Yesterday I had NPR on my car radio. They started out discussing a report that Lyndon Johnson had authorized after riots in Detroit and Newark in the later 1960's. The report picked up the name "Kerner Commission Report" after the name of the commission chairman. The report blamed the riots in Detroit and Newark on "white racism". That was fifty years ago.
NPR ran on talking about the Kerner Report for a good hour. All the speakers said that white racism was terrible. Nobody gave specific examples of said white racism, naming names and dates. Nobody suggested ways to improve the situation, new laws, regulations, prayers, education policies, anything. For an hour of airtime all we learned was the NPR and their on-air guests were against white racism. Groovy, I'm against it myself. But to serve as useful public discourse, rather than just feel-good BS, you have to suggest courses of action, not just a dislike.
I'm so glad my tax money goes to support this kind of broadcasting.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Farewell to Radio Shack
I needed a one ohm resistor, fairly high wattage, to use to measure current draw on a DeWalt thickness planer. The planer had been blowing circuit breakers. I was about to set off for the Radio Shack in St Johnsbury until I decided to check it's location on Google Maps, it has been some time since I last visited it. Surprise. Google Maps showed the St Johnsbury Radio Shack as "closed". In fact it showed a whole bunch of New Hampshire Radio Shacks as closed. Closest one still open was all the way up in Colebrook.
Well it was a nice sunny day, the car needed a little exercise anyhow, so I drove up. And they had the needed resistor, and I bought some other hardware too. Poor old Radio Shack stopped selling, or lost, or something, the high value high margin product you need to make enough money to stay alive. Back in the old days, Radio Shack sold stereo equipment under their own Realistic brand name. And ham gear and TV sets, and they pioneered the personal computer business with the TRS-80. Back in the day, the Trash-80 sold as well as Apple II. Somehow all the decent high margin products went away and Radio Sack was left with hardware bits and pieces, batteries, cables. Low value stuff. And now they are closing up. Too bad.
Well it was a nice sunny day, the car needed a little exercise anyhow, so I drove up. And they had the needed resistor, and I bought some other hardware too. Poor old Radio Shack stopped selling, or lost, or something, the high value high margin product you need to make enough money to stay alive. Back in the old days, Radio Shack sold stereo equipment under their own Realistic brand name. And ham gear and TV sets, and they pioneered the personal computer business with the TRS-80. Back in the day, the Trash-80 sold as well as Apple II. Somehow all the decent high margin products went away and Radio Sack was left with hardware bits and pieces, batteries, cables. Low value stuff. And now they are closing up. Too bad.
Monday, March 5, 2018
deer rifles vs assault rifles
There are no objective differences (objective means things you can measure with a ruler, or with fancier instruments). Both deer rifles and assault rifles are chambered for center fire cartridges firing bullets from 0.22 inches up to 0.44 inches at muzzle velocities in the ball park of 2800 foot per second. They have barrels ranging in length from 18 inches out to maybe 28 inches. They can be self loaders, or lever action or bolt action. Neither can be fully automatic (fully automatic is a machine gun). Fully automatic guns were made illegal back in Al Capone's time.
The main differences between deer rifles and assault rifles are matters of styling. Deer rifles are usually fitted with nicely finished walnut stocks and the metal is blued. Assault rifles have black plastic stocks, and the metal is given a variety of military finishes that look black and non reflective in daylight.
Which means the current hue and cry for "an assault weapons ban" is really a call to ban all firearms ownership. The anti gun crowd has taken the Parkland Florida massacre as an excuse to soap box for a ban on all gun ownership.
The Parkland shooter should have been identified as a homicidal maniac long ago and placed in a mental hospital. If we allow guys like that to run around loose, they will find a way to do evil even if they cannot purchase a gun over the counter at a gun store.
The main differences between deer rifles and assault rifles are matters of styling. Deer rifles are usually fitted with nicely finished walnut stocks and the metal is blued. Assault rifles have black plastic stocks, and the metal is given a variety of military finishes that look black and non reflective in daylight.
Which means the current hue and cry for "an assault weapons ban" is really a call to ban all firearms ownership. The anti gun crowd has taken the Parkland Florida massacre as an excuse to soap box for a ban on all gun ownership.
