We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Albert Einstein
Reason Magazine Is Having a Sequestration Sale
Who says libertarians don't have a sense of humor? Act now and you can save 2.3% or 34 cents on a new subscription. When Obama heard about the promotion, he called it a dumb, arbitrary cut.
Ironic Quote of the Day
Who says Obama isn't good for business?
Gun-maker Sturm Ruger & Co. just posted its highest annual profit since at least 1987. People are flocking to buy guns, anticipating stifling new regulations. The company's net income increased to $70.6 million in 2012, up from $40 million in 2011. Revenue increased 50% to $491.8 million last year. - investment newsletterNot to mention traditional coinage:
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| Courtesy of Reuters |
Credit Obama for economic uncertainty and Fed monetary policy:
As of January 29, silver Eagle sales for the month were 7.1 million ounces, data from the U.S. Mint's website showed, surpassing its previous record of 6.1 million ounces set in January 2012; gold coins also posted their best performance since July 2010Think Data Privacy Isn't A Serious Issue? Think Again
I've mentioned one of the problems I've had marketing myself for government DBA gigs is time-consuming, duplicate inefficient background investigations. Some departments (e.g., the Pentagon or the State Department) require secret/top secret clearances which can take months--assuming you have a sponsoring defense contractor. The process can take up to 6 months and is expensive (but you can't get one on your own. You can't bill until the clearance is granted, so even if I found a sponsor I would need to find an interim gig. It's simply easier to find someone with a recent clearance, like personnel leaving the military.
There's a lower, less time-consuming (maybe half the elapsed time) form of background investigation called public trust. I've had it done by three federal agencies; even then, two agencies I haven't worked for--DHS and SSA--would require new public trust applications (I've had talks in the past with vendors.)
Whichever process--and this is the key point--is going to do a criminal background and a credit check--so if you've declared bankruptcy, you won't get a clearance. Why? Obviously people in financial dire straits are more susceptible to bribes.
Is there anyone whom is not aware of identity theft? Zane Purdy, who has served in the Air National Guard, was making a comfortable six-figure income as a General Dynamics defense contractor with top secret clearance--enough that he could afford to pay for his wife's nursing studies and his 2 kids to attend private school.
And then his world began to fall apart. The IRS claimed that he owed them $10,000 and put tax liens on his property. The military suspended his clearance and General Dynamics had to lay him off. The best job he could find is as a restaurant waiter paying $7.25 an hour; other potential employers are wary he is overqualified given his experience and advanced degree. His kids are in public school and his wife dropped out of her nursing program. He can't afford an attorney, and he and his wife are having to ration their medications for hypertension.
What happened? A women working with medical records at a local regional center sold confidential data of some 800 patients, including Purdy. The thieves used the information to file for $1.6M in fraudulent tax refunds from the IRS.
Should we really be surprised that a government that writes out checks to dead people obviously lacks sufficient controls in disbursement of refunds? That after the woman who stole his identity has been sentenced in a federal court, his clearance remains in suspended status?
Speaking as a professional DBA, there have been technical solutions for years to cloak sensitive computerized information like social security numbers. One very simple design--minimize input (especially hardcopies) of sensitive information.
Reason Nanny of the Month
"Dumb, Arbitrary
I Haven't Called For Obama's Impeachment--Yet
Remember the Ramirez cartoon that showed the last time the GOP controlled the Senate (2006), federal spending was $2.7T; the federal budget is 40% larger at $3.8T. Sequester cuts amount to $85B--less than one-tenth the projected deficit and the increase in budget. How many people believe that the bulk of budget bloat is in meat inspection, airport safety, military fuel, etc? As I've written, he is cherrypicking cuts in the hope of doing political damage to the GOP. He is overtly politicizing carrying out his duties, not carrying them out to the best of his abilities--and I believe this constitutes a violation of his oath of office, a potential impeachable offense.
If I was Chairman of the Board and Obama was the CEO, I would have already fired his ass for cause. For example, Reader's Digest in 2008, in conjunction with taxpayer watchdog groups, estimated nearly $1T is wasted annually--on noncompetitive bidding processes, abandoned big ticket items, maintaining unused federal properties, various fraud (healthcare, disability, etc.), excess payments, we pay hundreds of billions in interest in our mammoth debt, etc. Not to mention wasteful oversight of contractors. Poor government audits, particularly of the Pentagon. Tax breaks and subsidies. I could go on, but you get the picture. I've also written about selling assets, streamlining government, deferring purchases and projects, cutting training and business travel, layoffs, compensation and hiring freezes, etc.
One of my favorite fellow libertarian-conservatives, Andrew Napolitano has this to say:
The president—who once championed the idea of sequesters and even threatened to veto any congressional effort to dismantle them—now has decided he can't live without that additional 2 percent to spend. So, he has gone about the country trying to scare the daylights out of people: Prisoners will be released from federal prisons, soldiers won't have enough bullets in their weapons, we will need to endure five-hour waiting lines at the airports, Social Security checks will be late, and similar nonsense.
