"You Didn't Build It" but They Came

President Obama recently made a bold statement to those who have businesses, "You didn't build it.  Somebody else made that happen."

He didn't state that a lot of people working for you made actual products, nor that a product you designed had exceeding demand and consumers bought so much that your business thrived.  These would seem to be the logical arguments attempting to support the bold statement.

Instead, he argued that the government built roads and bridges that made it possible for the business to be built.  One problem with that logic is that taxpayer dollars paid for those projects so using the same logic we find that the government DID NOT build the roads and bridges; someone else made that happen, i.e. the taxpayers, corporate and individual.

Many businesses fail, though I do not have the statistics they can be searched on the internet and found in multiple places I'm sure.  Many are based on a product that has no demand. Many misuse income and cannot sustain the business.  There are several other reasons that businesses fail.  But they should all succeed under the President's logic that the government made them happen with roads and bridges.

So Mr. President, roads and bridges do not make business happen and neither does the government.  Besides that, taxpayers made the roads and bridges happen.  Furthermore the government stands in the way of business with regulations.  Many huge corporations existing today could not be started with today's regulations in place.

Laptop Update

Well it doesn't seem to be something burned up, but the malfunction could be from that. I've seen it behave badly when closing while on. It had stopped 'sleeping' (or which ever one that is) right away. I've had it plugged in and the battery not be charging for no apparent reason.

So, what seems to be the problem is that the "genius" manufacturer requires the battery to have some power in order to be ON even when plugged in. You can see how that could be a problem if it doesn't always charge when plugged in.

The battery drained to 0% and powered off the computer even though it was plugged in. The strangest was one time it cycled off and on. Apparently the battery got a enough charged to boot up but not enough to stay on. I don't know what caused it to keep turning back on. Maybe it thought it was in a reboot, which isn't possible from a hard power off. Luckily unplugging solved this.

I don't know yet if the cooling fan platform is dispersing enough heat away from the laptop to prevent overheating, though I've been using it with that for long enough that I believe it has helped tremendously.

You obviously can't use a computer if it could just turn off at any time for no apparent reason. If I can feel good enough that the battery is the only reason, I can make sure to check periodically the percentage charge. I should run on battery often for battery life and performance, and prevent the new problem. The screen goes darker (maybe there's a setting to change that) and it doesn't last long at ALL.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad2

I think I have to go to Safari and log in to set tags for blog posts. Why not just do it all in Safari then.

Organization Nightmare

My normal organization leaves a lot to be desired, but try living in under 100sf with a storage unit.

My laptop (currently my main computer) seems to be toast. "Luckily" I burned a few DVDs with all needed files off of it except most recent few days.

Laptops always overheat and burn up some component(s). At least that's my experience. The fact that I have a refurb boxed and ready to take its place, though smaller, might be an org plus.

I'm glad I have this iPad so I can blog which I barely do, check email which is rarely important, and check news and twitter which sometimes is just stressful.

I have a cable to copy files from the HD if it's standard (should be). The cable is packed away in additional newly packed boxes as I have a more imminent hope of moving.

I was also looking for a lyric sheet and it must be out of its place in a notebook, packed, instead of file boxes I have cumbersome-ly available and have searched. Any CDs the file might be on are of course now packed and it isn't on available drives. Mind you I have another laptop HD (from a previously deceased laptop) to check if I had the cable.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad2

New Members of Congress (either house)

In 2010 a small number of congressmen and senators were "Freshmen" in that it was their first term serving in their respective houses of congress.


Mostly, these were elected on the basis of fiscal responsibility (conservatism) whichever party they belonged to.


It has been argued they have too much influence, as well as that they cannot get much done because they are a small minority.  Mind you it has been argued in extremest of these by the same people.


The numbers game in congress needs to stop.  The numbers that matter are the constituents who voted members in office, who are supposed to be represented.


It is long past time to get rid of the career politicians in Washington (DC) who make millions on side deals, stock tips whether "insider trading" or not, and flat out unchecked corruption. These fight for their personal power, what spotlight they can bring to themselves and to their state if it helps for to that end.


Those who say that the Freshmen numbers are too small and their ideals are too rigid need to be swept out so that those with moral fiber and honor can work together to get done what is easily agreed upon and negotiate the rest.  What we have now is all-or-nothing thinking where many (mostly Democrat party senators at the moment) are content to let nothing be done, have they passed the required budget since Obama was elected?  Any budget?  That is part of the LEGAL definition of their job description after all.  The Senate majority leader will not even put things up for a vote to show that the party has any standing on anything.