The Parkland shooter should have been identified as a homicidal maniac long ago and placed in a mental hospital. If we allow guys like that to run around loose, they will find a way to do evil even if they cannot purchase a gun over the counter at a gun store.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Why cannot American Steel and Aluminum compete?
President Trump wants to slap a 25% tariff in imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum. He claims that foreign competition is so fierce that we need good stiff tariffs to preserve the American industry. That American steel and aluminum companies will be driven out of business by the foreign competition.
I'd like to know, just why the American industries cannot compete with the foreigners. Is it the worker's wages? cost of raw materials, obsolete plant and equipment, outrageous pollution regulations, high taxes, stock buybacks, overly plump dividend payments, outrageous CEO pay, or what? How plump were the last union contracts? Used to be, American industry was far more efficient than anywhere else on the globe. What happened? Why do the US metals companies "need" tariff protection. Protection that costs us consumers dearly.
Another good question. What gives the president the authority to raise tariffs on just his say-so. I thought US tariffs were acts of Congress, not executive orders.
The Journal and Fox News are running pieces against the tariff, but none of the MSM have investigated the national security ploy being used to justify a really stiff tax hike on everyone except the steel and aluminum industries.
I'd like to know, just why the American industries cannot compete with the foreigners. Is it the worker's wages? cost of raw materials, obsolete plant and equipment, outrageous pollution regulations, high taxes, stock buybacks, overly plump dividend payments, outrageous CEO pay, or what? How plump were the last union contracts? Used to be, American industry was far more efficient than anywhere else on the globe. What happened? Why do the US metals companies "need" tariff protection. Protection that costs us consumers dearly.
Another good question. What gives the president the authority to raise tariffs on just his say-so. I thought US tariffs were acts of Congress, not executive orders.
The Journal and Fox News are running pieces against the tariff, but none of the MSM have investigated the national security ploy being used to justify a really stiff tax hike on everyone except the steel and aluminum industries.
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Thinking about going to college
It's that season, at least for high school seniors. College is expensive as all get out. A four year degree can cost $100,000. Uncle Sam will loan you all that money, but you have to pay it back. Declaring personal bankruptcy won't get you out of your college loan. Most of us go to college to get a degree that leads to a good job. This only works if you graduate. If you don't graduate, you get nothing, except debts.
Time to ask yourself, do I have the stick-to-it-tivness to make it all the way to graduation? How do you feel about schoolwork, really? Does doing a term paper seem like fun? Or a hateful torment? Is reading a good history book fun? Or utterly boring? How is your high school academic record? College work is about like high school work. If you are just scraping by in high school, college will be four more years of the same.
Instead of launching into a doubtful college experience right after high school, think about doing something else after high school and then doing college later. Think about enlisting in the armed services. You will learn a lot of useful stuff, the GI benefits after I left the service paid for my electrical engineering degree, and employers like to hire veterans. Think about getting a job, just about any kind of job. After doing kindergarten followed by grades 1 thru 12 schoolwork can get old. Try a change of pace by working.
For that matter think about skilled jobs, welder, electrician, plumber, CNC operator, electronics tech, machinist, long haul trucker, lineman, heavy equipment operator. They all pay well, as well as most college degree jobs. If working with your hands in appealing to you, give it a try.
Time to ask yourself, do I have the stick-to-it-tivness to make it all the way to graduation? How do you feel about schoolwork, really? Does doing a term paper seem like fun? Or a hateful torment? Is reading a good history book fun? Or utterly boring? How is your high school academic record? College work is about like high school work. If you are just scraping by in high school, college will be four more years of the same.
Instead of launching into a doubtful college experience right after high school, think about doing something else after high school and then doing college later. Think about enlisting in the armed services. You will learn a lot of useful stuff, the GI benefits after I left the service paid for my electrical engineering degree, and employers like to hire veterans. Think about getting a job, just about any kind of job. After doing kindergarten followed by grades 1 thru 12 schoolwork can get old. Try a change of pace by working.
For that matter think about skilled jobs, welder, electrician, plumber, CNC operator, electronics tech, machinist, long haul trucker, lineman, heavy equipment operator. They all pay well, as well as most college degree jobs. If working with your hands in appealing to you, give it a try.
Friday, March 2, 2018
Senior Peacenik leaving the State Dept
The Wall St Journal calls Joseph Yun "Top U.S. Envoy for Pyongyang". Sources are muddled on this story, but the Journal's take is that Joseph Yun is leaving the State Dept because he cannot get any support for negotiations with the NORKs. They say his entire career at State was involved with relations and negotiations with Pyongyang.
