Once you have mastered time,
you will understand how true it is
that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and
underestimate what they can achieve in a decade!
Anthony Robbins
Tweet of the Day
No, Hillary Clinton's Emailgate offenses are NOT exonerated by the idea that the NSA all along had been reviewing her private emails anyway.
— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) March 5, 2015
Yes, Hillary Clinton, it DOES indeed MAKE A DIFFERENCE that you worked around federal recordkeeping/safeguard policies with private emails.
— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) March 5, 2015
I wish to apologize on behalf of America to Israel over recent incivility of politicians like Obama and Pelosi towards PM Netanyahu.
— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) March 6, 2015
Misleading Cost Comparisons: Were the Seventies the "Good Old Days"?Don Boudreaux of Cafe Hayek and his former student Mark Perry of Carpe Diem have mocked the idea that the 70's marked the height of the middle class by pointing out that today we can purchase vastly superior goods (take TV's) at a fraction of wage-hours that it took decades ago. He focuses this post on the first game of the premiere episode of the "New Price is Right" (below), which features possible prizes of a new range and a Chevy Vega. Using average wages, he points out that it takes roughly a fifth of the work hours today to buy the same, only better and still at a nominally lower price, 4 decades later, despite a watered-down dollar.
There are exceptions, of course. Today's Corolla takes a few more workweeks to buy than that Chevy Vega--but ask anyone who used to own a Vega which car they would buy, even at a higher price. It turns out Don Boudreaux and I have something in common beyond a Franco heritage. I had to laugh when Don discusses his first car:
I was an Air Force brat, and my Dad barely made ends meet for our large family. My Dad took me out to empty base parking lots to practice driving. Somehow Dad's auto insurance company got word I was taking driver ed and basically threatened to hike the folks' insurance. That killed my chances of getting a license. It wasn't until after I became a Navy officer--my first full-time work experience--that I got my license and bought my first car. My buddy heard that a yeoman for the training school (I think) was trying to sell his wife's Vega. I couldn't believe that he let his wife drive around on nearly bald tires. I may have owned my Vega maybe several months longer than 2 years (I then bought a new Ford compact). But Don is spot on about oil; I think I had to add a can every fill-up or every other fill-up; I remember my greasy spout well. I also had electrical system problems, not quite as bad as my oil problem.As it happens, the first car I ever bought was a used 1972 Chevy Vega. I bought it when I graduated from high-school in 1976; the seller was my friend Roger who worked with me at a local supermarket. My high-school graduation gift from my parents was $100 toward the purchase of this car. I drove my Vega for two years until it was ruined in the great New Orleans flood of May 3rd, 1978. For nearly all of that time I had to put a quart of oil into it every 50 miles. I bought cans of oil by the case and kept them in the back of my Vega, beneath its hatchback. I would often pull over to the side of the road to pour in another quart of oil. And note: back then, motor oil came only in cans. To pour motor oil into a car’s engine required that a metal spout be manually pushed into the top of the can of oil – almost always a messy job.)
The extra upkeep was aggravating enough to nudge me into buying a new car, although none of my lady friends were impressed. (Ironically, the need to have some work done on the new car prevented me (scheduling conflict) from standing in as a Kennedy delegate in the 1980 caucuses.) I started working towards my MBA part-time that fall--including my first graduate economics course. Within a year, I shifted my views to conservative Democrat--even though none of my UH profs really telegraphed any political perspective. It took a few more years to drop the Democrat, along with nearly all Southern conservatives; to me, the final straw was how the Dems went after Judge Bork. Ironically today, as a libertarian-conservative, I'm uncomfortable with some of Bork's views, say, on the ninth amendment.
Statist Tools For Unconstitutional Searches
Facebook Corner
(ABC News). Hillary Clinton was in violation of State Department rules governing the use of non-governmental email accounts for nearly 6 years.
Who cares...so what.
Of course, the Fascist Party doesn't care if Future Dear Leader thinks that she is above the law, that federal recordkeeping requirements and security given the nature of the Secretary of State's mission, including the manager of American diplomats, don't matter. As someone who did federal contract gigs before Ms. Clinton assumed office, I can tell the use of private emails for government purposes was forbidden--and I didn't even have a security clearance. You can't even bring a cellphone into secure facilities, and I've been at facilities that blocked external email portals. What's even worse is using Sarah Palin as a role model (except Palin wasn't engaged in sensitive diplomatic activities when her private account was hacked). What's even worse is all the idiotic staffers who never reported the fact that Clinton was violating government policy. Not to mention her early career included the fact Richard Nixon was undone by secret recordings. So Clinton, with her enemies list and secret communications, is looking more and more like Nixon v.2.
(IPI). More than 1.7 million Illinoisans hold student-loan debt, including 70% of the state’s class of 2013.
Well, of course, this reflects Jay Cost's new book "A Republic No More: Big Government and the Rise of American Political Corruption". We no longer hold true to civic virtues; we have shifted from the concept of civic duties to political rights. Make no mistake; the party of political whores try to appeal to both college students and the retired. They nationalize college loans using deeply flawed rationales of "market failure" and try to buy the votes of gullible young people with promises of loan forgiveness (especially for "public service" and/or low payments linked to income); they also try to extend coverage under parents' health insurance policies well into their 20's. As for pensions, I think it is a question of economic illiteracy; for example, the economic fascists continue to insist there isn't a problem with social security, ten years after George Bush crashed and burned during an attempt to reform. Edgar, of course, should have known better than to spread/defer the pain rather than to confront the much bigger Third Rail disbursement issue. The last time a Democrat of integrity was elected was Grover Cleveland.
I met a young man once who had just gotten married. He was very happy. He and his bride waited until they had both completed college to marry. He talked everyday of the the things they learned, where they traveled for their studies and the degrees they received.
I would have been more impressed if they both weren't working in an assembly line next to me and my high school diploma in order to pay off their student loans. They could not find work in their fields in Illinois. Not sure what his was. Hers was geology.
You should be at least vaguely sure you can get a job in your chosen field before going into debt for the degree. Geology rates right up there with a BS in Psychology.
Oh, come on now! Some comments are idiotic. For example, anyone with a modicum of knowledge of energy exploration knows the value of a background in geology.
From Best Jobs in America, CNN Money:
73 of 10073. Petroleum Geologist
Median pay: $149,000
Top pay: $247,000
10-year job growth: 21.2%
Total jobs*: 33,800
The last time I checked, there were over 32,000 oil and gas wells in Illinois.
(separate comment)
To the OP: what does it tell you about prospects for today's high school grads who find themselves competing against college grads for lower-skill work?
(IPI). Illinois state politicians have come out with another health-conscious priority: increasing the number of low-calorie snacks found in vending machines.
When I was back in graduate school, my thing before a big exam was a Hershey's bar with almonds--and no condescending nutritionist would have convinced me otherwise. I can't speak for most motorists, but if and when I use a vending machine on the road, I'm looking for more of an energy boost (a personal favorite is a Snickers bar, which I haven't had in years given a lower-carb regimen). The funny thing is I almost never eat junk food at home--maybe an occasional square of dark chocolate. Why are these legislators trying to dictate what's sold in vending machines? Vending machine operators want quick turnover, not items that gather dust waiting for a desperate consumer who finds all other selections sold out. A lot of so-called healthy items turn out to be not so healthy, and if healthy snacks attract buyers, vendors will carry them without some nanny legislator telling them to.
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| Courtesy of Steve Breen via Townhall |
Carly Simon, "Anticipation"