Perhaps it is best that the turnover is not too abrupt so that there is time to regroup around the representation the founders intended.  But not so slowly that the incoming Freshmen are doomed to concede the old ways and continue in them.


So here's hoping for a LOT more Freshmen in congress come November's election, and more retirements and more honor to actually represent the constituency.


The republic has gone awry.  It is time to correct course.

Oil, Gasoline, and Alternative-Energy Automobiles

The automobile industry has been around for 100+ years.  Car makers enjoy profits in the Billions while oil companies enjoy profits in the tens of Billions.


Any time gasoline prices rise more than gradually, there's an interest in alternative fuel sometimes starting with diesel.  Since the first Earth Day in 1970, if not before, renewable energy or at least more environmentally friendly energy sources have been contemplated.


The car industry would be largely unaffected by building cars to run on a different source of energy.  Mass-production would lead to their costing about the same as cars cost now and the business would be more-or-less unscathed. 


This is in sharp contrast to the change in the oil, refining, and gasoline industries.  Consider if ALL cars eventually use energy other than gasoline.  Even if diesel cars still exist, and planes, trains and even semi trucks still use gasoline, the profit margins for oil companies would be drastically cut.


So why would oil companies put a good faith effort into development of alternative energy fueled automobiles?  You must come to the conclusion that they would not.  In fact they have bought out countless patents from small companies for millions of dollars to keep that from happening.


Yet the oil companies still take tax cuts they will admit they do not need and do research into something they want to make sure never happens.


The current US president claimed while campaigning and reiterated every State of the Union address that he would stop the oil company tax cuts (or subsidies, subsidizing research into the abyss).  It never even came up as actionable until there was a Congressional Hearing (i.e. puppet show) about the tax cuts and questioning the oil moguls.  Moguls admit they do not need them and one said they would gladly give them up if the government would open up more land/ocean for oil drilling.  


The government is by no means held to an ultimatum, yet the tax cuts remain and more drilling still is not expanding (see my previous post for thoughts on how that would lower "cost" of gasoline).


The oil companies would pass on higher taxes to the consumer to pay for their "research" while keeping their profits the same.


CLEARLY, research into alternative fuel for cars needs to be done by someone outside of the oil industry.


Additionally I know for a fact that gasoline engines run on the gas fume mini explosions and waste a lot of the gasoline in doing so.  There could already be much more fuel efficient engines that use less gasoline, and there have been in years past.  It is not in everyone's interest to do so.

Capital Gains Truths

Among all of the other loopholes and vast deductions, capital gains (typically income from investments) are taxed at a lower rate than occupational income.

Warren Buffett's effective tax rate is lower than that of his secretary. Some try to dispute that, but they take an average general secretary salary instead of an Executive Assistant salary. I hear Obama is in the same situation with his secretary (or in the past has been).  Any m/billionaire who wishes to pay more tax can simply cut a check, stop taking deductions and using loopholes, and stop settling out of court to pay a lower amount than what is legally owed.

The mythical distinction: capital gains are from invested income already taxed (true) giving gains that have already been taxed (not on the earner, but the corporation has been taxed).

Problem is that trying to make this distinction as an argument against capgains' being taxed the same as occupational income is that corporations are taxed completely (barring loopholes and cost of business deductions, etc).  So this argument would have to concede that all occupational income should be taxed at the capgains rate, as it has already been taxed when earned by the corporation.

The person who cannot afford investment on a large scale and has a low-rate savings account or CD gets taxed on all interest income the same as occupational income.  Deductions and credits might allow all or some of this tax to be returned.

The rate cut for capgains investing is an "incentive" to keep the wealthy investing so that the economy keeps going.  Some argue that rich investors would all stop investing and go into bonds.  This all-or-nothing view is as ludicrous as it is simple-minded.  The capgains are so great on the investments with high yield (especially in the artificial futures such as oil) that the wealthy would do well to keep investing and pay a little more tax.  The rate of loss deduction might be raised to alleviate some trepidation (barring complete overhaul to better tax code). The wealthy obviously would not go to bonds because the return does not account for inflation and they would be lucky to just break even.

All tax cut "incentives" are really subsidies, even if the gross money was 100% the taxpayer's money originally. Call it what you will, "investments," etc.  The savvy investor is far greater than the government could ever hope to be at choosing what to invest in, barring inside gain on losers and short calls, etc.

