Guard Dog

Well according to Ayn Rand, poor people are souless parasites whose sole purpose in life is to drag down the superior creators. So I can see where the view comes from. Of course Ayn Rand was a dumbass who lived in a fantasy world. Where in the world did you get the idea that a Russian ex-pat who wrote a couple of mildly interesting novels in the 60's has somehow become the equivalent of Jesus to the church of libertarian thought? You need to get that out of your head KP. It makes you sound silly and you are too smart for that. Come to that Jesus was more libertarian than she was. He tells us to give to the poor of our own volition, not ask the government to take money from other people and give it to the poor.

I've never used an SSD (in a computer at least). Is there really that big a bump in performance over a traditional drive?

More bad news for the Yanks, Teixeira will miss the first month of the season http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130306&content_id=42365242&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb I need to revise my prediction. They are in serious trouble.

There has been so much wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Sequester that Obam proposed and insisted on (then blamed on Republicans) but the funny thing is, the media is deliberately creating the impression the federal government has no money, they are spending over $3.9 Trillion and the cuts are $85 Billion. Last year they spent $3.7 Trillion. So you see, the total amout of the cuts is LESS THAN THE INCREASE from this year to last. And since Obama is in charge of actually spending the money he can pick what gets cut. That's why the DOJ is releasing prisoners, the Border Patrol is laying people off etc. He WANTS to make this painful so people will be good and mad for the 2014 election and all along he'll be blaming the other side for everything he's done. Oh, and in case anyone wondered that will fall short of revenue by some $900 Billion. They could not raise taxes enough to close that gap without ruining the economy Think about that when you are high fiving over the stock market gains this week. That's why I'm buying gold, silver and other real commodities. Something BAD is coming if this isn't fixed.

Orogun you are coming from a flawed premise here. We have anti-trust laws here (Sherman Act, Clayton Anti-Trust Act, Robinson-Patman just to name a few and hundeds of state laws), that you are not taking into account that would prevent exactly what you theorize would happen. I'd even take it one step further than suggest legislative action that borrows a page from the Glass-Stengal act that would prevent insurance companies from owning hospitals and Medical facilities and vice versa. That would fix your concern too Wals.

Yeah i WOULD compare Castro to Stalin & Hitler. And I bet it would rub you the wrong way. You have a unique persepective on him and Cuba in general as far as this board goes,

Freedom is not something the left values highly these days. Generally speaking at least. I would not compare Chavez to Stalin or Hitler unless there are thousands of unmarked graves in Venezuela we don't know about. But the world is a better place without him than with him. Her's hoping the future is brighter than the past for Venezuela. But it won't be.

They are in the same ball park price wise. I'm not a big fan of Win 8 and really don't want to deal with it any sooner that I must but I was put off the Alienware's smaller HD, even though it is half again as fast. I'm leaning towardsthe Alienware even though it is a bit more.

I looking at buying one of these two laptops. If you could have either, which would you prefer? 1) Alienware M14x 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0) edit Operating System Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit edit Memory 8GB (2 X 4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz edit Hard Drive 500GB 7,200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s edit Video Card 2 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M with Optimus™ edit Display Panels 14.0" High Def+ (900p/1600x900) with WLED backlight edit Wireless Networking Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 With Bluetooth 4.0 edit Optical Driver Slot Load Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD) 2)Lenovo Y400 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3630QM Processor( 2.40GHz 1600MHz 6MB) • Windows 8 64 • NVIDIA GeForce GT650M 2GB • 8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz • 14.0" HD Glare with integrated camera 1366x768 • Industry Standard Multi-touch 2 button touchpad • 1TB 5400 RPM • Blu-ray/DVD-RW • 6 Cell Li-Polymer • Intel Centrino Wireless N-2230 • Bluetooth Version 4.0 • One year • Notebook • Integrated HD Camera • HDMI (Out)

I never said that government does not have a role to play, that taxes are not needed or that social programs are dispensable. I've never understood the abolutisim of the left. They really think that is you are are not 100% for them then you are 100% against them. However taxing past the point of punishment for the nebulous concept of social welfare, or giving people money for doing nothing is also wrong. It is one thing to help people who need it. It is another thing entirely to give them a living for doing nothing. Don't get me wrong. The elderly, the disabled, the infirm need to be supported and we have mechanisims in place to do that. But abuse from laziness and a twisted sense of entitlement is rampant and no one is willing to fix it because welfare has become the new "third rail". We are expected to just shrug and accept that is the way of it and watch or taxes climb higher and higher and accept less and less from our labor. After a point it is difficult not to see the beneficiaries of our hard work as parasites. Especially when you see news stories like the woman in MI who won the lottery and still continured to take welfare and food stamps. And saw nothing wrong with that. Remember this, every dollar, euro or yen someone recieves without working for, someone else worked for with out recieving. As for "caring government" let me know when you find one of those.

Now reading Pukka's Promise by Ted Kerasote great read so far on how to improve canine health and longevity. Also reading The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Wan Eng. It might be losing something in the translation but I'm finding it hard to get into. It was highly recommended by a friend though. No swords or lasers in either though... sorry guys.

