Random Thoughts on Various Subjects

1. SOUTH PARK DEATH THREATS

Trey and Matt have finally pissed off the Muslims. They are so pissed off that they are threatening to kill Matt and Trey. I hate Muslims. The world would be a better place without the abomination known as Islam.

2. TEACHERS AND TAXES

Teachers and their unions in various states are picketing and showing their asses for their remedy for state budget deficits--higher taxes. Basically, you as a citizen aren't ponying up enough of your hard earned dollars to keep these people in a job. Despite arguments to the contrary, public school teachers have it pretty easy. You get holidays, weekends, and a summer off each year. You get those sweet government benefits. And you don't have to do your job that well because it is virtually impossible to get fired. Basically, you show up and make your kids do practice tests for No Child Left Behind.

People ask me why I don't become a teacher. I prefer making an honest living.

3. DEADLIEST CATCH

I really enjoy this show. It is totally blue collar. I need to write a blog post devoted to blue collar television. It is insanely watchable.

4. GOLDMAN SACHS

I don't know how things will settle out for Goldman in the civil and criminal courts, but the verdict in the court of public opinion is in. Goldman Sachs is a cesspool of shysterism.

I'm not a big fan of the financial industry and firms like Goldman. I used to not care, but that changed when they became the recipients of my looted tax dollars. The disgust amongst the American people is palpable. Goldman taking government dollars is going to turn out to be the worst mistake it ever made.

5. REGULATION MANIA

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't hear someone calling for more government regulation of some industry. This is always the standard answer for every perceived "market failure." The other day, I got my order screwed up at Taco Bell. Do we need a new alphabet agency to correct this "market failure?" Heck no. I complained, and it got fixed right there. Why? Because they want me coming back next time and the time after that. Businesses make money by satisfying customer demands. When they fail to do this, they stop being in business. Only government sponsored businesses can remain in business and defy this economic truth. One of those is Goldman Sachs which critics say needs to be regulated. It boggles the mind.

Regulation attempts to replace the market mechanism of pain with the much less painful mechanism of government decree which is almost universally ignored. There is a reason firms like Goldman encourage former employees to work in government. Those employees will be the writers of the new regulations. Do you see why I laugh at the idiots calling for more regulation?

Government regulation is just a PR tactic to enable companies to keep fucking you over. Remember, Bernie Madoff always got a clear report from the SEC and other agencies. He went YEARS without getting caught. Why? Because people believed the SEC instead of Madoff's critics. There is no substitute for due diligence. Government regulation attempts to be that subsitute, and it always fails. ALWAYS.

Here's a tip. Stop bailing out failed companies and fraudsters at the expense of responsible companies and citizens. Let the market work.

6. PORN AT THE SEC

Employees at the SEC were discovered to be looking at porn on their government computers. So, what? Oh, yeah, that's my tax dollars at work.

The fact is that most people working in office environments from government to corporations to universities spend the bulk of their day goofing off on their computers. I know this because the bulk of my blog traffic happens during working hours M-F. Say what you will about us blue collar people. We aren't goofing off on the internet. We are working and earning the pay we get.

7. THE ELITISM OF STEVE JOBS

Steve Jobs is a control freak. He wants things his way, and we are fine with this because Steve's way is the Right Way. But what if isn't? What if I want porn on my iPad?

The Steve Jobs issue is a fascinating one because it flies in the face of "openness." Openness advocates are democratic and like the spontaneous order of open communities. Jobs is elitist. He is more Nietzschean than Popperian. The irony is how Steve Jobs used to battle IBM and Microsoft for their respective tyrannies. But Jobs did not hate them for not being open. He hated them for being inferior. Now, his enemies are Google and Adobe. But can we claim these rivals as being inferior as well?

The reality is that Microsoft beat Apple by being open. They licensed their software and let developers use it. This is why Microsoft won. Apple was stingy and elitist. This is also why you can buy a PC at a third of the cost of a Mac and why, today, you can get an Android phone on a decent network with coverage while the iPhone is excellent at everything except being a phone because it is stuck with AT&T.

The real question comes down to this. Who is right? That depends. Openness is for the masses. Elitism is for the elite. Jobs is fundamentally an elitist. He might embrace minimalism and wear jeans around the office. But Jobs is an elitist snob. He has better taste than us mere mortals. Is this correct? Absolutely. The guy makes great product that everyone else copies. His beef with Google is that they are plagiarists.

This same divide exists in libertarian circles with Objectivists taking an elitist viewpoint and Hayekians taking an egalitarian viewpoint. It is a fascinating philosophical divide which I won't resolve here. Something for further thought.

8. THE VOLCANO IN ICELAND

They need to form a government agency to regulate volcanic emissions. This will fix that problem. Planetary failure needs to be dealt with by centralized control.

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