Falling Homicides Thanks To Advances In Medicine

Front Page News

The Wall Street Journal on 12/8/2012 published a long front page article titled “In Medical Triumph, Homicides Fall Despite Soaring Gun Violence” (subscription required).

Some excerpts from this article:

“Improved medical care doesn’t account for the entire decline in homicides but it experts say it is a major factor.”

“… more people survive because of the spread of hospital trauma centers … the increased use of helicopters … better training of first responders …”

“… the estimated number of people wounded seriously … by gunshots … rose 47%  to 30,759 in 2011 from 20,844 in 2011 …”

Confirmation Of Anecdotal Evidence

This article kind of confirms observations such as the famous almost miraculous survival of former Congress woman Gabrielle Gifford despite a gun shot in the head at close range.

Not least since the first Gulf War, we have learnt of dramatic improvements in medicine that saved the lives of severely injured US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Future Is Even Brighter

I believe strongly, that the excellent care that Congress woman Gifford received is only the beginning for future gunshot victims. I surmise, in a few years we are able to restore damaged brain cells.

History Of Saint Nicholas Aka Santa Claus

Trigger

The Wall Street Journal recently (12/6/2012) published review of “The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus” a book written by Adam C. English.

Other Sources

According to Encyclopedia Britannica:

·         Saint “Nicholas’s existence is not attested by any historical document, so nothing certain is known of his life except that he was probably bishop of Myra in the 4th century”

·         “Nicholas’s reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to legends of miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy.”

·         “He was reputed to have given marriage dowries of gold to three girls whom poverty would otherwise have forced into lives of prostitution and to have restored to life three children who had been chopped up by a butcher and put in a tub of brine.

·         “In the Middle Ages, devotion to Nicholas extended to all parts of Europe. He became the patron saint of Russia and Greece; of charitable fraternities and guilds; of children, sailors, unmarried girls, merchants, and pawnbrokers; and of such cities as Fribourg, in Switzerland, and Moscow. Thousands of European churches were dedicated to him”

Unfortunately, the Catholic Encyclopedia does not have much information on him not even why and how he was declared a saint.

Marriage Dowry

The review tells the story about the marriage dowries as follows: “Another favorite story, first told by the eighth-century monk Michael the Archimandrite, concerned a once-wealthy man who lost his fortune and decided to sell his three daughters into prostitution because he couldn't provide dowries. Nicholas, whose own parents had left him a large inheritance, sneaked up to the man's house in the dead of night and threw three bags of gold through the window, enabling the girls to find respectable husbands. He thus became the patron saint of spinsters and of pawnbrokers (for whom he became a "guarantor of payment"); the three balls on pawnshop signs are stylized versions of Nicholas's bags of gold. … He [author] suggests that the story of the sisters saved from prostitution plausibly reflects fourth-century social realities. The practice of destitute or debt-ridden parents selling their offspring to brothels or slave-traders was so common that the Emperor Constantine made public funds available to families so that they wouldn't abandon their children.”.

Wikipedia adds: “In one version the father confronts the saint, only to have Saint Nicholas say it is not him he should thank, but God alone. In another version, Nicholas learns of the poor man's plan and drops the third bag down the chimney instead; a variant holds that the daughter had washed her stockings that evening and hung them over the embers to dry, and that the bag of gold fell into the stocking.”

Other Miracles

From the review we also learn: “The author seeks a historical basis for other St. Nicholas tales: his miraculous appearance aboard a foundering ship that guided it to safe harbor (an incident that made him the patron saint of sailors) and his intercession via a dream that prompted Constantine to spare the lives of three Roman military officers unjustly condemned to death.”

A Wealthy Man

Saint Nicholas is being described as an affluent man: “After his parents had gone to the Lord and left him much property and an abundance of money and possessions, he reckoned that he had God as his father.” (Source).

Such miracles only happen when big government does not confiscate your fortune.

It Is High Time For More Telecommuting And Smarter Traffic Management

The Current Situation

This will obviously be an incomplete description of the current situation.

How many hours are lost each day due to traffic congestion during rush hours? How much gas is wasted? And so on, because so many employees still follow this convention of driving to and from work every week day at about the same time. More flexible work hours so far appear to have had only a minor positive impact.

For various reasons roadways are not being built to alleviate some of this daily traffic ordeal during rush hour. Environmentalists and urban planners are against it and they tirelessly try to make commuting more of a hassle, e.g. HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes.

