhere or watch the movie then delete it, (completely). Most movies today aren’t worth watching again
anyway.
If you must save it then burn it to a CD or DVD , using that amazing DVD
player that Sony produces (A MPAA member).
For the Industries to attack the millions of individuals who might have music or movies on their personal computers is ludicrous.
They can’t sue and get subpoenas on that many individuals, even they don’t have that much money. Of course what
they do or try to do is pick on a few by random choice hoping that they might get lucky. This is widely publicized,
when they are successful on your favorite news program, which are owned by the same people.
You will have a hard time getting any information on P2P on any of these stations. It’s news, but not the kind they
want you to know about. Makes you wonder how much else is out there, that will never get shown. The P2P idea is an amazing technology and many ideas have been put forth on how the
Industries could capitalize on it. Of course the first step will be for them to get their heads out of the 1950’s.
One thing that is already happening is sites that offer downloadable movies for a price.
The
2 things that are all wrong with them is one the price and second the quality. Only an idiot would waste their time and money
at these places. How about downloading a .mkv file for $1.00, instead of a small .avi file for $4.00. For $3.99 I can
watch first run movies through cable on my TV. Anyone think of
giving them away; say a video file especially designed for computers that could have a company brand on it or a short commercial
break of McDonalds. Television has been doing it for years. You could also do downloading from satellites with P2P system
with a company logo (brand) in the movie. Your audience would be in the millions, worldwide maybe even a billion. A man called Alvin Toffler wrote a book in 1980 titled Third Wave. He related technological
advances to like a wave, slowly building then accelerating until it crashes onto the beach. Some will ride it out, others
will use it, while some will stand up to it, only to be crushed by its force. His Third Wave was the computer.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Polar Bear and the Seal
PB:
Hey there little fellow. How you doin? S: Pretty good, just came up for some air. . . aaah you
ain’t hungry are you? PB: Naw I got my fill yesterday. S: Yea,
we saw, pretty gruesome if you ask me. PB: Hey, I didn’t make this world, just trying to
survive. S: Tell me about it. PB: So what da ya think? S: About what? PB: The global warming thang. S: Global what?
PB: Ya know, it’s getting warmer stuff. S: I wish; you have
any idea how cold it is swimming under this damn ice? PB: Thought with all that blubber you have,
it wouldn’t bother you. S: Well it does. So when is it going to warm up. PB: There’re not sure, but it definitely is. S: Who told you this stuff? PB: Al Gore did. S: You spoke to a human? PB: No, I said
Al Gore told me. S: Where did you meet it. PB: Off the north shore
where I was swimming from one ice to another and it waved to me. So I went over to see what it wanted. S: Wow! what did it say? PB: It said that it loved me. S:
Loved you? PB: Cross my mamby, that’s what it said. S: So why
does it love you? PB: Because I’m beautiful. S: What bullshit. PB: I’m telling ya , that’s exactly the way it happened. S: Ok, ok, so what’s
causing things to get warmer? PB: C02 S: What’s C02? PB: It’s a gas that animals exhale. S: Oh my god. . . . really. PB: Yep and it said that they were doing too much of it. S: Is that why the humans keep
trying to kill us off? PB: No dummy, they like to eat you. S: You
would know all about that. So what else did the Gore thing tell you? PB: That the humans were
doing more than their fair share. S: Exhaling? PB: Yep and it said
I would be a star. S: Like one of those dots in the sky? PB: No!
