Practice is the best of all instructors.
Publilius Syrus
The Need for Intellectual Property Reform
A patent troll is basically a rent-seeker. Something like 100 software patents a day are granted, many broad and vague. A software developer could independently implement something that a prior developer filed on and not even realize until he launches a successful product and gets a visit from a lawyer demanding a cut of revenues although the developer is unaware of the patent-holder's work. This can lead to analysis paralysis and lower innovation through legal barriers to entry: Big corporations like Microsoft can staff legal departments to scrutinize patents and deal with trolls; small developers don't have Microsoft's scale and revenues.
3 Reasons for Conservatives to Cut Defense
This clip was initially published over a year ago but holds true today as we review the sequestration. I would put manpower cuts back on the table and reduce spending by a small flat percentage across the board, empowering more local managers, say, to find operational savings, say, in staffing, training, etc., consolidating bases, including some foreign bases (say, in Europe and Asia).
Entertainment Potpourri
- The Jack Swagger/Zeb Colter Kerfuffle. In the scripted world of professional wrestling entertainment, the object is to vest the crowd in the match, and regional/national personalities or symbols have often played a role. The good guys (babyfaces) might might come out wearing local sports team gear while the bad guys (heels) may characterize the local team and their fans as losers. This also spreads to national pride with all-American flag-bearing Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Sgt. Slaughter or former Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling champion Kurt Angel, while Russian-anthem singing Nikolai Volkoff, the US-hating Iranian Iron Sheik, the current Swiss US champion, Antonio Cesaro, and various Nazi characters have played despicable heels.
Jake Hager aka Jack Swagger is a former All-American University of Oklahoma (Greco-Roman) wrestler WWE recruited after graduation. The Swagger character, the All-American American, despite winning a couple of titles, was never presented in a babyface patriot character; he comes across as aloof and self-superior with passably marginal mike/promo skills. For whatever reason, since losing one of the two major WWE titles, his star seemed to be on the decline over the past year or so, jobbing (losing) to less impressive talents and finally dropping off TV just to return for the last PPV where he won the right to challenge for his old championship belt. The current character comes across as more angry, less cocky. They've assigned a heel manager, Zeb Colter (I never noticed it 'Colter' vs, e.g., 'Ann Coulter' until recently). At a time when the Congress is seriously pondering immigration reform since the 2007 crash-and-burn, the Colter character is a clear incindiary, scapegoating immigrants as the source of the nation's problems, non-English speaking net taxpayer beneficiaries of social support programs. I know it's all a work--scripted lines, no doubt to build a championship bout with Mexican aristocrat babyface champion Alberto Del Rio. I find the rants unlistenable and offensive--and way off base. An aristocrat isn't dependent on poverty-level support. Perhaps they are building to feuds against Latino stars Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara. Oddly enough, WWE has had to deal with temporary real immigration issues for its top Irish and Scottish stars.
You have to wonder what stunt the writers come up with next. Del Rio has a gimmick of driving to the stage in an expensive auto. Are they thinking of having an "Arizona cop" pull him over and ask to see his (unavailable) papers?
When the conservative website Breitbart complained to WWE about the gimmick as being anti-Tea Party, I was confused. I agree some conservative populists (including Ann Coulter) went ballistic in 2007 and probably took credit when the compromise failed, but the failure had more to do with compromise killing amendments, including killing temporary visiting worker reforms. I think it has more to do with the props in Zeb Colter's "State of the Union" address on Raw (here): in particular, the Gadsden (don't tread on me) flag on the podium and and standing flag in the background. Many in the Tea Party do identify with the Gadsden flag--but they are referring to the tyranny of government, not immigrants. A lot of Tea Party supporters, like me, are strongly pro-immigrant; we don't like trade or immigration policy manipulating access to markets or resources. A number of populist conservatives allied themselves with the Tea Party, but the Tea Party mostly stood against unlimited government, not on a laundry list of other issues: abortion, immigration, etc. We have significant differences with populists, e.g., on Big Defense, the Patriot Act, interventionist policy, the drug war, etc.
All of this may have just become a moot point, because Hager/Swagger was recently stopped for speeding and charged with possession of marijuana and DUI. This is a bonehead move by someone whom is right in the middle of getting a monster push with a possible lucrative title run. After having the former champ run a humiliating gauntlet of jobbing (losing) to other, less talented wrestlers over the recent past, WWE CEO McMahon is reportedly furious over the arrest. Angry enough to make an example of Hager by stripping him of the opportunity of a big Wrestlemania paycheck? Could they work the arrest into the story line? Not sure. I know they are trying to build heat on Swagger, but I would lay off the political rhetoric which probably confuses the audience. I could see an angle where Colter pays off the vigilante Shield to take out Del Rio, and Swagger rival Ziggler cashes in MITB to take the title.
Political Humor
This is sort of a man on the street's version of Jaywalking. Nobody reading this blog, knowing how I feel about fiat currency, would have picked the $5 bill. I mentioned that the US had to suspend selling eagles early this year because of silver inventories:
Above all, as legal tender, [American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins are] the only silver bullion coins whose weight and purity are guaranteed by the United States Government. They're also the only silver coins allowed in an IRA. Prices are based on the market price of silver, plus a small premium to cover minting and distribution costs.The market price for an ouncle of silver is available, e.g., here. Novices, below, confuse denomination with market value. The value of a particular coin, of course, varies by supply and demand, condition (a premium for uncirculated or proof-quality), and commodity value. For example, the melt value of a 1964 dime is about $2.07 at today's prices.
Political Cartoon
 |
| Courtesy of Gary Varvel and Townhall |
Aerosmith, "Dream On". I was surprised to see this single didn't chart better. I consider it a rock classic, like Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven". Brilliant songwriting, arrangement, musicianship and vocals. Those last high notes will challenge your falsetto in the shower.
