Go here and read.
The reason is that pretty much every Republican advocated policy is stupid, even when they have good intentions. The latest is the whole "drill, drill, drill" meme that is being pushed as a real solution to gasoline prices.
I'll admit I'm a bit up in the air about the price of gas: Does the good that high prices do offset the hurt that it causes lower income families? I really don't know the answer, but I do know that the Republican solution will do no good to anyone but oil companies, yet people--in large numbers--are falling for it...again.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Scott Adams on Economists
The gist of the article (linked below) is that Scott Adams wants to keep his money, and so will present the data he himself collected in such a manner as to justify his greed...
I like Scott Adams. I usually find Dilbert funny and his books are an amusing read. CNN posted an article he wrote about a poll he funded asking economists about the presidential nominees. It is not funny, it is a little sad.
Now he is honest enough to admit that he is a greedy wealthy person. One of the tiny percentage of this country that will actually be taxed more by Obama (while most of us get bigger tax breaks). His rationale is the same as most greedy people: the dirty government will mismanage/waste it, and (not explicitly stated) he earned it.
Taking issue with the second point first... Wealthy people earn more than poor, not because they are harder working or more deserving, or even more capable/smarter. They earn vast quantities of money because of luck. It happens that their talents had the good fortune to be developed, discovered and are more in demand. But they do have a tendency to think it is because of some sense of deserving. Hard work, ability, can get you a decent living, depending on location and your specific line of work that may mean $50k/yr, or $150k/yr, but that's about it. People making several hundred thousand to millions a year are not more deserving, just more fortunate. Of course they also have the most to spare for funding campaigns, so guess what often happens...
As far as his first point: government does have waste, but also funds the military, education, research, infrastructure, law enforcement... Waste other than military gets lots of attention but it is a tiny portion of the US budget. Cutting taxes to rich people doesn't mean less waste it means less for good programs. Of course, they can afford to send their children to school w/o government support and get health care without government support, and can even hire bodyguards, so have less need for police, so why should they give a damn? About the only thing they can't do is hire an army, so it's always okay to fund the bejeezus out of that cash cow.
The biggest problem though, is that, because of his belief, he does his damnedest to talk up the partisan nature of the economists. So I wonder: are economists views based on politics or are their political views based on economics? I would guess the latter in which case, the partisan divide is not only moot, it's idiotic. Scott Adams is a smart guy, and a funny fellow, but he wants his money so badly that he is pushing hard against the rather overwhelming opinion supported by the economists he paid to have polled:
Obama is better for the Economy of this nation.
I like Scott Adams. I usually find Dilbert funny and his books are an amusing read. CNN posted an article he wrote about a poll he funded asking economists about the presidential nominees. It is not funny, it is a little sad.
Now he is honest enough to admit that he is a greedy wealthy person. One of the tiny percentage of this country that will actually be taxed more by Obama (while most of us get bigger tax breaks). His rationale is the same as most greedy people: the dirty government will mismanage/waste it, and (not explicitly stated) he earned it.
Taking issue with the second point first... Wealthy people earn more than poor, not because they are harder working or more deserving, or even more capable/smarter. They earn vast quantities of money because of luck. It happens that their talents had the good fortune to be developed, discovered and are more in demand. But they do have a tendency to think it is because of some sense of deserving. Hard work, ability, can get you a decent living, depending on location and your specific line of work that may mean $50k/yr, or $150k/yr, but that's about it. People making several hundred thousand to millions a year are not more deserving, just more fortunate. Of course they also have the most to spare for funding campaigns, so guess what often happens...
As far as his first point: government does have waste, but also funds the military, education, research, infrastructure, law enforcement... Waste other than military gets lots of attention but it is a tiny portion of the US budget. Cutting taxes to rich people doesn't mean less waste it means less for good programs. Of course, they can afford to send their children to school w/o government support and get health care without government support, and can even hire bodyguards, so have less need for police, so why should they give a damn? About the only thing they can't do is hire an army, so it's always okay to fund the bejeezus out of that cash cow.
The biggest problem though, is that, because of his belief, he does his damnedest to talk up the partisan nature of the economists. So I wonder: are economists views based on politics or are their political views based on economics? I would guess the latter in which case, the partisan divide is not only moot, it's idiotic. Scott Adams is a smart guy, and a funny fellow, but he wants his money so badly that he is pushing hard against the rather overwhelming opinion supported by the economists he paid to have polled:
Obama is better for the Economy of this nation.
Whither blows the GOP?
she is woman, hear her roar,
he is POW, hear them snore.
to think that those who’d run our land
would deign to look down on us, to stand
there lying bald-faced, with little recompense.
is everything republican, now lacking common sense?
Yea, I'm not sure republicans ever did what they said. I liked some of the libertarian ideas they espouse, but they never follow through. At least they used to just bend and stretch the truth rather than outright lie. I don't like the whole of the Democrat platform, but I like enough of it, and I certainly trust them tons more.
he is POW, hear them snore.
to think that those who’d run our land
would deign to look down on us, to stand
there lying bald-faced, with little recompense.
is everything republican, now lacking common sense?
Yea, I'm not sure republicans ever did what they said. I liked some of the libertarian ideas they espouse, but they never follow through. At least they used to just bend and stretch the truth rather than outright lie. I don't like the whole of the Democrat platform, but I like enough of it, and I certainly trust them tons more.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
I am such a science geek
I was deliberately arranging apples in an HCP array, not for fun, but because I wanted to fit as many in the box as possible and they were too big for me to use a cubic packing and get three wide. Moreover, I realized that some of the apples were larger than others, and I thought that, if the size difference were great enough, and I had the proper ratio that maybe a BCC would work out better. Of course this lead to a web search on close packing while eating one of the apples. Suffice to say that either HCP or FCC (or CCP) would pack the best, but since I only have enough apples for 1 layer plus a bit, there is no way to distinguish the two.
I think I need more apples.
I think I need more apples.
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