In these days of apparently unmanageable national debts, apparently unmanageable annual deficits, demonstrations for and against budget proposals, etc. it seems appropriate to call attention to the ancient Law of the Unrecognized Obvious. (Is that an oxymoron?)
Basically the law states that in the final analysis, the total price of anything sold- tangible or intangible- is made up entirely of compensation paid to individuals.
Think about it.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Musing of One Wondering Why Octavian Changed His Name After Becoming Head of the Roman Empire
We watched some Republican congressmen talking on TV about repealing the health care bill. In each case, it appeared their plan was to have various committee heads come up with pieces of the bill. Sounds like another committee designing a camel. It will probably result in another 2,500-page monstrosity, and although all the little monsters will be different it will still be a monstrosity. The only question is: will the camel have one hump or two?
As to our health plan we submitted to some congressmen (see posting of Oct. 20th, 2010), we have still had no acknowledgement from any congressman, not even so much as a "Ah, yes, boo, go to hell or what have you." It makes us think that the congressional NIH factor is bigger than the all outdoors.
So we are going to try a different approach to get somebody's attention. We recognise that our plan is radical, but the situation demands drastic measures. We'll see what happens.
On another note, we have seen on TV a gaggle of congressmen talking about the need to reduce expenditures and pontificating about the pain everybody will have to endure. Conspicuous by its absence was any reference to inflicting such pain on congressmen and others on the governmental payroll. So, what else is new?
As to our health plan we submitted to some congressmen (see posting of Oct. 20th, 2010), we have still had no acknowledgement from any congressman, not even so much as a "Ah, yes, boo, go to hell or what have you." It makes us think that the congressional NIH factor is bigger than the all outdoors.
So we are going to try a different approach to get somebody's attention. We recognise that our plan is radical, but the situation demands drastic measures. We'll see what happens.
On another note, we have seen on TV a gaggle of congressmen talking about the need to reduce expenditures and pontificating about the pain everybody will have to endure. Conspicuous by its absence was any reference to inflicting such pain on congressmen and others on the governmental payroll. So, what else is new?
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Musing of One Wondering if Diogenes Ever Succeeded
Like everyone else we were horrified at the massacre in Tuscon a week ago. A day or so after ,one of the networks presented a program that seemed to us to be a disguised anti-gun message. This moved us to do some research on murder rates. We read summaries of gun laws in 7 states, along with data on murder rates, and did not find any correlation between the two. Some states with permissive laws had low murder rates; others had high murder rates. The same was true for those with restrictive gun laws.
Data such as these moved us to conclude that the problem is societal not modal (for example, recall the Tylenol incident during the Reagan presidency. In that case, a mentally incompetent individual poisoned numerous bottles of Tylenol on store shelves, leading to many deaths and the advent of tamper-proof closures). Some of the factors we considered were population density, ethnic and racial groupings and poverty rates. We have no data to draw any conculsions other than the one that the problem is modal, not societal.
We also wonder why there is such a large proportion of the population with mental disabilities.
One does recall that some years ago there was philosophy that stated "If it feels good, do it."
Data such as these moved us to conclude that the problem is societal not modal (for example, recall the Tylenol incident during the Reagan presidency. In that case, a mentally incompetent individual poisoned numerous bottles of Tylenol on store shelves, leading to many deaths and the advent of tamper-proof closures). Some of the factors we considered were population density, ethnic and racial groupings and poverty rates. We have no data to draw any conculsions other than the one that the problem is modal, not societal.
We also wonder why there is such a large proportion of the population with mental disabilities.
One does recall that some years ago there was philosophy that stated "If it feels good, do it."
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Musing of One Watching a Guy Who Fell Out of an Antique Biplame at the Top of a Loop, Landed on the Side of a Haystack, Slid All the Way Through It...
...And Set It on Fire by Friction of His Pants.