Like in the human movies. S: Why? PB: I don’t know. He asked
me to swim and make it look like I was having a hard time of it. So I swam out, but how embarrassing it would be, if I looked
like I was having a hard time. Like think who might see that. S: Wow! What else happened ? PB: Hmmm Oh! When I got back I offered to eat one of the humans there with him. You know, to help the global warming
thang. S: Did you? PB: Nope, it said that it would take care of it. S: Eating the human or the global warming thang. PB: It didn’t say, maybe both. S: You sure you’re not hungry? PB: Take it easy dude. S:
Ok, but that’s one hell of a story? Any thing else? PB: Only it kept waving its arms around
a lot and yelling, which was scaring those sled dogs and me too a little. S: Maybe it was trying
to scare the CO2 away. PB: Might be, ya know I didn’t think of that. S: What was it yelling? PB: I’M SMART I’M SMART THE DEBATE IS OVER. S: Thought you said it was AL GORE. PB: I did, don’t ask it’s just what I
heard, ok? S: Sorry, you still not hungry? PB: Look dude as I told
you before I ain’t hungry, but this Al Gore might be. S: That’s all I need, another
predator. PB: I don’t think it eats seals. S: How would you
know that? PB: Cause your too ugly. S: Thanks, so what does it eat.
PB: Not sure, didn’t get the chance to ask. S: You got to be
putting me on. PB: I’m TELLING you dude, exactly the way it happened. S: Yea, so how does it know about this thang thing. PB: I forgot. . . ya know, I asked
it about that and he yelled at me. S: I’M SMART I’M SMART. . . . PB: Exactly. . . while waving his arms. S: Sorry forgot that part. So it then must know? PB: Apparently. S: Wow! So how’s it going to fix it. PB:
Well it tried to explain that, but I didn’t quite understand its words. Something to do with his religion, love of a
river, leaves, birds, tobacco and tree frogs S: Religion? How is that going to get rid of CO1 PB: CO2 S: Right CO2 PB: Not sure. S:
Your making this all up. . . right? PB: HEY I ‘m just reporting what I heard. I stayed until
it left. S: And it grew wings and flew off. PB: No, it took off its
shoes and got on one of those plane thangs, which really stunk the place up. S: Why did he take
off his shoes? PB: Have no idea. Well here comes that damn wind again. I’m heading for the
den. S: Hey. . one sec. PB: What. S: You
think it will come back. PB: Don’t know, depends on how hungry it is. Catch ya later. S: Yea. . . . . lets hope not.
1789
Around 200 plus years ago a few men came up with the idea that people were capable
of governing themselves. The idea wasn’t widely accepted and had never really been tried before. The closest to this
revolutionary concept was Ancient Greece. However a Greek Democracy wasn’t what they had in mind. Their idea was to
include everyone. It should be noted that slavery wasn’t their favorite institution either, but real world politics
kept the issue going until later. From this
handful of men was given birth to a country like never seen before. The Grand Experiment as it has been called became an outstanding
success. But never forget that, it still is an experiment.
Today there are numerous examples that it will continue,
but unfortunately there are also those that give evidence to its failure. It has to do with individual freedom which includes the right to be wrong. It has to due with the
role of government. It has to do with our philosophy on life. It has to do with tolerance. Most of all it has to do with self
ownership and how we define ourselves. If all of
you think, that mankind consists of individual volitional beings, all having value, then those few men were right. Unfortunately
all of us don’t believe this. Just as we have
the right to vote for who represents us in the governments we also have the right to vote in the market place. When you purchase
something you are really voting for it. The product that gets the most votes is the winner. All is based on the premise that
the people know what is best for them. Of course all the other products are still around continually trying to get your votes,
unless governments interfere. Those few men understood the temptation of other men once they are part of government. A politician
for the most part is an individual that has a plan for us. He or she has a preconceived blueprint for our wellbeing. A wellbeing
defined by them, not necessarily as defined by you. It’s also very tempting for these individuals to make claims when
trying to get your votes of giving you something. Note; I didn’t say selling you something. When you buy something you
are trading something of lesser value for something of greater value to you. Or you wouldn’t make the trade. It’s
called the free market place. With political gifts you are usually giving up a piece of free choice. A few areas to illustrate what I’m saying, although there are many more. The income tax is one of the better tools that politicians use to produce
a society to their liking. I’m not saying we shouldn’t pay taxes, but there are other ways of doing it, in order
for our government to be financially supported. One of the latest plans put forth is a national sales tax. You don’t
buy anything you don’t pay taxes. The more you spend the more taxes that you pay. Obviously the wealthier people will
pay more taxes and the poor will pay less. However the Government today or should I say the current gang of politicians would
never allow something like this to happen. It would cost them the control they so desperately need over you, in order to implement
their blueprints and it’s the reason that income tax is so complicated. You want more people to marry; introduce joint
filing to save taxes. Want more single people; then do a marriage penalty tax. Want people to buy homes, even if they can’t
afford them; let them deduct the interest payments. Want less credit cards; no deducting the interest there. Need to get more
taxes, then do a c02 tax, and as always redistribute the funds according to your view of what the world should be. I find
it interesting that according to some politicians that the gas we exhale is causing the globe to warm up. I feel so guilty.