That brings us to the next post which will be about gas (petrol) and alternative energy.

Speculation on the price of Oil (pardon the pun)

For 20-40 years politicos have been barking about drilling more and excuses not to drill more. Independence from foreign oil is actually a National Security issue and should be of utmost importance when considering the prospects.  (Unless the top secret is that we cannot reduce our dependence on foreign oil by secret treaty, treatise, or just fear of what will happen if we don't pay the [terrorist] bullies the [protection] money.)


I think it is well established that the price of oil is not free market and not dependent upon supply and demand.  Like most everything else, it's a gamble on perceived future supply and demand. So the arguments that opening more domestic drilling would not help in a shorter term are absurd. The perceived futures of supply and demand change in favor of supply and would drive the price down in the near term, how much is anybody's guess.


Besides the fact that having started more drilling 20 years ago, we might be free from dependence on foreign oil, God forbid.


They try to say that Education is a National Security issue.  Well, look at the state of education in the Federal hands.  But keep looking at what that hand is doing so you don't see what the other hand is NOT doing.


True National Security issues go so far beyond the scope of this single post.  Suffice it to say, what are they really doing (vs. what they lie about doing) if it is really true that they have closed 2 of the largest northeast refineries.  Soon coal plants will be "necessarily" bankrupted.


What are they doing to our nation.

Autism Awareness Month - April

A month for this, a day for that, an hour... One Autism Awareness Day was in March.


Anyway, it's more important this year knowing (95%+) that I have Aspergers (a nondescript variant thereof), though it should be extremely important anyway.


Aspergers has many symptoms similar to other Autism but is often called "high-functioning Autism." After all I took my B average (higher aptitude) to college with a term earned in High School and went 13 straight terms to get a double BS in 3 years and a quarter. Same B average, with electives all taken up by high-level Mathematics courses.


I used to always want a PhD but medications make it so that my mind isn't what it used to be. I did manage A or A- for my MS being all major (computer science) courses.


Oddly (maybe) this was probably the easiest of my ailments to come to terms with. I already knew similarities to Autism in socialization and some other. Extreme sensitivity to noise that creeped from many years ago to over-the-top in more recent years, different types of vertigo as if youth car-sickness came back with a vengeance, and panic disorder have thrown me for loops (pardon the pun).


I watched a video on YouTube (I should have found to link) that highlights light and noise sensitivity for Autism. It is very different, but similar in familiar ways. So many things could not be simulated. It's heartbreaking that more and more children suffer from this by living in an increasingly hostile world every day.


Much more needs to be done in terms of research, less in charity CEO and staff salaries, more awareness, and less of "scientific studies" finding what they look for.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad2
(then deleted because of where it was put and edited then reposted)

One Degree of Separation (similar to 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon)

There is a new Klout Perk (klout.com) involving the Fox show "Touch" that premieres March 22.  It's a rather odd Perk, as perks go, in that so far we have received a pawn shop address as a clue for the first episode.  I guess it hopes to create buzz with discussion of an obscure clue on a premiere episode yet to air.

At any rate I happen to have worked on "24" a few days, so I'm 1 degree from Kiefer Sutherland.  I haven't watched the whole season on DVD and a season is one day so a day on set could potentially be spread out over the whole season.  Sutherland was not in the scenes I worked, though he was on set at the end of one day and said goodbye to those of us leaving.  Sean Astin was in some of the scenes (so 1 degree as well) and he had also been in scenes of the film "Click" which I worked.

Turns out that a micro short film I contributed to be an Executive Producer, Sutherland also contributed to be an executive producer.  So I guess that makes another instance where we are 1 degree apart.

The micro short is "The 1 Second Film"  The film itself is one second of large paintings. I can't remember the exact framing (as in frames per second, but also paintings I guess), etc.  The end credits will be a feature length documentary that is a 'making of' for the film.  It has a steep goal of $1M and proceeds will go to the Global Fund for Women charity.

The film has plans to release on International Women's Day (March 8) but the year is not set.  Another goal now on the website is to have 1M people involved, which could be FREE adding yourself as crew OR contributing.  It is the ultimate microfunding, before Kickstarter's time, minimum $1.  They have managed over 1/3 of the goal!!

If you sign up as free crew or by donation, please list me as the referral (or how you heard about it, or however it is listed in the sign-up process now).  I don't "need" it for any particular reason but it would be nice to see and keep track of those who joined because they heard about the film from me.

