Milton Friedman, R.I.P.

A great American died today. His name was Milton Friedman. He spent over 70 of his 94 years as an economist. He influenced the Reagan administration and many others. Living through the Great Depression (he was in his late teens and early twenties at the time) he saw that it was government policy that turned a recession into the worst financial crisis in generations.

Throughout this time he was a great champion of liberty, both on social and fiscal issues. He viewed the war on drugs as a good signal of how the government can cause massive social corruption through policy decisions in which it need not be involved. As he once remarked, it is policies that make drugs illegal that protect the drug cartels.


He rightfully fought against unions, remarking:

"The unions might be good for the people who are in the unions but it doesn't do a thing for the people who are unemployed because the union keeps down the number of jobs, it doesn't do a thing for them."

In the 70's, he saved the economy in Chile. Throughout the late 20th century, his advice brought about massive tax cuts to the United States, as he was "in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible."

He probably did more to move us away from socialism than anyone else. Dr. Milton Friedman will be greatly missed.

Stupid Voters

Looking at early election results, I see that our country is really, really headed down the wrong path. In various states, we've got people voting against legalizing marijuana (where's the fun in that) voting against stem cell research, voting to amend their consitutions to ban something that's already banned (gay marriage. What's coming up next, "kill all gays?"), voting against using slot machines to fund education (idiots in Ohio), and voting in several states to raise the minimum wage (which will lead to huge unemployment and reduced working hours).

The one bright spot at this time is that it seems Michigan is voting to restrict discrimination against white people, known to many as affirmative action.

These are just projections at this point though, and who knows what will happen in the morning.

How I Voted

US House VA District 11: Hurst (D). 

 

I just couldn't vote for Tom Davis.  I wrote him a lot of emails asking him how he stands on certain issues.  I wasn't pleased with most results.  He voted against online gambling, the NRA rates him a D, and he seems like a typical big government conservative, so I figure the Democrat can't be much worse. 

 

US Senate VA: George Allen

 

In the battle between two assholes, I'll vote for the one that will keep taxes low.

 

Gay Marriage Ban: Voted Against

 

These bans are a waste of everyone's time.  Keep this bullshit off my constitution, there's already a VA law against it.  Also there are some very real concerns about this law impacting those who want to give medical power of attorneys to non spouses, or use wills to leave their property to non-relatives.

 

School bonds, money for parks, money for police, etc.

 

Voted against all of these bonds.  My county wanted me to authorize at lest $75M in bonds.  I don't want my taxes going up. 

Auto Quality

When choosing a car, quality is usually fairly high on everyone's list as things to consider.  I have been the primary driver of 3 cars in my life, two of which have been around long enough to judge quality.

 

I found a nifty little tool on Edmunds: http://www.edmunds.com/maintenance/maintenance.do

 

It allows you to see any Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) that are issued for a car.  These are basically "known issues" that the dealer probably won't fix for free, but have been reported by enough people that the powers that be think that dealers should be given a heads up in case customers come in complaining about this problem.

 

I have looked at various cars, some known for quality and some not, that have been made since 1998.  The average number of TSBs seems to be around 20-30.  Some of these are repeats with updated information.

 

My 1999 Saturn SL1 was not a high quality car, but it had only 23 TSBs from 1998 - today.

 

My 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT was an even lower quality car, and it had 121 TSB's issued from 2000-today.  There were at least 8 major issues (leaking floor, transmission rattle, engine misfires, etc) that affected me.  This is not including other issues that came up, costing me several thousand dollars.  Keep in mind that I sold this car with only 60,000 miles on it!

 

Moral of the story.  Mitsubishi's are shitty cars, probably worse than Fords, Kia's and anything else you can come up with.  Stay away!

 

PS: A review on my new car will be coming up soon.

Where I've Been

I've been here lately, but more busy than usual. I recently got a pseudo-promotion at my job. I say pseudo because my boss left and I was asked to take over, but since he was at the same official title as me, my title remains the same, as does my pay for now. I am now a Team Lead. I currently have no team to lead, but that will most likely change within the next month.

Other than that, I took a trip to Shenandoah National Park. Skyline Drive is one of the most beautiful 100 miles of roadway in the country. I recommend anyone who hasn't been there to go. The hiking is great too, we hiked three trails. One was to Hawksbill the highest point of the park, another was to a waterfall and yet another was a rock scramble to a great 360 degree view of the park.

Good News, Bad News

Thumbs up: Studies show that smoking weed might help prevent alzheimers disease, so do your grandparents/parents a favor and roll them a joint!

Thumbs down: Many states, including my own have banned or are planning to ban the AWOL, or alcohol without liquid. This device turns alcohol into a vapor so you can inhale it. No bad taste, no hangovers. The liquor industry was scared to death by this gizmo, since it suddenly made their product look like a drug...

But seriously, since alcohol is 100% legal for adults, why shouldn't they be able to consume it however they want? If I want to inject alcohol into my veins, why not? Not that I have done that, or inhale it, but why should we really care what other people are doing with their alcohol? Not just in bars, this law prohibits you from using alcohol like this in your own home.

GOP Scandal

It was just announced today that former Congressman Mark Foley (R, FL) is gay. Evidence has recently showed that he was having cyber sex with teenage boys who served as his pages in recent years. I think this is an interesting development for several reasons. Though it seems many people knew about this recently it was only revealed a month before the election, which I believe is unethical; this should have been released when the information was known. Also, the press is calling Foley a pedophile, but the boys were 16-17, which is of the age of consent in DC.

Some things for all of you readers to watch are the midterm elections in November, it will be interesting to see how this affects the Republicans fighting for re-election.

As a side note, to those of you who are unfamiliar with how House elections work, districts have been gerrymandered to the point where just about all seats are practically uncontested since each party has a clear majority in each district.

