The Donald does the right thing

He accepted the invitation from an important neighbor country.  He flew down to Mexico.  He had a talk with the Mexican president.  I dare say the Mexicans have a few things they want from us, and The Donald has a few things he wants from Mexico.  Since The Donald isn't president (yet) he is in no position to grant the Mexicans anything,  and the Mexicans certainly cannot make any concessions to a man who may never be president.  So they had a meeting. They issued bland but friendly communiques afterward.  And that is exactly what they should have done.  Even if they didn't achieve anything of real substance, just issuing a friendly press release and a friendly communique is a good thing.  Don't knock it. 
   Hillary was on TV knocking it shortly afterward.  

Asteroid Mission to Launch next week

A US built asteroid inspection vehicle named OSIRIS-REX is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral atop a Unitied Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.  OSIRIS-REX will attempt a sample return to Earth.  It has a robot arm to scoop up surface material into a return vehicle.  It also carries every other imaginable scientific instrument, a laser altimeter, and IR thermometer, and IR spectrometer, three cameras, and Xray imaging and spectrometer gear.   It's a long duration mission, lasting until 2023. 
   The samples returned will be analyzed for spores and any kind of biological precursor chemicals.  There is an old old theory (Arrhenius) that life on earth originated from spores coming from outer space.  Scientists will be looking, intensely, for such spores in the returned samples.   

Peeling the Apple with a dull knife

Apple set up an operation in Ireland.  Probably because Ireland's corporate tax is only 12%.  All of a sudden the EU, in Brussels, says that Apple ought to be paying $14 billion more in taxes.  Both Apple and Ireland are appealing.
   Couple of things I don't understand here.  I thought the internal affairs of EU countries. especially tax law, was under the control of those EU countries, not under the control of Brussels.  Nor did I think that Brussels has the authority to levy EU wide taxes.  If this is the case, how does the EU get to demand an extra $14 billion from an American company operating in Ireland? 
   Then there was a chucklehead sounding off on Fox News.  He said that Apple should never set up operations in Ireland, Apple should do all it's business back here in the USA, to avoid exporting American jobs.  Sorry there my chucklehead, Apple management is required by law to maximize Apple's earnings for its shareholders.  Anyone can see that doing business in Ireland with a 12% tax creates more earnings than dong business in the US with a 35% tax. Apple was doing its duty in maximizing its earnings.  Maybe the US should think about lowering its tax rate to keep business in the country. 

It's a free country

That football player doesn't have to stand for the national anthem.  Freedom of speech and all that. 
   On the other hand, I don't have to like it.  It's disrespect for the flag, and to the Republic for which it stands.  I plan to avoid watching his team play, and I'll call him a scumbag.  My free speech rights. 

Things I would like to hear Trump say.

1.  Repeal Sarbanes-Oxley.  It's a huge law on corporate governance.  Requires corporations to furnish thousands of pounds of paperwork to the feds.  It is so onerous that it decourages creation of new companies, startups.
2.  Allow health insurance companies to sell policies in every state of the union.  WithOUT having to do another thousand pounds of paper work for each of the 50 state governments.  I can get a cheaper policy if I can choose from many companies instead of being limited to one. 
3.  Allow duty free import of any medicine from all reasonable first world countries.  Starting with Canada and the countries of the EU and Japan.  If the health authority of a first world country has approved the medicine for its own citizens then it is OK for American citizens too.  FDA will scream and shout, but they don't vote.  Many medicines are available overseas or in Canada for half the price changed in the US.
4.  Stop the war on coal.  It throws miners out of work and raises the price of electricity for all.
5.  Lease federal land for oil exploration.  Obama has totally shut off  oil exploration on federal land at the behest of the greenies. 
6.  Approve the Keystone XL pipeline project.  We need the oil.  Pipelines spill less than oil tanker trains.
7.  Repeal the "Corporate Average Fuel Economy" (CAFE) rules.  Consumers will apply plenty of pressure for better fuel economy on Detroit.  We don't need  complicated and expensive federal regulation that establishes impossible-to-meet goals.
8.  Repeal the alcohol mandate on gasoline.  It takes nearly as much energy to make the alcohol as we get back when we burn it.  The corn farmers will  cry loudly but there aren't all that many farmers any more.
9.  Close down the federal department of education.  Let private lenders furnish student loans.  State and local governments run  and pay for all the schools anyway.  We don't need to pay for a bunch of federal bureaucrats to look over their shoulders and get in the way.

There is probably more, but this will do for a start. 

The Double NIckel Rides Again

Back after the 1973 oil shock, a cry went up that we could save fuel and cut accidents with a national speed limit of 55 miles per hour.  And so it was.  Congress passed it, the president signed it, and every speed limit sign the length and breadth of America was replaced with new ones reading 55 MPH.
    And everyone hated it.  No one drove any slower, and traffic cops had a field day.  Since everyone was driving well over the limit, they could ticket everyone on the road.
    It took a while, years actually, but the double nickel speed limit was finally repealed.  In a matter of a few days all the speed limit signs were changed back to 65 and 70.
    Yesterday the bureaucrats decided to try again.  They limited their efforts to trucks and buses to avoid political backlash from everybody in the country.  Rather than a speed limit, they want to install speed governors on all big trucks and buses.  The bureaucrats claim it will save fuel and reduce accidents.
  Yeah right.  The professional drivers of heavy trucks and buses are the safest on the road.  They signal, they yield the right of way, they stay in lane, they don't tailgate.  The accident rate for heavy commercial vehicles is far lower than for private automobiles.  And who can make a better tradeoff between fuel economy and getting the cargo delivered on time, trucking companies or federal bureaucrats?
   Question.  How much money did the makers of governors contribute to the Clinton Slush Fund? 

Is This For Real???

Shrink claims 60% of college students are crazy.   
   This shrink has a pretty low standard, he clearly thinks everyone needs a head shrinker.