That's lower than the top tax bracket in the US under the Eisenhower (a Republican) administration, which topped out at 90%. See, the thing that Hayekians/Randians don't understand is that redistribution of wealth actually strengthens the economy. http://www.alternet.org/story/153304/rich_people_don't_create_jobs:_6_myths_that_have_to_be_killed_for_our_economy_to_live?page=entire Note that the article links to copious amounts of legitimate sources. Our lives are the result of the choices we make. We have the incomes we earn. I am working hard everyday 24-7-365 to climb higher up that curve. I don't think the answer which is implied in the video is to take money away from people who earn it and give it to people who didn't. How is it fair to me to take more of the money I earned and worked very hard for and give it to someone who was asleep in bed or watching TV during those long nights when I worked around the clock? Why is it fair to take a larger percentage of my investment income when it was my savings I risked to earn it and then give it to someone who risked nothing of theirs? Anyone in the US can go from nothing to multimillionare if they work hard enough at it. The outcome is not guaranteed but the opportunity is there. It happens every day. I.m not rich by any means but I do earn a nice living and I own some land and a house. I worked very hard for all of those things. I should not be punished doing what it took for them. I disagree with you completely. Taxes are essential yes, but wealth redistibution only punishes people who made the right choices and sacrifices to reward the ones who made poor choices of just did nothing.

Of course they don't. They give a damn if your premiums are paid. You know exactly what they want and where you stand with them. You also know what to expect from them and if they violate your policy contract there are legal remedies. In a single payer government run system if they (the other people who don't give a damn about you) decide you don't get to have or need something you have no recourse. And what do THEY want? It isn't money, they've already got your money by this point. You know what would fix this whole insurance mess? Market forces. Right now your insurance company is not afraid of losing you because there is almost nowhere for you to go. There are laws in this country prohibiting the sale of health insurance across state lines. It is madness. Take those away and allow free and fair nation wide competition for health insurance customers and prices will drop and quality of policies will rise because if your insurance sucks, you can go buy from someone else. This is another example of how government has made a mess out of this. We have a great medical system now. It's called veterinary care. I could have an MRI done on my dog within the next hour if he needed it. But I could not have one done on myself if I needed it. There are over 50 vets within a 30 minute drive from me offering a range of services of different quality for a range of different prices. I can go see any one of them I choose and since they are all competing with each other the prices are controlled. Why is this? The god damned government has not involed itself in veterinary medicine and screwed it up. There are seven companies that I know of that sell pet health insurance. I can buy a range of different policies from any one of them no matter where they are in the country. Why the hell can't we do human health care the same way? We used to. The reason we don't and never will again is because it's not about health care. It's about control.

Japan and Cuba are looking tough in the WBC. I caught the Rays Twins game on mlb.com today. Nice to see David Price looking sharp.

I don't think New Orleans is the most dangerous town in the US by any means. That honor goes to Chicago. That place is out of control. Nevertheless you need to excersize common sense there like anywhere else. Some areas are high crime some are not. There are some cities it's best not to wander around and explore without a plan. That would be one of them. Miami is another one. The French Quarter, Garden District, Uptown, and Carrolton are all perfectly safe. Stay out of Iberville, the 7th Ward and the 9th Ward and DO NOT go near the levees at night. Lots of bad stuff in those neighborhoods.

I truely do not think the government gives a damn about my healthcare or quality of life. All they want is to have that over me. To have one more lever to force people to conform to their plan and have you so dependant on them you are compelled to vote for them. I cannot think of one single thing in the government with the possible exception of the military that is result oriented. Unless the result is eternal self-pereptuation. Right now our health care system is in utter ruins because of government interference. The worst part is the only way that is being suggested to fix it is to have the very people who ruined it take it over completely. And God help us all when they do.

That reminds me: what happened to your book? When we started our new company all my personal projects got put on the back burner. That one included. I hired an editor to proof and advise on changes last year and was looking into self publishing. That has never been easier now in the world or e-readers. I'm still editing and revising but have not even touched it in six months. Between the project in Mexico, South Dakota and our new Simon Mall project I'm too busy to do anything but work. Heck aside from chess I haven't even played a computer game in months.

Things you must do: 1) Go to a Baseball game. See the Red Sox in Boston, the Yankees in New York or the Cubs in Chicago or the Dodgers in LA. Any one of them. 2) Watch where you park in New Orleans. They will tow you car and then you'll report it stolen and then the cops will laugh at you. Trust me on this one. Drink Hurricanes while you're there. 3) Las Vegas. Nuff said You're going to hve a blast.

The RV idea would be pretty expensive. Where are you guys planning to go Mes?

You know guys there are some topics that merit serious discussion. I really didn't figure this was one of them. Far more American ex-pats flee to Central and South America and Mexico than GB. Ever been to Cabo San Lucas? I think there is more Americans than Mexicans there.There are probably around 50,000-70,000 US citizens living in GB right now on only 1700 or so are looking to stay permanently over taxes. Not exactly an overwhelming percentage. Taxes do merit serious discussion because, as you all know, there is a point where they do far more harm than good and most countries this one included passed that up a long time ago. But this story was so deliciously ironic I figured we'd get some laughs out of it.

Ugh, all right we'll take back Madonna but you have to take back Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne. Ozzy can stay, he's harmless. Deal?

Excerpt: Rest is here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/9904314/Americans-renouncing-citizenship-to-become-British-thanks-to-tax-rise.html Wait a minute... we stopped being British over taxes. Actually I'm suprised to find the US Tax system has become more onerus than Britans. And on another note isn't this just what Great Britan needs, a bunch of foreign nationals moving in wanting to do everything their way? Kind of like Piers Morgan is doing here? So many directions to go with this one. Watch out Wals, Raithe, and the rest...the Yankees are coming!

That's how you undermine the home front. I wouldn't assume it would work unless public opinion was a factor. If it can be supressed or supplanted by nationalistic fervor casualties can be absorbed indefinitely. Of course if you can successfully make yourself more trouble than you are worth the opposing side might still lose interest. Even if public opinion is not an issue sooner or later the guys writing the checks want to see results. If there are none...

Do you guys ever read books without lasers or swords in them?

It's cold, half snowing, half raining. I was going to grill some summer squash with a chicken breast and rice on the side. Seems like such a hassle though. A couple of eggos and a cup of coffee sound better and easier.