Monthly Archives: September 2010

Posted in Elections 2010, House of Representatives, Politics: North Carolina

Tagged BJ Lawson, David Price, North Carolina, North Carolina 4th District, North Carolina Politics, Politics, Republican

Hurricane Update: September 9

Posted on September 9, 2010 | Leave a comment

Say good morning to Tropical Storm Igor. He formed off the coast of Africa and is very VERY far from the US mainland.

However, for those keeping score, this puts us at:

9 named storms
3 Hurricanes
2 Major Hurricanes
0 Landfalls

The Prediction:

14-20 named storms
8-12 Hurricanes
4-6 Major Hurricanes

We’re on pace it would seem.

Posted in Technology

Tagged Hurricane, National Hurricane Center, North Carolina

What is Greed?

Posted on September 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

I have been been inundated by hits as a result of an Internet search to “Greed”. This is what I posted about the word some time ago:

Awhile ago, Neil Boortz offered a challenge to his listeners; Define Greed.

See, Boortz is a Libertarian [good on him!] and the general feeling amongst Libertarians is that greed is used as a descriptor to generalize capitalists. That is; Capitalists are “greedy”.

I agree with Boortz’s general assertion; Capitalists are NOT all greedy. And more specifically, capitalism is not necessarily greedy.

However, that doesn’t change the point of the definition of the word “Greed”.

Let me take my shot at the definition:

GREED: That condition, wherein an individual or organization, willfully attempts to accumulate more of a “thing”, be it money, power or prestige, by restricting the Rights and Liberties of another individual or organization.

Greed is meant to be a negative word. And that’s fine.

What is wrong is when it is applied to capitalism indiscriminately.

Here is what the master has to say about Greed:

Posted in Economics, Liberty, Quotes

Tagged Greed, Milton Friedman

This for That

Posted on September 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

We’re human. Subject to all the vagracies that go along with that. We get our feelings hurt. We get defensive and competative. We have a born and bred desire -need in fact- to protect ourselves and our own.

It’s natural for us to react to situations where we feel threatened. And those reactions, are not always what we would want them to be. In many cases, days or weeks after, as we look back, we wish that we would have been able to handle the situation better.

But in the heat of the moment–we just….react.

It’s natural after all. But we should try to do better. Continue reading →

Posted in Liberty, Politics: National, Raising Men

Tagged Koran, Politics

Value: Creation and Destruction

Posted on September 6, 2010 | 1 comment

There are three things that you can do with money:

Make more of it
Trade it for something you value
Piss it away

Mostly I want smaller government because I’m afraid that the government is worse at 1 and 2 than I am. More often than not, they’re Pissing it Away. Either for votes, or, if they really ARE trying to make things better, they just don’t know how. [‘Cause serious, if they knew how, they’d be out doin’ it and not subjecting themselves to government].

I know there are things we need a government to do; I know that.

But there are other things that a government SHOULDN’T do; and THEY should know that as well.

And marketing cars is one of those things.

Posted in Economics, Economy, Politics: National, Uncategorized

Tagged Abuse of Power, Barack Obama, Casg for Clunkers, Keynesian, Leftist, Stimulus

Unemployment? Perhaps Unemployment is the “New” Job?

Posted on September 6, 2010 | 1 comment

More and more I’m convinced that what we see here isn’t a true indicator of unemployment. Rather, what we’re seeing is a text book example of:

In other countries, particularly in Europe, benefits are more generous and last longer. The drawback to this generosity is that it reduces a worker’s incentive to quickly find a new job. Generous unemployment benefits in some European countries are widely believed to be one of the main causes of “Eurosclerosis,” the persistent high unemployment that affects a number of European countries.

And can you guess who said THAT?

The most Liberal Economist Alive: Paul Krugman; that’s who.

Anyway, Exhibit in the Unemployment Fallacy:

Posted in Economics

Tagged Paul Krugman, Recession, Unemployment

Government Regulation and Licensing

Posted on September 3, 2010 | 1 comment

I recently posted about my experience with plumbers and gutter guys. I discovered that plumbers were horrible at communicating, showing up on time, being proactive and delivering. Gutter guys, on the other hand, not only call ahead to confirm appointments, show up 5-10 minutes early and deliver quotes on time. They also include the added benefit of bringing the beer.

Hard to beat.

Both professions are being hammered by the recession. And you can make the argument that the gutter guy is hit harder; his is a discretionary expense. Both need the work and as groups, should be equally motivated. They weren’t.

My conclusion?

One is a licensed and regulated industry. The other isn’t.

But isn’t government regulation necessary in certain industries?

Posted in Politics: National

Tagged Free Market, Government Inefficiency, Regulation

Latest Oil Spill: The Good News

Posted on September 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

A sense of doom hit me in the pit of my stomach when I heard the news:

The Coast Guard is responding to a report of a rig explosion and fire “and people in the water” in the Gulf of Mexico south of Vermilion Bay, authorities said.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel said the rig is around 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay and that a helicopter earlier today reported that it was in fire “and that there was smoke and there were people in the water.”

A very tangible sense of “here we go again” washed over me.

Posted in Energy, Fun, Politics: National

Tagged Barack Obama, Oil Spill

Iraq: Looking Back

Posted on September 2, 2010 | 2 comments

The war is over, the Dragon is slain.

And what do we have to show for it?

Just shootin’ from the hip and not really digging into numbers? I’d say, “Not much”.