Ruminations – 24sep16 (updated 29sep16)

George Rebane

Globalization cannot come about as long as the United States remains an economically and militarily strong sovereign nation-state.  This alone explains and sustains the agenda of America's collectivists of all stripes.

NPR on systemic unemployment and guaranteed national income (GNI).  Even the National Progressive Radio has now come out with the revelation that technology is killing many more jobs than it is replacing, underlining the great ‘head in the sand’ stance of our country’s politicians of all stripes who feed constituencies their  pabulum of government retraining programs and trade-wars as repatriating jobs.  Of course GNI has not been a distant concept for the Left, but openly starting to propose it as public policy is something new and needed to launch the national debate.  (more here and here)

Corporatism confirmed.  The CEOs of the top 100 US corporations have decided not to support Donald Trump’s candidacy.  The fear that he will upset the cozy applecart between their enterprises and the government bureaucracies that help them push back competitors.  Fifteen of them are even betting cash money on HRC continuing the corrupt same ol’ same ol’ policies.

Why did FBI have to grant immunity to a bunch of Hillary’s staffers, lawyers, and consultants in order to get them to testify about her various scandals?  That question goes double for the email debacle which Team Clinton maintains to this day involved nothing illegal on their part.  If that is the professional opinion of her lawyers, why did Comey have to bribe them with immunity to obtain their testimony of non-criminal proceedings?  This much-declared dead skunk won’t stay buried and continues to reek.

Trump borrowed money from his dad is the latest shriek from the lamestream.  All businesses use debt capital for operations and growth whenever possible, instead of selling stock to dilute existing owners.  And borrowing from knowledgeable family members, those who are intimately familiar with the risk involved, give favorable rates, and provide other industry-related value added services, is the absolute smartest thing to do – a win-win for all involved.  If Trump had gone to commercial lenders for that debt capital, then it would raise eyebrows of those who know anything about business.  But for the double dummies about finance, this is news is red meat and proves Trump’s business incompetence, or even corruption for the triple dummies.

[update]  Mr Bill Tozer, longtime RR reader, commentator, and raconteur, posted a link that illustrated the following priceless bit of calcified progressive mindset - You shouldn't criticize Islam or else they will turn into terrorists, and as we all know - terrorism has nothing to do with Islam.

[27sep16 update]  The Union tells us that the progressive idiots (redundant?) who populate the Nevada City city council are passing an ordnance that prohibits CCW holders from carrying in city parks.  The nut jobs and terrorists who plan to shoot up such places celebrate the utter ignorance of our 'gun violence' fighting liberals as they add another public gathering venue to the list prohibiting the presence of legal guns that might oppose any murderous spree they are planning. Such light thinkers are beyond remediation; they have no clue what actions of theirs invite the presence of criminals and guarantee that only they will be armed.

[28sep16 update] To illustrate the complexities of police shootings of blacks, we now add this incident in El Cajon where police shot a disturbed black man who suddenly pulled a vaping device from his pocket and assumed a shooting stance while pointing it at the officers. Here is CNN's report that includes a video frame of the shooting. (H/T to reader)

[29sep16 update]  The cold season will soon be upon us, and those lucky enough to still have a wood burning fireplace will enjoy cozy evenings in their living rooms, dens, and bed rooms.  This year firewood is especially plentiful due to the massive bark beetle infestation of our forests.  I have updated the piece (here) I wrote in 2012 on the building, care, and feeding of wood fires.  The new edition introduces readers to the Yule Log Angle and Keeper Chain - two pieces of easy to make equipment that enable you to build 'overloaded' fires that are long-lasting, safe, and require minimum maintenance.

