Friday, August 24, 2007

On Nationalizing Helath Care...

So you want nationalized health care? Here is some food for thought:

Why not nationalize the automotive industry?

GM and Ford have been major screwups over the last decade. They failed in countless ways. So does the government come in and bail them out? Or does another company come along and offer a better product for cheaper? Like Toyota perhaps?

What happens to companies like Toyota if the government comes in and starts running GM and Ford?

You have to apply the same logic to the health care industry as well. Because as far as the Constitution is concerned, health care is just like a car. Not everyone is entitled to own one. This aint a utopia we're living in here, and it never will be.

You think Big Pharma is going to just go away once the government comes in and takes over health care? LOL Big Pharma is the reason why the health care system is broken. They are a big part of the reason we really don't have a free market health care system. Blame the lobbyists, and blame the legislators, and blame ourselves for not getting more involved in the process. That would be the smart thing to do, no? Makes a bit more sense than blaming the market itself? (That sounds about as logical as Bush with his war on terra. Or the war on poverty.)

We already have more than enough government meddling in the healthcare system. They are chipping away at the free market every time they pass a law that unduly benefits Big Pharma. That is what needs to change. It is mere delusion to think that more government can somehow counter Big Pharma. There is no problem that can't best be solved by an informed, responsible citizenry and a free market. So if you want to change things then start from that approach. Either that, or shout out for national health care along with all those other naive feel-good ideas. If it feels so good, then shout it out while you are on your way to WalMart... to pick up another lead coated toy made in China. Either way, I'm sure your kids will love you for it.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Choose your candidate

This is a pretty cool site

http://www.dehp.net/candidate/index.php

You can find out which candidate suits you best based on a variety of issues. And it also lets you choose three levels of priority for each issue: "meh", "important", and "key". It works best when you raise the rating on the issues that are important to you.

Here's my results:



Of course it didnt tell me anything I didn't already know! I knew Paul and Kucinich were my best choices. But I think it shows this site is pretty accurate at picking your candidate.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Ron Paul, will this ever end?

Ron Paul won the Iowa exit polling

I know it was "just another unscientific poll". Ron Paul wins another 10-candidate poll with 37% of the vote.

45 percent of the people who spent $35 on a ticket did NOT even vote? Say what? That sounds really fishy to me. But since 35% of the tickets sold did not bring a voter to the polls in 1999, I guess that is not so bad. But it still suggests the possibility that up to 10% of the votes may have been lost. (45% - 35% = 10%)

And they do actually admit that 1500 votes were "lost". (That is about 10%.) Curious.

bleh.

Like I said, will it ever end? Will there ever be a clean vote?

But Why Do Babies Learn Less From "Brain Training" videos?

Over the past week there have been many news reports about Frederick Zimmerman's research. He has shown that babies who watch videos like "Baby Einstein" actual learn less words than babies who don't. I'm not exactly an authoriy on babies, but I can't say I'm surprised by this. What really surprises me is that many parents of young infants don't quite understand why this is so. First of all, in your gut you already know that tv tends to dumb people down. So why would that general rule not hold true for babies? But why though? I think the advertising does the most harm, but how is it that these videos are detrimental even when they are commercial free?

Like I said I am not an expert on babies, but one thing I do know is that they respond much better to direct communication. There is a HUGE difference between a face on the tv, and a face that is there in person, talking directly to the child. We know that body language is 80% of all communication among adults, and it is safe to assume that babies are the same way. Perhaps even moreso. So it naturally follows that they are not going to learn as much from some plastic-like face on tv. There's no interaction.

Remember, most mammals do not respond at all to faces on the tv, no matter how smart they are. Perhaps other mammals are smarter than us, in that respect.

Sony Really is Stupid

Looking for the final proof of how dumb Sony is? Here it is:



Why did they not include a $20 remote with every system? Hell, you know it couldn't cost them more than $10 to make. Now, behold the results of their stupidity:

60% of PS3 users don't know they've got Blu-ray

Wow. When I saw that headline, I could not believe it. Hmmm, maybe if every PS3 owner had a nice shiny remote laying on the coffee table, they might just be inclined to learn more about this blu-ray stuff, no? They might even go buy some movies! Dont the people over at Sony understand how viral marketing works? After they went through so much trouble (and expense) to push blu-ray, I cannot believe they did this. :O

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

The Plastic Conspiracy



I remember this clip from years ago. Plastic! I saw something in the store that reminded me of it.