Telecommuting Is Ready For Prime Time

Like the paperless office in recent times, telecommuting was overhyped and overpromised when it started in the early 1970s. But what a difference 40 years makes! Before the industrial revolution it was very common to work at home for most workers.

Given today’s technology in the 21^st century it would be very feasible to implement telecommuting on a large scale to achieve something like that the average employee drives to work only a few days a week, the rest of the time he or she works from home or some other location that requires less driving. Nowadays, many office jobs could be done from home even those where sensitive information is involved. Most IT/software development work could be done from home as well.

Today, according to the Wall Street Journal just 6.6% of the US workforce work from home fulltime in 2010 up from 4.8% in 1997. That is a positive development in the right direction, but less than three percentage points in over a decade is very slow.

However, I do not advocate government intervention or subsidies to promote more telecommuting. Government could play a role in educating about the benefits of telecommuting. It could also reduce business taxation so businesses could opt to implement more telecommuting, if beneficial to their business.

More telecommuting offers businesses the opportunity to reduce all kinds of costs, e.g. buildings or other infrastructure.

US Health Insurance Companies Do It

A recent Wall Street Journal article titled “Out of the office but still on the job” (subscription required) by David Wessel published on 12/20/12 highlighted that at least two major health insurance companies in the US, i.e. Aetna and Cigna Corp., where a substantial number of employees work full time from home.

According to the article, “nearly half – 47% - of Aetna’s 35,000 US employees work from home. It allowed Aetna to “drive down costs, particularly real-estate costs … estimates … are 15% to 25% lower than they would otherwise be. … reduced Aetna’s total office space by 2.7 million square feet …”. “About 20% of employees at Cigna Corp … work from home.

Smarter Traffic Management

Something that I personally find offending when I commute to or from work or in general is that urban surface street traffic lights are too often timed in such a way that you are stopped at one light to be stopped again at the light just one or two blocks away on non-residential streets. Is this intentional or just coincidence? Given the ideological mindset of urban planners preoccupied with routing traffic or discouraging certain traffic I assume the former.

A recent article by the UC Berkeley NewsCenter titled “Cellphone, GPS Data Suggest New Strategy for Alleviating Traffic Tie-Ups” published on 12/20/12 gives you a flavor of what might be possible in the near future to smartly route commuter traffic based on our smart cell phones with built-in GPS, accelerometers etc.. This study got it a little wrong when it blames basically the commuter for the congestion by saying something like “not all drivers are contributing uniformly to congestion”. The focus of this study was probably also too narrow, but it nevertheless offers insights how our cell phone data could be used to minimize traffic congestion by offering advice to redirect traffic or by adjusting the timing of traffic lights etc.

Too Many Politicians Are Terrible Opportunists

Therefore Politicians Do Not Like Limited Small Government

This is one more profound reason to advocate and defend limited small government!

The reactions by politicians to the latest mass shootings by mentally ill male individuals provide ample evidence of this observation!

Good politicians instead resist the temptations of the moment and their ideological biases to serve the larger good!

The List Of Political Overreactions Is Very Long

Way too much federal legislation is driven by such opportunism. Here are just a very few examples of such irrational overreactions by big government:

·         Dodd Frank Act (2010)

·         ObamaCare Act (2010)

·         Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002)

·         Gun Control Act (1968)

·         Medicare under the Social Security Act (1965)

·         Pure Food And Drug Act (1906)

The Silent Majority

One has to fear that such crass opportunism is part of the human condition. How much longer have free, responsible individuals to suffer from this?

To learn more about political opportunism see, e.g. Wikipedia.

Revolution From The Top In France

The Last French Revolution Was From The Bottom

The famous predecessor of 1789 that wiped out the Ancient Regime was not least caused by punishing taxation of lower classes in France. This time it is perhaps the affluent citoyens who protest against consfiscatory tax increases imposed by the new socialist French President Francois Hollande. Mr. Hollande appears to be a remanent of the Ancient Regime since he did not learn the lessons of 1789.

Mr. Hollande during his election campaign advocated, e.g. a 75% tax on high income earners and raising taxes on capital gains and household wealth. This is legalized plunder by big government.

A One Man Resistance

French actor Gerard Depardieu in an open letter surrendered his French passport and social security after the French government made derogatory remarks about him. Mr. Darpadieu apparently grew up in humble circumstances before he became a nouveau riche through his career.

Mr. Depardieu told the public that he paid about €145 million in taxes over his 45 year long career and employed about 80 people in his business.