UPDATE: 12:25pm CDT I forgot to mention that Kevin Bacon is also an Associate Producer of the film, making me and possibly you 1 degree from Kevin Bacon. :)

To Collaborate or Not to Collaborate

That's a tough question.  I've been asking myself that question repeatedly for over 10 years.

I'm a poet and a touch of a musician but it's difficult for me to get the music from my head to paper or instrument or even computer.  I do have some apps that I haven't used yet to help with some of that and even help me "pick up" guitar which might help at least get it down to recording (and chords).

I know music theory up to and including rudimentary chords but not so much in chord progression and the more complex of chords beyond Major and Minor and simple inversions.  (I also have bought apps for that.)

Collaboration can possibly lead to an even better song, or one that has changed too much and that is less like the original song.  Anyone helping could try to take too much credit, especially if they just get done what I have written in my head.  Finding the right person would be like the proverbial needle in a haystack.

The only song that I've fully completed thus far, I used Cakewalk software to put the notes on a grand staff using a piano synthesized instrument.  I sang a soft version with a poor quality microphone and had it officially copyrighted.  That led to a couple of advertisements to make a studio demo.  I chose one of those and had a professional demo made, with which I was mostly satisfied with a couple of issues.  The demo was produced without any input from me beyond my recording and a few suggestions in a letter might have been considered.  The Lead Sheet had at least one glaring error and I'm not sure how much the singer could read music.  One of the intentions was likely to feel it.  (In acting the idea often arises to own the copy while feeling wording you might have chosen and intent.) I was pleased overall with the demo though.


On my homepage (currently still converted to a blog, so that page shows up as a post) are some more thoughts about the writing process I went through and more about the actual demo, and of course a link to the song (now on YouTube with a slideshow of photos that I took myself, so I own all material in the video).  The old website hosting of my own HTML and all of those issues are more stories not that interesting really.


So that brings us to one of the songs I currently have in my head.  I transcribe lyrics and even type them up and the music stays in my head.  Music stuck in my head doesn't get a song completed and thus the posed question.


I have signed up for at least one social media site in years passed dedicated to music collaborations.  I don't know how successful the site ever was.  Maybe I needed to work on a better profile to appear more attractive in music terms.  That would be an odd task.  I posted the one song but no lyrics for songs that I hadn't finished.  

I was torn with the issue of copyrighting lyrics only, or using Poor Man's Copyright for the lyrics.  (For those who don't know, that would be mailing them to myself using Registered Mail with clear date and sealing of envelope/package which would never be opened unless needed as proof of the date I had the lyrics all completed.)  The music from my head couldn't be copyrighted in any manor though.  Therein lies the rub.


Copyrighting and publishing of a song are two VERY different and separate issues.  Copyright is full protection of content but no structure for actual radio play or performance by another party.  The internet gets around some of that but mostly with no residuals.  Selling songs is actually possible though, with royalties.


Self-publishing is an option, still allowing registration with a Performance/ing Rights Organization (PRO) which would handle any residuals.


I looked through ads on Craigslist and emailed some who were seeking to collaborate who were on the music/composing side.  I gave some a link to the completed song and explained I had other tastes so it wasn't a stone template of my writing.  I didn't get even ONE response just saying that their style was different or whatever excuse.


Believing somewhat in Divine Intervention I tried to keep believing that when the time was right I would find the right collaborator and complete at least the one song I feel is most important publicly.  Most of the time I'm not looking for that anymore and wonder if I'm "supposed to" finish it myself.  I started some Cakewalk notes years ago but haven't gone back to work on it more.  It's frustrating and I worry about making a finished product substandard to what I had envisioned. 


All of that leads me to a timely issue.  I started reading a book last night that I've had a few months.  It's very interesting and though I haven't been a huge reader (I didn't read most of my required college readings) I was fighting sleep to keep reading.  I got to a point that discussed the beginning part of my song concept.  Though this song leaves the beginning ambiguous until the chorus, this was still a little unsettling and depressing.  So I stopped reading there.  I'll continue reading and hope that it doesn't go too far into my song but know that it will have to do so at a minimum to explain itself.


Insert your "100 monkeys" theory or "the ether" ponderance here.  Note also that Divinity would also include that if you sit on your talent(s) they could be taken away and given to someone else.  Even more secular concepts would consider (though not so likely for artistic expression) that if you wait around and do nothing, someone else will do it and you'll only have the regret of having done nothing.