(Notice I didn’t say scientist) How about
seatbelts as an example? Not a big deal you should use them. Driving a fucking car is probably the most dangerous thing you
can do, but am I a criminal if I don’t. It’s a prime example of government protecting me from myself. Is this
what those few men had in mind? If you adopt the premise that government can protect me from myself then were do you stop.
How about a fat tax? We could have a national weigh-in
on April 1 every year and be taxed for so many pounds overweight. Think of all the good it would do. It would save lives,
discourage the few from eating more than their fair share of the food and make everyone more healthier and happier. In addition
we could pro-rate it with your income, then the fat rich would really pay their share. You could then take the taxes and breed
more polar bears. You think that is ridiculous, give it a few years. Government grants is one of those evils that those few men would have been appalled at the level we do it
today. Millions of dollars are given out every year by our government to prove, influence or achieve their view of what the
world should be. Also subsidies that are done to maintain the market place where they want and keeping it to fit in their
blueprints of the world. Educating your children
isn’t really up to you. You just think it is because you were brainwashed by the same criminals that are brainwashing
your kids. It’s called public education, when it should be called child indoctrination. You are made to believe that
you have a say in what is being taught your child, but unless you can afford to send him/her to a private school, you are
stuck with the local establishment. Here he/she will be indoctrinated into homosexuality, global warming, save the manatees,
polar bears, (not seals because polar bears eat seals),drugs, anti-Americanism and atheism. Your child is different than other
children? You need to be concerned about what that difference is. He/She may end up in the back of the class so that he/she
won’t disturb the rest of the group. If your child by chance learns to read, write and balance a check book you are
fortunate. Never mind that he will not learn real American History, that there may be a God or that the world is round. Some suggestions offered has been what is called the script system.
It basically is your child is worth a certain amount of state/federal funds. You chose what school he/she goes to and that
school gets the funds. And how do you think the current public education system feels about this plan? Allow parents to decide
how their kids are educated? How preposterous can you get. Parents aren’t capable of deciding something so important
as the education of their children. Only those who have a thorough knowledge and training are capable of child indoctrination.
I truly think there is a serious problem in this
country and I’m not talking about what your political affiliation is. What I’m talking about is how we define
ourselves and the fact that each human being is a volitional independent being who has never been seen in the past, not duplicated
in the present and never to be repeated in the future. We are all here for a split second and then never to be seen again.
All of us have equal rights due to the fact that we are human. These rights were given to us by our nature or God, if you
like. Never have they been handed to us by some authoritarian government. Everyone is unique as those few men understood and tried to set up
a place where it would manifest itself.
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2008.09.01
2008.06.01
2008.05.01
2008.04.01
2008.03.01
2008.02.01
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| A Gallon of Dollars |
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| A BARREL OF OIL |
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| THOU SHALL NOT KILL |
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| WHY ARE THEY HERE? |
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| IT'S UP TO MOM |
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| P2P AND YOU |
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| POLAR BEAR AND THE SEAL |
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| 1789 |
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