Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as
to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.
Thomas Jefferson
Earlier One-Off Post: A Rant on Jack Lew and MTP
Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day
 |
| Courtesy of Bastiat Institute on FB |
Image of the Day
ObamaCare Roundup: Sebelius and Testing the Website
Today is the day for rants. I have little tolerance for IT-related excuses for the rollout. In particular, HHS Secretary Sebelius' recent defensive statement really rubbed me the wrong way: "I have created an account on the site. I have not tried signing up, because I have insurance."
I cannot conceive of any roll-out that I have worked on over the past 2 decades where managers,project managers, key client personnel, developers, and/or I did not thoroughly walk through installations, upgrades, and patches. I often used test accounts to ensure that I was seeing the system as a user, not from a privileged account. (For example, DBA's often do maintenance under restricted access for users; before releasing the system back to users. I routinely do a redundancy check to ensure I can logon through an active test account. This is basically a very simple example, but typically all basic user tasks would be tested (including under user load conditions), testing of menu paths and input validation, completeness of the interface, any errors (including database privilege issues), etc. Now, of course, it's possible that Secretary Sebelius had pressing priorities and may have delegated testing to a subordinate; but I've gone through application walkthroughs with and/or trained management on the application. It just seems odd that Sebelius would stop testing with account creation.The critical path is the application submission process, particularly given the complex relationships with verification systems from multiple agencies. Obviously account creation is important, but the generic process of creating a user account is well-structured. Each interface with an agency was a potential point of failure. I would have wanted to do at least a quick check to ensure there were no surprises. An excuse that I don't need to test it because I am already enrolled in a system for government employees just doesn't wash; why then create an account in the first place?
I'm sure some executives would excuse Sebelius, but if I was the HHS Secretary , I would have deferred the launch rather than risk a debacle like we've seen. I would know after 4 years, the press, not to mention program critics, would be all over the roll-out. Knowing the importance of a positive first impression with users, I would have made time to walk through the application process.
I agree with members of Congress calling for Sebelius' resignation.
Facebook Corner
(via Drudge Report) Business magnate Sheldon Adelson dismisses talking to the new Iranian regime, suggests dropping nuclear weapons on Iran since they want them so much.
This is crazy talk; this buffoon is talking about nuking a small country which hasn't even attacked us and poses no existential threat.
 |
| Courtesy of LFC |
A libertarian-conservative from a practical standpoint (e.g., like Ron Paul) with an anarcho-capitalist streak.
LFC showed an image of the last 4 Presidents and pictures of Manning and Snowden, suggesting the former were more guilty of treason and terrorism than the latter. Do we agree?
No. The last two violated their contracts; they went beyond whistle-blowing. As for 4 Presidents, I think they have engaged in counterproductive interventionist policies and demonstrated poor, incompetent leadership. The middle two in particular engaged in fiscally irresponsible spending and a rapid deterioration of civil liberties.
 |
| Courtesy of LFC |
 |
| Via LFC |
(via LFC) let me ask something. a child is found murdered. the family doesn't have the money to look into it. how would we as a free society do them justice? granted, we wouldn't owe them that justice. but then we'd be opening people up to a serial killer if they can't afford an investigation. i would never find that acceptable, so without any government, how would they get justice?
This seems like a special case of any situation involving special needs, e.g., someone's house is destroyed in a natural disaster, a child has a rare disease, etc. How many times have we seen hundreds join in a search for a missing child? Many companies or professions have service commitments like volunteering or pro bono; there are neighborhood watches, no-cost charity hospitals. It's easy to see how a private security could do it to publicize their services, not unlike how commercials sponsor televised events. The idea that only a State-paid employee provides effective security service is questionable; for example, we know of cases of people wrongly convicted of a crime and later being exonerated because of DNA evidence.
(via Drudge Report) Cheney: Mideast Allies No Longer Trust The US, Enemies ‘Don’t Fear Us’ - CBS DC
If I want a mind-reader, I'll ask for the Amazing Kreskin; if I want a psychologist's opinion, maybe Dr. Phil McGraw. Isn't it time we start ignoring neo-con hawks?
(via SIS) The question isn't if anarchy is so good then why are there so few (if any) anarchist societies, the question is if statism is so good then why does it always fail? -D
How do we explain a vicious cycle of Statism? Just a thought: many people are content to follow, go with the flow.
(from Tom Woods) Words of wisdom from my wife: "Those who can't do, complain." Apply to your life where appropriate.
I like to think of complaints as feedback, someone is vested in what you do or say; it's better than no feedback. Of course, not all complaints are usable.
(from Bastiat Institute) True or false: If you understand natural selection you understand the market process
Oh, God. The last thing I want to hear is Hofstadter's concept of social darwinism which I recall was raised by Barry O in one of his speeches. This is a historic smear of Herbert Spencer whom coined the term "survival of the fittest". FALSE. Reason has a relevant discussion (http://reason.com/.../07/29/the-unfortunate-case-of-herber)
(via Libertarian Republic) Peter King lashes out at limited government Republicans
This is nothing new. He's been attacking Paul and Amash for weeks. This piece of work is actually thinking of running for President in 2016. I would like to see someone primary him into retirement.
(SIS) Some people say money is what is wrong with politics....So people won't seek power without money? What about the politicians that have spent more money getting elected than getting paid in salaries? What explains why SOME politicians will lose money to try to gain power? The thirst for power and the use of violence is what is wrong with the world, not peaceful medium of exchange that will always exist anyways and is simply a translation of scarcity from rivalrous resources. The problem is not money in politics... it's politics itself! ~MS
Spot on. I've made a similar point whenever some populist goes around saying, "Maybe we should tie politician salary to the shutdown", etc. Any of a list of double standards. PLEASE. The average net worth is in the millions They may be motivated by any of a number of things--recognition, power, etc. Money can help little-known candidates, but, e.g., Romney and Perot lost multiple races for the White House, despite superior wealth.
(LFC) "...little black box that fits neatly by the dashboard of your car. The devices...track every mile a motorist drives and transmit that information to bureaucrats...Libertarians have joined environmental groups in lobbying to allow government to use the little boxes" Who are these "libertarians" that are lobbying the government to put a location tracker on them? (Teal)
Very simple answer: it has to do with our beloved roads and a fairer method for taxing road use. Fuel excise taxes can have regressive effects (consider an electric vehicle which uses roads but does not pay for road costs). I think the group is referencing an LA Times story (http://www.latimes.com/...). The issue has to do with revamping to a fairer tax system, not for vehicle tracking. But no, I think Cato and Reason both support this approach. I think that the data belongs to the car owner, cops need a search warrant, etc
(LFC) So I have a vague understanding how law enforcement would work in a free society. We'd work on the principle of no victim = no crime. My question is how do we approach the grey zones like drinking and driving? Do we wait until someone hurts somebody to take action because there technically isn't a victim until a crash happens. The alternative is taking preemptive action. How do we enforce road laws like that?
I see driving under the influence as an act of aggression against other people and property, and I hardly think that the concept of free choice exists in an impaired state.
Political Humor
 |
| Courtesy of Steve Kelley and Townhall |
Elton John, "The One" . Another brilliant Taupin-John masterpiece. It's difficult to choose a best Elton John song because he's co-written so many classics; probably my overall favorite (because I love babies and little kids) is "Blessed", and other top favorites include "Believe", "I'm Still Standing", "Your Song" and "Healing Hands". I'll cover these hits later in the series.
Political Humor