So I'll continue with the book, knowing that it is also a sign that I need to act, which also started with writing this blog post.  If you knew the whole story it's kind of a meta-sign but that's way too long of a post if this isn't already.


To collaborate or not to collaborate, and add to that only subtle guidance to help me know.

"Conversion Disorder" and Tics

I was actually trying to research whether Immunotherapy (allergy shots) have mercury (or Thimerisol(R)) preservative when I found interesting data on "Conversion Disorder" that might be relevant to the outbreak in upstate New York last month. 

Well I no longer receive allergy shots so any damage is mostly (but nor completely) done.  I'm about 90% sure that I have an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (Aspergers, though a Non-Descript variant thereof) which predated the Immunotherapy anyway.

I found a site http://deathbyvaccination.com/ (Copyright © 2004, 2011 by Lloyd W. Phillips) that has a serious disclaimer.  Much of the data is not greatly organized, leading me to believe the curator may suffer from some of the described effects.  Just the headlines of the site could make you nauseated.

Anyway the paper on Autism and Autoimmune Disorders at http://autismapocalypse.com/ (Copyright ©  January 30, 2012 - Working Copy; Publication Pending) follows:

In study, all female children who were tested in a group who reported severe adverse reactions to the Gardasil HPV vaccine, and who were typically diagnosed with "Conversion Disorder," actually had NK-CD57 counts ranging between 8 and 51. Further testing revealed that they were infected with varying degrees of Bb, Bartonella, Babesia, FL1953 (Fry Labs: PCR for FL1953), plus other pathogens and Lyme-related co-infections (PHILLIPS et al, 2011). A fully intact Blood Brain Barrier passes Spirochetes, such as Borrelia, commonly referred to as Lyme Disease. Viruses and enteroviruses, such as Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), CMV, XMRV, etc., may also be reactivated. Fast growing Interleukin-17 cytokines, from the recently discovered TH-17 immune response, have now been documented as being capable of acting as incubators for viruses and pathogens, such as Epstein Barr, which may help explain the increase of autoimmune symptoms during flares of inflammation. Attenuated viruses from vaccines may also multiply under these circumstances, as may be evidenced by the 83% increase of antibodies to the strain of measles found in the MMR vaccine in the serum of autistic children. These antibodies are not found in normal children, nor in non-autistic siblings of autistic children (PMID: 12849883).

Has the history of HPV vaccination been examined in the girls suffering the "Conversion Disorder"? The vaccine has become so commonplace that it is almost certainly a common factor.  Alone it might not cause the condition seen in the girls, but combined with other toxins, neurotoxins, and the like could easily be linked to find the true cause.

Will the doctors and/or media tell the truth even if they do find the true cause?  FDA, CDC, big corporation, big regulation, "Advocacy" that is in big business, big pharma, the list never ends.

In on the Ground Floor

I had some similar thoughts in a post What If.  What if you could get in on the ground floor of an internet start-up like Twitter? Even only taking a tiny percentage would be worth a LOT today.

This time there's a group that has a better idea of what it would like to accomplish, appropriate scope, and a real formulation for sharing private equity in internet start-ups by helping them get off the ground and spreading the word for a starting user base.


The company is Wahooly and I'm proud to say that I am one of the 27,000+ initial members.  According to CEO Dana Severson, some 250 start-ups applied but only 200 will be accepted the first year.

About 50 internet start-ups per quarter will run their paces through the initial members, some having a limited number of people.  The first round of start-ups will be provided to members some time later this month.

Severson joined David Domzalski on Financial Bin Radio for an interview explaining the overview of Wahooly.  Check out the interview here.

Wahooly elsewhere on the web:

• Company website www.wahooly.com
• Twitter
• Google+
• FaceBook

#TeamWahooly

Happy New Year 2012

It's been a long year and a half. So Happy New Year 2012 (and I don't care if that's somehow politically incorrect).

I've had a good number of articles come to mind but obviously didn't sit down and formulate posts for them.

I'm still challenged to make articles appropriate length for blog and status update readers. I'm still not interested in abstracting or summarizing things I find online to force them through my blog. I've clicked on such and gotten an abstract with a link to a more official blog with summary and yet another link to the real content. (Really???)

The world is very different from last January, and I feel it will be extremely different again next January.

So for the sake of brevity I will wrap this up as a New Year's post and plan to blog individual items as they come to me.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad2