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Aug 28
"Save or Create" Jobs... By Replacing Them With Machines?
I just got a shiny postcard in the mail, sent by none other than the United States Postal Service. It shows a man standing in front of a row of machines, "Automated Postal Centers." The back of the card touts these APCs as offering 24/7 shipping, insurance, certified mail, stamps, PO Box renewal, etc.
Is this what Obama meant by saying he would save or create millions of jobs? The US Postal Service, an agency of the US government, is filling its post offices with self-service kiosks, rather than being an instrumental part of Obama's plan to "save" jobs (of existing postal workers) or "create" jobs (by hiring more postal workers).
Regardless of the technical merits of the machines (and I do think they are a pretty cool idea and an alternative to 20-30 minute waits in line), it really does seem bizarre that one of the most prominent and publicly-visible faces of the government continues to eliminate the human side of its service. This, despite increasing unhappiness with long lines, backlogs of unsorted mail, and most especially the government's blathering about "saving or creating" jobs. Is this a case of the feds not being able to eat their own dog food, or is it a sign that the efforts to stimulate economic "recovery" are just a big scam? Hmmmmmm, I wonder which it could be...
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Aug 28
The Fear of Guns -- Campaign for Liberty
At the risk of belaboring the obvious, if a murderer isn't going to obey a law against murder, then he isn't going to obey a law against possessing a gun. There is no better place for a murderer to do his dirty deed than in a place that he is sure is a gun-free zone. After all, compare the number of murders in public schools to those that are committed at gun shows.
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Aug 28
Everything the Government Runs is Bankrupt [video]
via youtube.com
I think the description of this clip says it all: "The best 90 second explanation of the differences between government and private enterprise that you will ever hear!"
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Aug 27
The Free Market Did Not Fail -- Campaign For Liberty
The more cunning opponents of liberty will say that we have given the free market a chance to work and it has failed... However, any lucid analysis of the difficulties that we find ourselves in now can indisputably be traced to the aspects of our society that prevent free markets. Bad mortgage loans were made because government committed the fraud of monetary inflation combined with the theft of guaranteeing loans with taxpayer money. The skyrocketing cost of health care is a result of government committing the theft of taking money from one individual and using it to buy health care for another, suspending the natural law of supply and demand with artificial demand.
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Aug 27
What Is This “Free Market” We Keep Hearing About? -- Campaign For Liberty
Doubtless, when most Americans hear the words "free market," they picture the CEO’s of Detroit automakers flying in on corporate jets or Wall Street financiers busy mastering the universe. This mischaracterization of the free market is ironic, seeing as both of these groups have recently sought and obtained capital from people who were not free to refuse (taxpayers).
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Aug 26
Blogging By The Numbers #5
[This is part of my occasional Blogging By the Numbers series.]
- Four Thousand, Five Hundred, Seventeen: how many "tweets" I've posted on my Twitter stream.
- Seventy-Two: The temperature outside, though it feels much cooler. I'm happy to say that the weather has cooled off quite a bit with recent rains, and I think we're well on track for easing into autumn. And good thing, too! I always harbor some dread about coming home in the afternoon, walking home from the bus and facing into the scorching hot sun. These days, it's been very pleasant!
- Sixteen: The number of days between today and the start of the New Mexico State Fair. It's just a quick 5 minute bus ride from where we live, and I haven't been in a few years. I hope it's still a blast!
- Thirteen: How many years I've been a proud user of Linux. 11 years of that I've been 100% free of needing Windows for anything, and only rarely booting into it or using it on my own PC. Viva la Linux!
- Eight: That's how long (in months) Suzy and I have been here in Albuquerque, since moving here from China.
- Two: How many audiobooks I still have on my shelf that are unlistened to. They are: Getting Things Done, and 21. Both of them are books I've read before, but am looking forward to listening to in spoken form. I've very much enjoyed the audiobook I'm finishing up right now, Repositioning Yourself.
- Zero: The number of hours of TV I watch each day, if at all possible. Of course, occasional great stuff on DVD and on Hulu is the exception -- I gotta feed my need for Firefly, y'know!
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