[Obama] cannot just intentionally release prisoners or weaken the military or inflict maddening delays on the flying public in order to make his fearful warnings come to pass.
His job is to uphold the Constitution, to make the executive branch of the federal government work. The president has taken an oath to "faithfully execute" his office. The words of the oath are prescribed in the Constitution. The word "faithfully" requires him to enforce the laws whether or not he agrees with them. It also requires him to enforce the laws in such a manner that they make sense—so that the federal government basically performs the services we have grown to expect of it.
But if the president enforces the laws so that they hurt rather than work well just so he can say "I told you so" rather than "I'll work with you," then he will be inviting his own political misery or even his own impeachment.McDonald's Worldwide
This isn't a Big Nanny/Food Police story--it has more to do with how Americans can win market share overseas by adapting to local tastes. In many MBA programs there's a capstone business strategy course. The choice of my small group's major presentation was McDonald's. There were some sentimental reasons: my co-lead had courted his then girlfriend/now wife over a long distance--like they lived maybe 150 miles apart, so on weekends they would both drive to a midpoint McDonald's. In my case, my siblings and I used to watch a local kids' program in the Panama City, FL area where McDonald's did product placements. My folks had a limited budget (enlisted servicemen didn't make as much then), but on special occasions like a sibling's First Communion, they would take us there: I still have fond memories of vanilla milkshakes although I haven't had one in years. (Our conclusions are no longer relevant; McDonald's expansion then was much slower and controlled. I remember some (legendary CEO) Ray Krocisms unearthed by our Indian teammates would make my eyes roll--e.g., (paraphrased) "there's only one way to prepare a hamburger: you fry it. On the other hand, there are too many ways to prepare a hot dog: boil, grill, microwave, roast, bake..." I would mutter, "Has Kroc been to a major league baseball game or a backyard BBQ?"
I've owned a few shares in a DRIP plan since I worked in academia. Oddly enough, I lived a short distance away from their corporate headquarters in the Chicago suburbs; some agencies used to subcontract DBA's to them, but I never got short-listed when I was on the market. During my Low Carb phase in 2003-2004 I finally got frustrated and sent them a single-spaced letter of something like 15 suggestions. Soon thereafter I got a response from some company attorney returning my letter, saying as a matter of policy they don't accept unsolicited letters, no one ever read my letter, etc. My first reaction was, is this way you deal with customer/shareholder feedback? Were they afraid I would sue if they independently introduced similar concepts? I'm a problem solver--I'm more interested in getting results than credit.
What I really find annoying was their circular reasoning--"we sell what our customers want to eat: they don't want to buy so-called healthy foods". We can only buy what's on the menu. Granted, they constantly test market concepts. But McDonald's had been selling salads for years with middling success; when they upgraded their salads, sales exploded. I'm still confused by some McDonald's policies; for instance, I had colleagues whom love the McRib, but McDonald's has sold it on a seasonal basis.
The reason I mentioned this is because the Chicago Tribune has a very interesting slideshow of foreign menu items/concepts here. Among the items I found interesting: a breakfast soup, a breaded shrimp burger, a curry pan, a salmon wrap, grilled kofta (a Middle East style meat loaf), lobster roll, samurai pork burger. grilled cheese (with ham), and burger/egg sandwiches. Sides: shrimp scampi. gazpacho. Desserts: chocolate orange pie, minicakes, chocolate mousse. Family bundles. It's too bad, of all the American outlets out there, some don't experiment with a "Taste of the World" combo for those of us whom like a little variety in our diets.
The most amusing slide is a hot dog marketed as a breakfast food in Japan. As soon as I saw the ketchup in the photo, I said to myself, "Uh-oh". I didn't even have to read the Trib's reaction. I don't think Obama would have been elected dog catcher in Chicago if he got caught putting ketchup on a hog dog. It's considered an abomination, a desecration of a hot dog as any Chicago resident knows. I made that mistake one time when I first moved to Chicago. For a minute, I thought that the vendor was going to force me to sell him back the hot dog. He finally said something to the effect if I was going to ruin his food that I should at least have the common courtesy to do it outside his line of vision.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Lisa Benson and Townhall |
Journey, "When You Love a Woman". Hands down, my favorite Journey song; pure songwriting genius and one of my all-time favorites (I still remember being blown away when I first heard it performed), Steve Perry has the best pipes in the business: what Perry can do with one of the greatest love songs ever written (well-crafted lyrics, memorable melody--Perry co-wrote the song) is pure pop music magic. And on a controversial topic disputed among pop music fans: Journey without Steve Perry is not Journey. I wish I could sing like Steve Perry.
