Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.
Samuel Johnson
Just a Coincidence?
I don't really write this blog for page views, but I've noted the posts over the last 2 days pulled in roughly a third or fewer of the regular readers as normal; in fact, for stretches of hours today not a single page view over the whole blog. and my highest post total was for a 2009 post. I've had family members n the past tell me on occasion they couldn't see the blog. Not sure; it could be a change in statistics although Blogger doesn't report a problem. I can see the posts in question, but the timing is peculiar because I've been discussing data privacy issues.
Enough Already of the "Balanced" Obama Approach!
While I was waiting at my local GM dealer today for another repair to my reliable American-made car (I was reading an interesting SI account of Utah soccer referee Ricardo Portillo whom ultimately died from a punch to the head delivered by a last-minute goalie, 17-year-old José Domingo Téran, in his first competitive match, whom had just been penalized for pushing off an opponent. Portillo picked up a few bucks for each game which he had been saving towards a trip to Disneyland for his kids and grandkids), another customer in the waiting area turned the channel to Fox News where Megyn Kelly had resident liberal Alan Colmes facing off against a conservative commentator; Kelly reviewed a number of statements from then Senator Obama voicing concerns about warrantless wiretaps, etc. (To Colmes' credit, he did not sidestep the issue with a knee-jerk defense of Obama.) A number of progressives would have immediately noted that the Patriot Act started under Bush, and thus conservative objections are political and opportunistic, not principled.
Obama made a number of comments which I found annoying and briefly paraphrase as follows:
- The telephone call data secretly collected for the government by Verizon and others involve metadata about telephone calls, not the calls themselves, i.e., who talked to whom, when, where, duration, etc.
- Congress has been kept in the loop every step of the way, and there is a judicial review component
- Obama is balancing that thin line between security and data privacy
No excuses acceptable! First, as Washpo points out, there is more than one NSA program--and there are some which have taken emails, photos, etc. Do you think bureaucrats will simply be satisfied with metadata; if there was a 20-minute conversation with a radical cleric? Second, metadata can provide information not available from content, e.g., you can track people, look for patterns of transactions, etc. Third, as leaks have demonstrated, Obama's reassurances don't amount to much. Fourth, finding terrorist activity among millions, even billions of records is like trying to find a pea under a mattress. As in the case of TSA, over 99% of individuals have no terrorist ties; it's far more effective and efficient to focus on and/or to compromise radical Muslim groups, websites, etc.
There is a cost/benefit to any relevant effort; do you think terrorists are going to risk exposing plans over monitored channels? The cost to our liberties is too great, and I don't trust legislators and judges to keep up with technological challenges to privacy.
Ding Dong, the Interstate Sales Tax is Dead!
Congressman Goodlatte (R-VA), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has implied that the House will not pass the Senate bill in its current form. Now Goodlatte's statements are somewhat confusing; because he views the tax as unfair to Internet consumers whom have to pay more (especially, I assume, for products not available locally); the tax is certainly anti-competitive and amounts to an unconstitutional tariff on out-of-state businesses which don't benefit from local services. It certainly discourages Internet commerce (particularly for smaller businesses) and impairs consumer choice. Municipalities have no incentive to keep sales taxes low and competitive. Goodlatte is clearly sympathetic to the risk of smaller companies being exposed to lawsuits from over 40 states.
Goodlatte would clearly like to see the states themselves negotiate some sort of reciprocity agreement (a low, flat Internet tax?) Goodlatte seems to imply some sort of sales tax might be acceptable. Probably the fairest solution I can think of is to treat an Internet sale as a virtual in-state/locale purchase of the item with any applicable sales tax applied. This is the the de Rugy/Thierer solution I've repeatedly described as one of 2 common-sense alternatives (the other being a low flat federal sales tax with revenue sharing).The former solution might lead to a more constructive tax competition so local Internet vendors are more price-competitive. (It would still be an increase for consumers from no or lower sales tax states/locales where they don't benefit from the higher taxes they pay.)
Look What ZIRP and QE Have Done to My Income, Ma
When high-yield bonds approach long-term Treasury yield, the central banks seem to be setting up an unprecedented bond bubble, the correction of which will wreak havoc on the global economy.
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| Courtesy of Wall Street Daily |
More Military Homecoming Reunions
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Steve Breen and Townhall |
It's come out that the government has been secretly collecting telephone records of millions of Verizon customers. Yeah, or as Verizon is calling it, "The friends and family and Obama plan." - Conan O'Brien
[The metered tax plan comes with no listener ID. Tea Party group members are encouraged to add donors to their calling circles.]
The National Security Agency has been collecting the phone records of Verizon customers since April. That explains Verizon's new ad campaign: “They can hear you now.” - Jimmy Fallon
[Big Brother can see you in the shower,
He can hear you order flowers,
Because a judge in an ivory tower,
Granted him all that power.]
My Favorite Groups Redux
Simon & Garfunkel, "A Hazy Shade of Winter". With a brilliant arrangement and harmonies as usual, Simon's seeming response to "California Dreamin'" didn't quite crack the Top Ten; the girl group The Bangles in the 1980's did a cover which almost topped the Hot 100.