Some how this guy manages to believe that the NORKS can be talked out of their nukes. And he is miffed that the Trump Administration doesn't want to play the talks game. As for me, I don't believe anything, talks, bribes, economic pressure, propaganda, even military action will get the NORKs to give up their nukes.
I wonder why we paid this delusional peacenik for so many years. He clearly doesn't understand the situation. But he drew his pay for many years.
Some how this guy manages to believe that the NORKS can be talked out of their nukes. And he is miffed that the Trump Administration doesn't want to play the talks game. As for me, I don't believe anything, talks, bribes, economic pressure, propaganda, even military action will get the NORKs to give up their nukes.
I wonder why we paid this delusional peacenik for so many years. He clearly doesn't understand the situation. But he drew his pay for many years.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Interest rates going up against the Stock Market
Gospel at the Wall St Journal (and probably the other business publications too) is that raising interest rates hurts the stock market and falling interest rates help the stock market. The Journal is the only business publication I read, so I don't really know if the rest of the business press follows the Journal's gospel, but it's a good bet that they do.
Why this link between market performance and interest rates? Could it be that a lot of stock is bought for speculation, and on borrowed money? Margin accounts with brokerages, where the stock broker loans the investor/speculator the money to buy the stock, and the investor/speculator pledges the stock as collateral to back the loan.
Is this a good thing? Margin accounts can really slam the market hard. When the market goes down, like it did this month, the value of the stock pledged as collateral goes down. And the broker calls the investor/speculator and asks for more money to back the loan. A margin call. The only way most investor/speculators have to raise the money is to sell the stock, which drives the market down further.
The social good that the stock market performs is to make stocks into a very liquid asset. I can buy stock with my extra cash, knowing that when I need the money for something, I can sell the stock, quickly. Without the stock market, should I need to turn my stock into cash, it might take months to find someone who wants to buy my stock. And without the market doing deals and publishing the stock price, I would be hard pressed to get a decent price for my stock. I might decide not to put my money into stocks, but rather such economy boosting assets as antiques, artworks, classic cars, coins, stamps, cyber currency, or betting on sports.
The social purpose of the joint stock company is to channel investor money into companies that use the money to build factories, build railroads, buy equipment, and grow the economy. If the investor's money is just a loan, then the investor is sucking up loan money that could just as well be borrowed from banks by the company itself, rather than giving the investor a cut.
The stock market has a lot of gambling built into it. Do margin accounts, and borrowing to buy stock make it easier for companies to raise money, or do they just support the gambling part of the market? If we forbid borrowing to buy stock, would the market be steadier and more predictable?
Why this link between market performance and interest rates? Could it be that a lot of stock is bought for speculation, and on borrowed money? Margin accounts with brokerages, where the stock broker loans the investor/speculator the money to buy the stock, and the investor/speculator pledges the stock as collateral to back the loan.
Is this a good thing? Margin accounts can really slam the market hard. When the market goes down, like it did this month, the value of the stock pledged as collateral goes down. And the broker calls the investor/speculator and asks for more money to back the loan. A margin call. The only way most investor/speculators have to raise the money is to sell the stock, which drives the market down further.
The social good that the stock market performs is to make stocks into a very liquid asset. I can buy stock with my extra cash, knowing that when I need the money for something, I can sell the stock, quickly. Without the stock market, should I need to turn my stock into cash, it might take months to find someone who wants to buy my stock. And without the market doing deals and publishing the stock price, I would be hard pressed to get a decent price for my stock. I might decide not to put my money into stocks, but rather such economy boosting assets as antiques, artworks, classic cars, coins, stamps, cyber currency, or betting on sports.
The social purpose of the joint stock company is to channel investor money into companies that use the money to build factories, build railroads, buy equipment, and grow the economy. If the investor's money is just a loan, then the investor is sucking up loan money that could just as well be borrowed from banks by the company itself, rather than giving the investor a cut.
The stock market has a lot of gambling built into it. Do margin accounts, and borrowing to buy stock make it easier for companies to raise money, or do they just support the gambling part of the market? If we forbid borrowing to buy stock, would the market be steadier and more predictable?
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