I'm not even gonna bother posting it. (Partly because this stupid blogger wont even do it!) But you can see it here:
http://www.theimpulsivebuy.com/wordpress/2007/06/24/froot-loops-cereal-straws/

Just a quick look at the name of the link itself should prepare you for the absurdity contained within. This is a sad day for America... Ok so maybe I am over-reacting. Now I am not going to buy these just to find out how much packaging is wasted on a product like this, but you can bet that there's plenty of plastic going to waste in there. So many food products are like that. I've seen some with up to FOUR layers of plastic packaging! (6 or 7 if you count the entire shipping process.) It's as if there is this grand conspiracy where everyone is competing to see how much plastic they can waste on packaging these products. Doesn't it seem like someone somewhere wants us to be wasting all this plastic? How else does one explain it? Thanks alot George, for getting these silly thoughts stuck in my head!

When I saw the box of cereal straws in the store, I did check one thing though: To see if they were made in the USA. :/

Friday, August 03, 2007

Carnage and Karma in Minneapolis

So it would cost $180 billion to fix all of the nation's ailing bridges? Gosh it sounds like we have a really conservative government, one that would rather cut spending than invest in infrastructure. If we had a conservative government, that's where the debate would be. Obviously what we have is something else entirely, and we know this is an indesputable fact because we know that $180 billion is just a drop in the bucket compared to what this government spends. Hell, just the money that's gone up in smoke in Iraq has got to be more than $180 billion. I'm talking about money that really did go 'nowhere'. Money that was spent with absolutely nothing to show for it.

This goes to show how far gone this country really is. I'm gonna spell it all out here:


a) We've got people who think that Bush is doing a heckuva job. Cutting taxes, reducing the size of government, winning the 'war on terra', vetoing all the bad legislation. Yes there are millions who actually believe he is doing ALL of that! Yes, even the vetoing. They actually believe that because he vetoes a stem cell bill, it must mean he's doing his job.

b) There is actually a debate about whether we should invest in our own infrastructure. All the while, over in Iraq.... (need I go on? lol) Over there, in the promised land, we are spending hundreds of billions on what is ultimately going to amount to nothing except billions of dollars worth of weapons and supplies in the hands of potential future terrorists. (You wonder where all that stuff goes if/when the war is over? They're still finding mines in Vietnam...)

c) We give billions to companies like Halliburton so they can... relocate to Dubai. Yet we cannot be troubled to fix a few bridges and levees.

d) The fact that millions of people somehow support actions like the above should be very disturbing. Where is the outrage? I believe this is undeniable proof that the country is clandestinely controlled by some highly malevolent power. How else to explain the lack of focus? But again, who cares about that anyway? How many people even know the meaning of the word 'malevolent"?

e) No matter which way you slice it, there is no rational argument for what is going on. Those who say that we need to reduce govt spending, welfare, etc, well they support blowing billions in Iraq and giving trillions in corporate welfare. What is a rational person supposed to think when they hear one of those lame arguments? It's complete doublespeak. I'm not even interested in that, as much as I'm interested in knowing how the hell this faulty reasoning is making its way into people's heads.

f) This country benefitted from investment in infrastructure. It is an investment in the future. It is shameful to hear all these people talk about that as if it were a bad thing, and then at the same time they sit there and try to justify selling out this country piece by piece in the name of cheap labor, outsourcing, and privitization. It doesn't make any sense! And believe me they can't make any sense of it either. They'll sit there and spout all these logical fallacies, but they won't be able to explain why they think the way they do. That's textbook brainwashing at work. When you believe something, yet cannot explain why you believe it, that is bad. Unless it's a matter of faith. Faith based government? I guess that is where we are heading. It seems that is where we already are. Sooner or later, it will be codified into law. I'm sure the democrats will accomplish that much at least!

g) This country would benefit from a huge investment in infrastructure. It creates jobs. Wow imagine that. Doing something that actually creates jobs, instead of sending them over seas. My god no wonder no one wants to invest in infrastructure! (As I've said many times, it's like the twilight zone here... nothing makes sense.) The steel and concrete can be made here, it doesnt need to be imported. There really is only one Rational reason not to do this. And that has to do with the future of the automobile in general. Will we be able to make use of $180 billion worth of new infrastructure? Will there be enough oil? Will there be alternatives? It almost seems like, deep down in our collective subconsciousness, we know that it makes no sense to spend so much money on roads that we wont be able to afford to drive on for much longer. It makes me wonder... It's just like the oil companies with their refineries. They wont invest in new refineries because they know it will be a waste of money.


Personally I think we've made a mistake building a culture and a country around the automobile. But that mistake was made before I was born, and it is too late to change now. Letting our roads and bridges rot is even more foolhardy. It's not like the $180 billion would go nowhere. No sir that's what Iraq is for. When we invest money within our own borders, it creates jobs, it creates real wealth for us. It is what makes us a rich nation. It draws in even more investment. Those jobs produce more jobs. And more tax money. This should all be textbook stuff here, but it seems like we burned our textbooks a long time ago. It's all water under the bridge now. Karma...