 

Comments

[Bonnie McGuire]

If it weren't so disgusting it would be too funny watching what's going on with the big wheel movers and shakers. Even moe so if we knew the entire story. It's exactly what D'Souza learned from prison inmates that he shared in his book.
"How'd they find out about you man?"...."I don't know they were probably spying on me." ..."They don't care about anyone. They care about people who have money. They want to know where the money is, so that they can get it. My friends and I do that all the time when we're pulling a job."
You've probably read this gossip goin' around: Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves The Drug War Is A Joke'Another big Bank too big to fail. HSBC has been hot water many times and paid billions of dollars to settle money-laundering charges and mortgage abuses. Hillary Clinton has connections, not just Hillary, Loretta Lynch, James Comey and even Barack Obama, has ties to the criminal organization at HSBC.
http://www.blacklistednews.com/_%27Outrageous_HSBC_Settlement_Proves_The_Drug_War_Is_A_Joke%27/25959/0/38/38/Y/M.html
http://truthfeed.com/corrupt-hsbc-global-bank-exec-arressted-links-to-hillary-james-comey-and-loretta-lynch/12683/

[Bonnie McGuire]

Here's the rest of the story that somehow wasn't included...http://www.blacklistednews.com/_%27Outrageous_HSBC_Settlement_Proves_The_Drug_War_Is_A_Joke%27/25959/0/38/38/Y/M.html

[Bill Tozer]

Update to Dr. Rebane: Raconteur? Really? Quilty as charged.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/tags.php?tag=raconteur

http://www.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=Raconteur%2FRogue

http://www.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=Raconteur%2FRogue

Carry on.

[Account Deleted]

GNI - "It's the only way to fly".
The entire concept of a GNI is that the only way to stave off general unrest is to pay the folks to stay home and watch TV.
But - it turns out that it doesn't work that way.
We already have millions on the dole (essentially a GNI) and they riot with remarkable regularity.
A GNI is corrosive to the soul and and demeaning to the human spirit.
Folks know when they are being bought off and usually react quite badly. I'm amazed at so-called intelligent people who don't or won't recall history.
Freedom or free stuff - your choice.

[George Rebane]

ScottO 935pm - No doubt the corrosive effects are now and will still be there, and the progressive government has not made things easier for the unemployable to get work. But unless someone figures out how to tackle the growth of technology driven systemic unemployment, GNI or work camps for the poor seem to be the likely alternatives. The politicians of all stripes have no solution and don't want to talk about it. Stalin solved his unemployment problem by having guys with wheelbarrows build huge dams and levees. A visiting American engineer suggested spoons instead of wheelbarrows if unemployment persisted. Do you have an alternative for the coming years? Best I've come up with has been the Non-profit Service Corporation.
http://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2009/05/republicans-need-a-new-strategy.html

[Russ]

A world without work is coming – it could be utopia or it could be hell

by Ryan Avent in the UK Guardian

Robots will eventually do all our jobs, but we need to start planning to avert social collapse

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/19/world-without-work-utopia-hell-human-labour-obsolete

Preparing for a world without work means grappling with the roles work plays in society, and finding potential substitutes. First and foremost, we rely on work to distribute purchasing power: to give us the dough to buy our bread. Eventually, in our distant Star Trek future, we might get rid of money and prices altogether, as soaring productivity allows society to provide people with all they need at near-zero cost.

Will not happen on my watch, but it is interesting to think about the problems future generations will have to deal with.

[Bill Tozer]

Russ. The question lingering in my mind is when AI goes into full swing, will capitalism survive? Manufacturing output could increase 24/7 365 days a year at high rates of speed and having a robot check your vitals and dispense RX at the robot doctor's on-line site, but with the ever shrinking work force/consumer, who will be doing all the consuming out there? Sounds like we are headed to a Soviet style nationally owned everything.

I remember that trip to Disneyland as a youngin. Tomorrowland with its exhibits having machines and gadgets doing all the housework and cooking and other stuff. They said years ago that with all these new appliances and contraptions in the future, we will be working shorter weeks and spending our time doing recreational activities and enjoying ourselves with a the free time on our hands. A life of leisure.

What had happened? We are working longer, being more productive, yet spinning our wheels. I have had time off with no money to do anything and have had money with no time off to spend and enjoy it. Wasn't supposed to be that way. Tomorrowland may be filled with idle time for millions with no money to do some consuming outside of the bare essentials. Heck, we are already there for millions of idled workers.

A solution is to import millions of unskilled poorly educated, non-self supporting immigrants.....per our Great White Fathers in Euroland, lol. As the progressives cheer the destruction of our culture and our nation's majority, I wonder who is going to feed, house, clothe, and employ them when AI (The Sleeping Giant) awakens. Looks bleak from here. Idle hands are the Devil's workshop. Idle and broke is the Devil's playpen.

