Real Thought

Our former Vice-president was before Congress testifying that if the United States does not institute draconian restrictions on CO2 emissions through  so-called “cap and trade” legislation we will leave this planet a uninhabitable, overheated rock.  First, let me say this, if the government legislates maximum CO2 emissions levels, who is going to verify that the country, as a whole, is trying to meet them?  Furthermore, what is to keep me from planting a few trees and the selling the “carbon credits”?  What is to keep me from buying “carbon credits” and continuing to emit as much CO2 as I do now?  Clearly, the “cap and trade” scheme is nothing more than a manipulation of free market principles in order to transfer money from less “eco-friendly” industries to more “eco-friendly” industries, thus providing the preferred industries with a government mandated subsidy under the guise of a free market credit program.

On a micro economic level, individual A who has a large family, buys a large vehicle to transport said family to school, work, the store, an environmental rally, wherever.  Added to the cost of the vehicle is a “carbon offset fee”, added by the producer of said vehicle so that the producer can buy “carbon offset credits”.  Let us say that individual A has religious and personal beliefs that lead said individual to have a large family.  Individual B does not have a large family and buys a small vehicle without a “carbon offset fee” because said individual does not share individual A’s beliefs.  Individual B’s vehicle is, in effect, subsidized by Individual A and Individual A is being forced to subsidize B’s vehicle because of his beliefs.  That is simply not allowable in a free society.  Furthermore, the producer of the vehicles does not have to reduce its overall CO2 emissions because it simply passes the cost of the “carbon credits” it acquires onto Individual A.

Rather than force people to subsidize others through “carbon credits” and other schemes, I have a more effective solution; those who are concerned about the level of CO2 released into the atmosphere should lead by example.  Since almost everything a living human does releases CO2 into the atmosphere from breathing to traveling to eating food which is grown, harvested and transported using petroleum products, I suggest that those individuals reduce their emissions of CO2 to zero immediately.  The proper application of arsenic, selenium, strychnine or lead ought to do the trick.  Those of us who remain can go out and plant some shrubbery.  Without those who wish us to reduce our CO2 output emitting CO2 there should be a reduction in CO2 in the atmosphere and with the additional plants the planet can be saved.

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OK, I get it, the joke is over.  Someone put a REAL president in the White House and give Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid their cookies and warm milk and tuck them in.

The Dow is off by 200 some odd points.  Finally, someone in Washington had the guts to shoo the autoo companies away from the Federal slop trough and it is going to be a beautiful day here in northern California.  What amazes me is that so many people in our country seem to believe that the government is the answer to all of our problems.  I find this attitude more and more pervasive every year.  For those of you who believe that government is the answer, I have a small reading assignment for you.  First, read Thomas Hobbes Leviathan. Once you are done with that you then need to read the Declaration of Independence.  Finally read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. For extra credit you may read either John Locke’s Two Treatises on Government or John Stewart Mills’ On Liberty.

Now I realize that there are those who will say, “Doug, these ideas are old and outdated and besides Ayn Rand was a nutter.”  To them I would say that there are certain principles which are timeless, one of which is the preservation of individual liberty.  Furthermore, I would argue that the furtherance of individual liberty should be the object of any enlightened society  and that the current trend toward collectivization is not a step forward but retrograde movement toward slavery and totalitarianism.  As free individuals we should not be dependent on the state, instead we should solve what ever problems may arise through individual action or voluntary association, if necessary.  If we depend on the state, we become its slave and we sacrifice that liberty which is our birthright and for which so many American lives have been sacrificed.  We squander our inheritance and like Esau sell that which should be most valuable to us for a mess of pottage, the false security of a state taking care of us.