More Congressional Medling In Our Lives

Over the weekend, Congress did their best to ban online gambling, making it illegal for banks to process money used for such a purpose.  This new bill (which should become law soon), cost the industry billions of dollars and will make it very hard for casual sports bettors like myself (I play a few $5 bets a month) to have fun betting on the football games. 

 

The way this law was passed is also very odious.  Most of The Senate did not want to pass this legislation, but a few Senators like Bill Frist added it to a bill to enhance port security, so the only way to vote against the ban on gaming would be to vote against port security.  Congress uses large bills like these to do everything from banning gaming to giving some hick a million dollars to study the feces production of catfish. 

 

888.com has already suspended betting operations in the US and most others are probably going to follow soon.  So now living in America means that you are in one of the only countries that will not allow you to place a bet online!!!

 

Of course Congress is just as corrupt as any other organization, so they are allowing gambling online for state lotteries and horse racing, since those industries have already filled the Congressmen's pockets with money.

Don't Cook That...It's the Law

From the city that brought you gun bans, smoking bans, and bad drivers comes a proposed ban on trans fats, the kind of fats that make french fries crispy and donuts good-tasting. Most doctors agree that these fats are not good for you, but in moderation they are unlikely to do you in on their own.

The NYC ban would not apply to grocery stores (yet), but this is one locale that is already very far down the slippery slope of limiting personal choice and personal responsibility in the name of public health.

With the quality of the air in the big apple I'm surprised they aren't requiring children to wear face masks like the Chinese do.

You want to know something that's much more dangerous than trans fats? Driving. Car accidents kill more than 45,000 people in the United States each year, and more people in New York state than died on 9/11.

New York was once a great, tough city but it is on its way to becoming a laughingstock.

I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up!

To go along with my previous post, here is a lovely satire from The Onion, that describes just how stupid the intelligent design/evolution debate is. 

 

These are the same type of people who imprisoned Galileo for saying the Earth revolved around the sun and who make a mockery of human intelligence.

Crazy California

The state of CA is suing several auto companies, asserting that they are responsible for billions of dollars in damages caused by global warming. While many environmental kooks will applaud this lawsuit, I hope it fails.

First of all, while global temperatures may be up a degree worldwide, the part of it that was caused by humans is up for significant debate. Some claim it is possibly .01 degrees, some say most of the whole degree. At any rate, tens of thousands of years ago we were in an ice age, this is simply the other end of that curve. When dinosaurs ruled the earth and our ancestors were some type of rodent, temperatures were probably different from what they are today.

Secondly, if this lawsuit succeeds it could open the door to suing just about every manufacturing company, sending even more companies out of the US to build products and do their work in more business friendly countries.

Thirdly, CA is naming Toyota and Honda on the lawsuit. No other manufacturers make and sell as many low polluting hybrid vehicles as these guys. Taking away their profits just gives them less incentive to spend money researching cleaner and greener technologies.

Shame on you California.

Idiots

On one side, there are idiot gubernatorial candidates stressing that Intelligent Design (which should be known as backward, religious idiots) should be taught alongside evolution. Remember that intelligent design has absolutely no backing among scientific academics and the only people who support it are those who are too dumb to see the facts. They routinely say that there is no concrete fossil evidence of evolution.

Which brings me to my other point.

On the other side, every day there is more proof that yes, we humans have evolved from something else.

Organic E. coli

The news is just now reporting that the recent outbreak of e. coli came from organic spinach.

I've known people who always buy organic products, despite the fact that they usually cost 10-40% more than conventional foods. No study has ever shown that organic food is better for you in any way.

This incident was bound to happen. Organic guidelines require produce to be grown without the use of any artificial chemicals, so instead of the safest, most scientifically advanced synthetic fertilizer, organic farmers use manure (cow shit). Cow shit can sometimes contain bacteria such as e. coli. These foods are consumed without cooking or pasteurization, greatly increasing the chances of people becoming ill.

Organic farming is very similar to the type of farming that was present in America 100 years ago, as far as the substances that are used to preserve the harvest. 100 years ago America's food supply was not safe.

Now we have companies like Whole Foods that sell these potentially dangerous products.

Virginia Law Would Reck Businesses, Lives

There is a proposal on the ballot in my home state (commonwealth) of Virginia that appears to merely be the usual "marriage is a man and a woman" type constitutional amendment, but is actually much more sinister.

The Virginia initiative has language that is so ambiguous it could open up attacks on arrangements that straight umarried couples have agreed to, such as wills, power of attorney, employer benefits, etc.

There are many groups fighting the passage of this law, and thankfully currently only around 45% of Virginians are supporting this measure, which could drop substantially once they read the rest of the bill, which says the Commonwealth will not recognize: "another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage."

Businesses are against this measure, because they may not be able to compete with businesses in Maryland and other states that would be able to offer benefits to domestic partners, whether they be of the same sex or not.

I urge all individuals and businesses in the area to support a defeat of this ballot question. Virginia was recently listed as the most "business friendly state" by Forbes. Let's not shoot ourselves in the foot.

Astroglide Airlines

No posts for a while, been busy.

Seems all the new restrictions the TSA imposed after the British/Muslim/Terrorists thought about using liquid explosives are still in effect.

The GOOD news is that, according to the TSA's website, up to 4 ounces of "Personal Lubricants" are allowed as carryon luggage. Since any amount of toothpaste, shampoo, mascara, chapstick and a myriad of other items is prohibited, I'm not sure if this admission of allowing K-Y on the flight is an official invitation to join the mile high club, or some kind of TSA joke.

Yes, contact lens solution is allowed, but hand sanitizers are not. I personally have no idea why the TSA is now allowing a sex-related item on board, but I think if the people at the TSA were getting more of it, they might ease up on the other restrictions too!