Mr. Depardieu is not the only rich French citoyen to leave France after the imposition of new, confiscatory taxes aimed at the rich citizens of France. Usually, the rich citoyens remain silent as not to attract the orchestrated violence of the mob or for other reasons when they protest, but Mr. Depardieu chose to be more outspoken. Bravo! Something for Hollywood actors to learn from.

Moving Across The Border

Mr. Depardieu moved from France into a small town in Belgium, i.e. Néchin, next to the French-Belgian border ostensibly protesting the latest confiscatory tax hikes. The French government calls him a tax evader, but he is more like a political dissident.

Recycling Of Consumer Packaging Material Is For Robots Not Humans

A Bright Future For Robots

Recycling of consumer waste by unpaid humans is inconvenient, a nuisance and a hassle.

Just read a summary of an article titled “Artificial Intelligence Helps Sort Used Batteries”. This article reminded me of my long held opinion that government efforts called recycling by having a large part of the population constantly separate trash by different categories is a nice modern public works program for its citizens exploiting their cheap labor.

German Efficiency And Uniformity To The Max

In Germany, its citizens have been mandated by big government since about the 1980s to comply with a nationwide “Trennmüll Sammlung” (separation of trash by various categories into different bins). All over the country, you find recycling bins at residences, businesses as well as in public spaces even for clear, green, and brown colored glass. A whole industry sprung up created by government mandate.

Robert Bork’s Antitrust Paradox Or Why Competition Is So Crucial To Free Markets

Bork’s Insight

Reportedly, the book title refers to late Robert Bork’s most famous book. He argued that antitrust laws and jurisprudence is to serve consumer welfare and competition. While former goal is a vague and debatable term, however the latter goal of competition definitely deserves attention. Too often antitrust measures are aimed at preserving certain competitors or industries, which is totally irrelevant.

Free Markets And Competition Are Complementary

It is competition among companies, competition for markets and consumers that makes companies come and go or win and lose. It is a very dynamic process. Individual companies do not matter, they serve their purpose for as long as they survive competition.

One of the primary objectives of economic policy is to increase competition to the largest extent possible between domestic and foreign companies, between small and large companies and so on.

Beware Of Nanotechnology Scares

Today, the Neue Zuericher Zeitung published an interesting article (German language) about how immature the research into health risks potentially caused by nano particles is.

Poor Quality Of Health Risk Research

To summarize the above newspaper article:

·     Claims are being made that not enough funds are available for research into health risks

·    There are only few experts so far in the field of toxicology of nanotechnology

·   Almost any research is published in this field, therefore it attracts incompetent newcomers

·    Published research by far does not yet meet strict criteria of scientific research procedures. E.g. researchers in the field abuse overdosing of nano particles; some research reports lack positive control tests and so on

Conclusion

If you see an article published about purported dangers of nanotechnology, take it with a big grain of salt.

The Federal Reserve Is An Incompetent Servant Of Two Masters

A Servant Of Two Masters

Here is the interpretation as it applies to this blog post:

1.       A servant of two masters will have a hard time to serve both masters well.

2.       Under some circumstances it is conceivable that the servant can play the two masters and pursue his own interests. This applies in particular in this case since the two masters are only economic concepts.

A Desperate Ben Bernanke

Economics professor Ben Bernanke this week (on 12/11/2012) took an unfortunate ambivalence of US monetary policy to a new low when he linked the continuation of recklessly low interest rates to an unemployment rate target.

Is Bernanke obsessed with proving that Milton Friedman got it wrong?

A Bit Of Background

1978 the US Congress passed the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act which among many other things requires the Federal Reserve to achieve simultaneously full employment growth and price stability. By the way, this big government law should be repealed the sooner the better.

Economists have for a long time debated whether a central bank has the means to achieve two disparate economic goals at the same time with limited instruments at its disposal. For decades, the consensus among economists (if there ever is such a thing among economists) is that a central bank is better at maintaining domestic and external monetary stability than stimulating economic growth. Monetary policy should be rule bound and predictable. This fact is well known among economists for decades.

One Of The Best Acronyms Of Recent Times: PIGS

This acronym PIGS stands for Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain.

Delectable Pejorative Connotations

This straightforward acronym not too well known beyond the financial industry has become greater than life since the sovereign debt crisis in the Euro zone. In particular, I like the fitting pejorative connotations.

Out Of The Bible

To quote from the Bible: “Do not cast … pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” (Bible Matthew 7:6 as part of the Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount). Is this not what almost happened to the Euro zone?