What will it take to make the idiots in Congress, the White House and at the Tresury Department to understand that spending money the government hasn’t got, driving us deeper into debt and printing money is not the way to get the country out of a recession?  There is only one way to climb out of this and that is fiscal restraint.  Insetead of a budget that will drive the deficit to a level that exceeds all previous deficits COMBINED, how about adopting a budget with no deficit.  Yes, I know that doing so will mean drastic cuts in government costs and services.  Yes, I know that it will be extremely painful to do so but if we do so now we will get the economy on track.  We must do this and do it now.  We need to push for a constitutional amandment that will ban deficit spending and we must also limit income taxes to no more than fifteen percent of taxible income.  If we do this now, that will free up a huge amount of capital for infrastructure improvements which, in the long term will expand the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up at the end of the week.  From the reaction in the media you would think that we have all regained all the money that we lost and that happy days are here again.  Here is the problem, a year ago the DJIA was at $13,191.49; it closed Friday at $7,223.98.  That means that while the recent four and five per cent gains are nice, the market still has a deep hole to climb out of.  There is also the nagging persistance of the fear of inflation as the Federal government attempts to spend its way out of this recession.  Is this merely an uptick in the market our the beginning of a long term rally?  I hope the latter but fear the former.

You all be the judges…

I shot some video of the reef tank at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco using a Vado HD mini cam.  I then edited the video clips together and set them to a soundtrack.  Here is the result, enjoy!

of the recession.  Yesterday, my wife and I went to one of the local shopping malls and I figured out why there is a recession.  First there were four candle stores in this mall.  FOUR!  Call me crazy but in my house we have this newfangled electric light and in order to light a room all you have to do is press a switch.  Then, of course, there were the four stores which carry clothes for today;s youth, all Vivian Westwood knockoffs circa 1982.  Yep, four of them also, not to mention Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister which for all intents and purposes are identical.  Do the teenagers of today really need a Ramones shirt?  I knew it was bad when The Blasters “Marie, Marie” was playing in the store.  Can’t today’s kids find their own style?  Do they really need to dress like I did in 1981?  Then there were the ten shoe stores, the five identical jewelry stores and the five or so beauty shops.  Finally there were the 10 or so various corporate food outlets.  There seem to be too many stores selling identical goods to consumers.

On to a large retailer which shall remain nameless, but has a bull’s eye logo.  This store literally had nothing on the shelves.  OK, I am exaggerating a bit, but a good third of the shelves and racks in the store were empty or nearly so.  The toy department was nearly empty as was the cosmetics department.  There were some clothes and expensive electronics, but really it looked as though the store had been picked clean.  There were plenty of shoppers on hand who would have bought something had there been anything to buy.  The same is true of a well known department store, the one that hosts an annual holiday parade in New York.   Once, I used to enjoy shopping at this establishment, everything was neat and orderly and there were plenty of salespeople ready to help you find exactly what you were looking for.  Now, the place has turned into a random hodgepodge of “product kiosks” with nary a salesperson in sight.  If you can find what you are looking for, which is highly unlikely, chances are there will be no one to help you because whom ever you find may or may not be a representative of that particular brand or company.  Furthermore, a number of the products are simply marketed stupidly.  My wife picked up a jar of hand cream which had a label that said, “If your face looks thirty, your hands scream fifty!”  She put it back with a dismissive, “Thanks for telling me I look older than I really am, fuckers!”  Telling women that they look old is not a way to get them to buy your product.

So, why is there a recession?  First, there are too many “brands” which are literally identical to other “brands”.  The idea is not to create a brand but instead to create a product which is unique and which people will buy.  Secondly, the large retailers have lost their way.  They need to return to clean, orderly, well stocked and well staffed stores, not simply becoming a mini-mall within a mall itself.  Finally companies have to go back to producing goods which people want and market them intelligently.  If your marketing ploy is to try to recreate fashions from 30 years ago and there are four other shops just like yours, chances are you are going to fail.  If your advertising insults your target consumer, chances are you are going to fail.  If you do not provide customer service or can’t keep inventory on your shelves, you are going to fail.  An exrtended period of business failures is called a recession.

“…And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.nbsp; And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.nbsp; And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all peoplenbsp; For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”