[George Rebane]

Gentlemen, we are truly circling the barn here. Please contend (support?) the dissertations presented in RR's Singularity Signposts (right panel) category of posts and comment streams. That may tell us which ideas to corroborate and which are new thoughts that invite discussion. Perhaps a good place to start is here -
http://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2012/10/edx-meets-the-workforce.html

[Todd Juvinall]

Maybe this was already posted? Michael Savage was preempted on Monday bye ABC's flagship station and then apparently across the country. He had started his radio show and as soon as he was starting to discuss Hillary's medical issues, the powers that be cut him off and replaced him with Curtis Sliwa. Anyway, Savage has a degree in medical fields and his mother apparently has the same symptoms as he sees in Hillary, Parkinson's. So ABC as we know is in than tank for her but has anyone ever seen this kind of censorship? This was a topic this morning on AM1380.

[George Rebane]

ToddJ 829am - Yes, censoring Savage was introduced and discussed in the 14sep16 sandbox. Additionally, that event/issue doesn't dovetail with any topic of these Ruminations, hence the sandboxes.

If you or anyone wants to know the RR precursors (in my posts and all comment streams) to any topic/issue then use Ctrl-F to search a given web page, e.g. the current one; and a broader net can be cast over all of RR by using the Typepad search box in the upper left panel, or googling it with 'Rebane's Ruminations, (keywords)'.

In this manner the commenter doesn't look like a breathless johnny-come-lately with what no longer is news on these pages. It also allows the commenter to refute or extend/expand on the building body of established ideas and reader positions instead of taking just one more unacknowledged lap around the ol' barn.

[Todd Juvinall]

OK. I thought it was current as it was the topic of the talk show this morning. I also heard them say it was the Monday before the debate so I figured t was current this week. But I will use you search bow. Thanks.

[George Rebane]

ToddJ 901am - Currency and contributing to a coherent discussion thread are different. My only concern here is that readings of RR's contribution to a given topic/issue be contained in as few coherent threads as possible, hopefully concentrating on yet another new aspect of what is being discussed. This as opposed to sprinkling contributions on the same matter over various posts and comment streams, none of which provide sufficient focus or provenance. And thanks for the effort and your contributions.

[Todd Juvinall]

No problem

[Account Deleted]

re Dr R's 9:55 - Sorry for a slow reply. On the road for a while.
A GNI seems a 'likely' scenario in that it's just a mere formality of what we already do in this country.
As far as what I would propose...
We could start with honesty, but too much of our economy runs on a giant lie, so that's a non-starter.
Imagine Yellin calling a presser and admitting that we are swimming in unsustainable debt and the poor will certainly feel the pinch worse than any other group.
Not to mention the stock market tanking.
Govt mandated wealth transfer of some sort is a wonderful way to:
1 Buy votes.
2 Kick the can down the road on the day of reckoning.
3 Appear to be magnanimous.
Politicians love all 3 of the above points, so I wouldn't expect much deviation from them.
And politicians are elected by item no. 1.
There's little point in outlining my perfect plan, since we're so far down the road of the govt becoming our lord and master. Most of America thinks the govt is in the business of giving us stuff. Stuff we have a 'right' to and 'deserve' as voters.
I live in reality - and reality sucks for most of the world.
Not that it hasn't for millions of years, but there was this little experiment that set up a govt with some strange ideas about its purpose and goals.
We were warned that it was fragile and needed to be maintained by a certain sort of humans.
Christian and educated.
Seen much of that lately?
Sorry guys - nice try, but human nature took over and we're back to what most govts have been for eons.
Take care of the powerful and keep the masses distracted with bread and circuses.
It was fun while it lasted - I'll live out my life in an area with a high concentration of like minded folk.
No - I'm not a sour puss. I enjoy my life and expect my progeny and their families to enjoy a higher standard of living than the average Joe.
Remember - When the hungry lion is chasing the humans, you only have to run faster than a few of the other humans.
The USA is now just a blip in the history of the world. There are many empires that lasted far longer.