The Visible Invisible

April 6, 2011

in Economics

Yes. I know that his makeup is that of a mime, not a clown. Perhaps he could appropriate The Donald’s hair.

Unlike a mime, Alan just can’t shut up. He has regained his belief in his role as an oracle.

Whatever his self-assessment, the fact remains that Mr. Greenspan is a clown. Did he just recently become one? No. It occurred sometime before his public life began.

Yes. That means he was being revered as an expert on economics all those years when he was really an incompetent clod.

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I pay more taxes than General Electric. You pay more taxes than General Electric.

Technically, they pay more, just not to the United States Government.

For some reason, though the bulk of their business income comes from this country, they always seem to lose money here and make tremendous profits overseas. Why didn’t TurboTax do that for me?

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Medi-cure

March 30, 2011

in Economics,Health

Medicare is wonderful. Medicare is terrible. Medicare is in trouble. Medicare is wonderful.

Medicare is also complex. People are always suggesting changes. Some wish to extend it. Some wish to eliminate it.

People are running around predicting bankruptcy for Medicare around 2017 or 2019 or whenever. No, it’s not that bad. There would be a shortfall beginning then, not a bankruptcy. It’s not a case of going from 100% immediately to 0%. [click to continue…]

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My Favorite Teacher

March 26, 2011

in Whatever

It’s been over half a century since I have seen my favorite teacher. That I still recall him means he made a lasting impression.

The year I first met him, counting substitutes, we had five teachers in the first semester of our junior-year English. One left due to pregnancy. One got married and moved. One went into the army and there was a substitute in there somewhere.

Max Vann came just a couple of weeks before the semester ended. He was trained as both a teacher of English and math.

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Have A Party

March 19, 2011

in Politics

Why the Tea Party? Why the absence of civility, what my mother called good manners?

It is the inevitable result of our devotion to various boneheaded ideologies. It makes no difference what the ideology is.

It’s time we recovered from this childhood disease of devotion to ideologies.

The incompetence of our politicians for the past few decades is to blame. They are in the game of politics but never learned the basics.

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Back To Basics

March 17, 2011

in Politics

Many teachers and union representatives became upset when I would first advise giving up tenure. It was necessary to explain or suffer a fate worse than death. Remember, my wife is a retired teacher.

Their understanding of what tenure used to be, and should continue to be, was incomplete. It was necessary to give them a bit of a history lesson.

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The Untouchables

February 21, 2011

in Politics

I went to search for some images of the untouchables of India.What appeared was almost entirely from the television show and the movie loosely based on Eliot Ness and his homies.

Is it possible we aren’t all that aware of the rest of the world?

The word untouchables is applied to the crew of Ness and the Dalits of India. I, however, think it an appropriate descriptive for another group.

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All Fall Down

February 17, 2011

in Economics,International

President Eisenhower, in his farewell address, warned us of the dangers of the military-industrial complex. Was he right?

The US spends more on “defense” than all other countries combined. According to official reports from 2003 and 2005, we have 737 military bases in 63 countries outside of the US and its territories.

This is intentionally misleading. Bases in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, and Uzbekistan are not counted. While there are ten Marine bases in Okinawa, official reports admit of only one. Not all troops are on bases. Personnel are stationed in 156 countries.

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There has been a joke circulating through Egypt.

His advisers tell Mubarak that he needs to draft a farewell and goodbye speech to the people. Naturally, he asks where the people are going.

Here I am prepared to offer the world my assessment of the situation and prospects in Egypt and I get blindsided by the breaking news that Mubarak is expected to step down this evening. No he didn’t. Yes he did.

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And The Loser Is

February 9, 2011

in Whatever

My days of playing football began 60 years ago. No. We did have helmets.

Back then, we played both offense and defense. Not just because I was the 2nd smallest guy on the team, I was terrible at both.

I don’t think I could have gotten better by using steroids. They may not even have existed back then. At least we had never heard of them.

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