Dogs are animals of integrity. We have much to learn from them.
Tag: Politics
More than a grain of truth in a ’round robin’.
The Internet has produced many changes to the way we all behave. One of them is the ease by which all sorts of material may be circulated rapidly. Much of it is tittle-tattle but a recent one caught my eye. I was in two minds to publish it but having seen ahead of time Paul’s forthcoming Post about Access Journalism (visible from the 19th onwards) convinced me I should. Make of it what you will.
What’s the truth about climate warming, e’rr change?
I will put my hand up to subscribing to the notion of humans having such an effect on Earth’s atmosphere that climate warming was likely, inevitable and could be the destruction of life, as we know it. It seemed to fit the idea of mankind being disconnected from the planet and completely out of touch with the reality that our Earth is a fragile place, our atmosphere a (relatively) very thin ‘skin’ around our planet and few of us spare a second thought for protecting the environment for the generations to come.
But gradually the faint sounds of opposition to the ‘simple’ argument that man is screwing up the Planet have become clearer. The latest is a very clear cry.
The law of unintended consequences
It should come as no surprise to anyone that U.S. car companies are slumping once again. The Cash for Clunkers program was a wasteful, inefficient publicity stunt or, worse, an actual attempt by the US Federal Government to stimulate the economy. The worse part is that the program cost the economy jobs: many healthy, profitable dealerships had their company taken away from them by government edict under this program, never to return. It’s almost criminal.
By Sherry Jarrell
The role of taxes.
We’ve talked a lot about taxes as revenue to the Government and the inefficiency of government spending on this Learning from Dogs, but a far more important issue is the impact of taxes on the costs and output of businesses.
Any imposed cost to business is a “tax,” whether it’s called that or not. And any tax is an additional cost to that business, which lowers its output, reduces employment, and raises prices of goods and services to you and me.
The coincidence of events
Today started like most days in that after a breakfast with Jean it was time to switch on the PC and review the news that had come in over night and think about what material might be appropriate for the Blog. But that’s as far as it went for a normal day.
Because a number of items came together in a way that left me reeling. Not because it was necessarily new information but because together they represent the most compelling evidence as to why this economic crisis happened and, more importantly, the terrible likelihood that our leaders aren’t go to fix it and that the future will bring an even worse calamity.
Stop doing what you are doing and watch Jacqueline Novogratz!
Small things add up to make larger things! This concept of “integration” is seen everywhere that we look.
The subject and content of this presentation are fundamental to the future of the world. And the presenter is showing what can be done.
I found this presentation particularly poignant.
By John Lewis
Core differences about how society spends that really need to be understood.
Government spending is fundamentally a different animal than private spending!
Private spending is the essence of the freedom of choice. When you mull over the decision to purchase an item, you are making a very personal decision based on your current income or resources, the prices of the other goods and services you currently purchase or may purchase, and your personal tastes, risk preferences, needs, and wants.
You make so many mental comparisons and tradeoffs when you consider a purchase that they truly cannot be listed. And then you live with the consequences of your choice, for better or worse. If bad, you learn. If good, you enjoy. And the process repeats itself every time you make a buying or investing decision, updated with new personal, private information on the circumstances, choices, and preferences of the individual.
In praise of thoughtful, articulate people who reason their way through life.
Let me say that I know no more about the person who is Neptunus Lex than anyone else who takes the time to read his Blog. And after I justify the sub-heading of this Post I will give you those links to Mariner Lex.
If you have come into the topic just now, then you may want to read the two Posts on fate.
The first Post was published on October 6th, the second Post the next day. In a sense, these Posts connect with the Carrier series by PBS that you can link to here.
A personal reflection on the emotions stirred by the PBS series on the USS Nimitz
The last three days have seen Posts on the USS Nimitz. On the 2nd there was the first part of air carrier operations specifically looking at the challenges of a pitching deck. On the 3rd came the second part as the pilots and crew operated into night, still with the deck of the USS Nimitz pitching significantly. Yesterday, the Post carried links to background information including the excellent web site that PBS have on the USS Nimitz series.
So why raise the question of integrity?
Rationing. First of all, what does rationing mean?
It means that there is a finite or limited supply of a good or service, and that not everyone will get all of it that they want. Rationing can occur through the price that is charged for the good, or through limiting the quantity of the good by some centralized authority.
Yes, it is true that regardless of whether we get our health insurance from private insurers or from a government program, there is rationing. But there is a huge difference between the type and scope of rationing by the market through price, and rationing by the federal government through control. When the service is rationed by an insurance company, a doctor, or a hospital, if we don’t like the decision, we have a recourse. We have options. We have choices. We can go to a different doctor, a different insurer, a different plan; we can report the company, sue the company, fire the company.
When your health care is rationed by government-sponsored single-payer health insurance, that’s it. If you don’t like the rationing decision, you can’t get “another government,” you can’t sue the government, you can’t fire the government, you can’t pay a higher price to get more services out of the government (not legally anyway). You have no recourse. The government decision is the end of the road.
So rationing in and of itself is not the point, is not the problem. Government rationing is the problem.
By Sherry Jarrell
Learning from Dogs 