Semi-fantasy #1:
The board of directors of a large corporation finished its review of a proposal for production of the goozlemawhatchit, a new product. It exhaustively studied the market analysis, the facility requirements, profit and loss projections etc. Having done so, the board decided to approve the project and duly notified the CEO of that decision. The CEO hired a plant manager who in turn hired a controller, a director of human resources, and director of industrial engineering and they began work. Before the workforce requirement had been determined the board sent a letter to the CEO specifying the skills and pay grades of the people to be hired. The director of industrial resources began struggling with this since it did not conform to general labor practices in the area. While he was doing so, the board sent another letter to the CEO specifying the types of accounting systems and banking arrangements that were to be used. This resulted in confusing the controller, who nevertheless began to try to comply with the letter. While he was so engaged the board sent another letter to the CEO specifying the size of the new facility, its layout and the manufacturing flow. The industrial engineers climbed up the wall trying to figure this one out.
As a result of all this, the whole project became enmeshed in a tangle of conflicting requirements and solutions. The project fell behind schedule by about a year. Meanwhile, a competitor began producing a similar product and garnered about 2/3 of the market.
In the light of all this, the board finally decided to cancel the project with a substantial loss to the company. Because of this the plant manager was summarily fired, the CEO lost his annual bonus and two directors decided not to stand for re-election.
The foregoing is the fantasy part.
Reality - Congress does the same thing with much of its legislation, an outstanding example being the health care law. Instead of acting as the policy-making board of directors which it is supposed to be, Congress has become mesmerized with the details of upper- and middle-management, for which it is not qualified and which should be properly left to the executive department.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
Semi-fantasy #1:
The board of directors of a large corporation finished its review of a proposal for production of the goozlemawhatchit, a new product. It exhaustively studied the market analysis, the facility requirements, profit and loss projections etc. Having done so, the board decided to approve the project and duly notified the CEO of that decision. The CEO hired a plant manager who in turn hired a controller, a director of human resources, and director of industrial engineering and they began work. Before the workforce requirement had been determined the board sent a letter to the CEO specifying the skills and pay grades of the people to be hired. The director of industrial resources began struggling with this since it did not conform to general labor practices in the area. While he was doing so, the board sent another letter to the CEO specifying the types of accounting systems and banking arrangements that were to be used. This resulted in confusing the controller, who nevertheless began to try to comply with the letter. While he was so engaged the board sent another letter to the CEO specifying the size of the new facility, its layout and the manufacturing flow. The industrial engineers climbed up the wall trying to figure this one out.
As a result of all this, the whole project became enmeshed in a tangle of conflicting requirements and solutions. The project fell behind schedule by about a year. Meanwhile, a competitor began producing a similar product and garnered about 2/3 of the market.
In the light of all this, the board finally decided to cancel the project with a substantial loss to the company. Because of this the plant manager was summarily fired, the CEO lost his annual bonus and two directors decided not to stand for re-election.
The foregoing is the fantasy part.
Reality - Congress does the same thing with much of its legislation, an outstanding example being the health care law. Instead of acting as the policy-making board of directors which it is supposed to be, Congress has become mesmerized with the details of upper- and middle-management, for which it is not qualified and which should be properly left to the executive department.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
The Musing of One Thinking About the Guy Who Tried to Sell Santa Claus Batteries for Rudolf's Nose
Fantasy #2
The Dream Act passed and people began to come out the shadows to claim their share. One guy joined the military, served two years in Hawaii, got his citizenship papers and began to organize his compatriots into a solid voting block. He succeeded to such an extent that the block was able to force passage of an open borders act.
Within a few months after the act was passed some one billion people from around the world flooded into the United States. The financial strain was so great that the economy collapsed resulting in a depression worse than the Great Depression. It was so bad that the military took all its equipment and went to Canada, where in conjunction with Canadian military it set up a defence line along the U.S. and Canadian border.
Things were so bad in the United states that people started heading south to find a better life. Mexico, whose population was down to 50 million because of out migration, tried valiantly to seal its borders but failed.
With all the new arrivals things got just as bad in Mexico and the masses continued to migrate south eventually arriving in Argentina, Chile, parts of Brazil, and the Falkland Islands.
Meanwhile a false rumor arose that Australia had enacted an open borders act another couple of billion people of Oriental decent headed to Australia which was unable to resist the on slot.
All this weight at the bottom of the world caused an imbalance so that the Earth tilted one half a degree from its normal inclination. The result was drastic climate changes aroused the world. Mexican resorts began to order ice skates. skies, and snow shoes in the hope of attracting more vacationers. Central California became the Ski capitol of the world, the Riviera found its self encased in ice two feet thick, and all the snow melted off Mount Fuji.
This prompted a group of environmentalists, who had blamed the US and George Bush for global warming, to head for the now and feeble united nations to ask for establishment of an office to monitor global cooling, ignoring the fact that Scandinavia has an average temperature of 95 degrees.
Eventually everybody realized the whole thing was a pipe drain and returned to their native lands, where upon the Earth turned to its normal angle of inclination. The climate changed again, and everybody resumed their practice of debating who was responsible for what.
Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus but during the great upheaval it got so warm at the north pole that he moved his entire operation to the South pole, where he had proceeded to review his navigational charts and adjust Rudolf's nose. Whether he is still there or has returned to the North pole is unknown at this time.
The Dream Act passed and people began to come out the shadows to claim their share. One guy joined the military, served two years in Hawaii, got his citizenship papers and began to organize his compatriots into a solid voting block. He succeeded to such an extent that the block was able to force passage of an open borders act.
Within a few months after the act was passed some one billion people from around the world flooded into the United States. The financial strain was so great that the economy collapsed resulting in a depression worse than the Great Depression. It was so bad that the military took all its equipment and went to Canada, where in conjunction with Canadian military it set up a defence line along the U.S. and Canadian border.
Things were so bad in the United states that people started heading south to find a better life. Mexico, whose population was down to 50 million because of out migration, tried valiantly to seal its borders but failed.
With all the new arrivals things got just as bad in Mexico and the masses continued to migrate south eventually arriving in Argentina, Chile, parts of Brazil, and the Falkland Islands.
Meanwhile a false rumor arose that Australia had enacted an open borders act another couple of billion people of Oriental decent headed to Australia which was unable to resist the on slot.
All this weight at the bottom of the world caused an imbalance so that the Earth tilted one half a degree from its normal inclination. The result was drastic climate changes aroused the world. Mexican resorts began to order ice skates. skies, and snow shoes in the hope of attracting more vacationers. Central California became the Ski capitol of the world, the Riviera found its self encased in ice two feet thick, and all the snow melted off Mount Fuji.
This prompted a group of environmentalists, who had blamed the US and George Bush for global warming, to head for the now and feeble united nations to ask for establishment of an office to monitor global cooling, ignoring the fact that Scandinavia has an average temperature of 95 degrees.
Eventually everybody realized the whole thing was a pipe drain and returned to their native lands, where upon the Earth turned to its normal angle of inclination. The climate changed again, and everybody resumed their practice of debating who was responsible for what.
Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus but during the great upheaval it got so warm at the north pole that he moved his entire operation to the South pole, where he had proceeded to review his navigational charts and adjust Rudolf's nose. Whether he is still there or has returned to the North pole is unknown at this time.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Musing of One Thinking about a Congressman Who Went Home to Campaign for Re-election, Accidentally Hit His Head on a Brick Wall...
... Got Confused and Campaigned for his Opponent, and Wound Up Winning the Election Anyway.
There is a general premise to which, we believe, the vast majority of law-abiding people subscribe: no one should benefit directly or indirectly from the violation of the law. It appears to us that the so-called Dream Act directly contradicts this premise, and may well be a long-range effort to buy future votes.
There is a general premise to which, we believe, the vast majority of law-abiding people subscribe: no one should benefit directly or indirectly from the violation of the law. It appears to us that the so-called Dream Act directly contradicts this premise, and may well be a long-range effort to buy future votes.
Musing of One Watching a Man Who Found a Peapod Containing One Red Pea and One Green Pea
Recently, the President called for a 2-year freeze on federal pay scales. This is laudible, but it does not go far enough (See our posting from Saturday June 12, 2010 entitled "Musing of One on Crutches When Someone Offered to Help Him Put Roller Skates Under the Crutches to Help Him Go Faster").
It is good that some Congressmen have come to the realization that we are approaching the edge of the cliff and that drastic action needs to be taken. However, in all the interviews with Congressmen that we have wacthed on tv, not one has mentioned that Congress should take a hit.
It is good that some Congressmen have come to the realization that we are approaching the edge of the cliff and that drastic action needs to be taken. However, in all the interviews with Congressmen that we have wacthed on tv, not one has mentioned that Congress should take a hit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