Gluttonous Animals

Do they not say that pigs have a propensity to eat too much when offered lots of food? Like the PIGS, they could not resist low interest rates etc. to load up excessively on government debt.

Conservative Soul Searching After The Debacle

A Recent Article

Post presidential election of 2012, conservatives of all persuasions are analyzing and debating. Most recently Mr. Peter Berkowitz in an Opinion page article titled “Conservative Survival in a Progressive Age” (unfortunately, subscription required) in the Wall Street Journal on 12/13/2012.

What’s In A Headline

The headline chosen by Mr. Berkowitz can easily make one cringe.

First, conservatives (Mr. Berkowitz means those advocating individual liberty and self-government) do not have to worry about survival. The general trend of all human history is and will likely continue to be towards more individual liberty.

Second, Mr. Berkowitz implies in his headline that we are living a “Progressive Age”. The Bible was already very progressive, I might say. Age of Reason or Enlightenment is perhaps too old fashioned. For a fellow of the Hoover Institution to allude that conservatives maybe dispensable in a progressive age is a poor judgment of conservatism.

Berkowitz Advocates Limited Big Government

To quote Berkowitz: “The first entrenched reality is that big government is her to stay. Instead [conservatives] should think and speak in terms of limited [big] government.”. How awful is that for a conservative? To accept big government as an eternal reality is to have it backwards. A big mistake of analysis and judgment. There is no compelling reason why government has to be big in a sense that it significantly affects or controls all aspects of each citizen’s life.

Worse, Mr. Berkowitz contradicts himself since he defines conservatism as individual liberty and self-government. Well, if all people would exercise responsible self-government we would barely or rarely need a government. Thus, good limited government helps people to become more responsible for themselves and improves self-government of the people.

The Sexual Revolution Perhaps The Greatest Social Revolution

To quote Berkowitz: “The second entrenched reality, this one testing social conservatives, is the sexual revolution, perhaps the greatest social revolution in human history. The invention… of the birth control pill meant for the first time … women could … reliably control reproduction. … to enter the workforce and pursue careers.”. Mr. Berkowitz spends about a third of his article to argue that “… social conservatives should refrain from attempting to use the federal government to enforce the traditional understanding of sex, marriage and the family”. I think, he gives way too much weight to the influence of so called social conservatives.

Without the Age of Reason/Enlightenment and Capitalism, the birth control pill would probably still not be invented. The Agriculture or the Bible was already a social revolution.

Ben Bernanke - The Worst Central Banker Ever

Ben Bernanke Secured His Place In History

He sure will go down in history as one of the worst and most reckless governor of a major central bank of all times. At the same time this Princeton professor will also have the honor to be one of the worst influential economists of all times.

This week Ben Bernanke did it again instead of resigning immediately he continued his reckless policies. A Wall Street Journal op-ed article captured it quite well.

Ben Bernanke Committed Again Multiple Counts Of Recklessness

As I said before in other blog posts (e.g. here, and here), money and credit should never be cheap as it only fuels speculation, overinvestment, government overspending. Interest rates are the price of money, they are also a rate of return. Savers, insurance companies, other countries (e.g. South Korea) etc. are hurt by excessively low US interest rates. In the presence of extremely low interest rates massive amounts of capital will be misallocated. Any economist who does not understand this relationship is lousy.

Here are two more links to my previous blog posts covering US monetary policy: here, here.

Ben Bernanke Is An Accomplice In Covering Up Profligate Government Spending

Bailing out the government by buying large amounts of government bonds and keeping interest rates so low is a sure recipe for higher inflation. In their latest statement, the fed even admitted that they are willing to allow inflation to go up by 0.5 percentage points. Do these highly compensated amateur economists at the Fed really believe inflation is dead or that they are capable of controlling it should inflation begin to accelerate? Why do these Fed economists think that more monetary easing will stimulate economic growth?

Reportedly, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that every 100 basis points increase in interest rates adds $100 billion a year to government interest spending.

Ben Bernanke Inflated The Fed’s Balance Sheet Fourfold To $4 Trillion

In the next 12 months or so, the Fed plans to buy another trillion dollar of government bonds and mortgage backed securities. That is insane! When Ben Bernanke started as governor the Fed was holding less than a trillion dollar of such securities, by the end of 2013 it will be about four trillion dollars or more. To put this into perspective, the annual US GDP is about $15-16 trillion.

Few Examples Of How Arizona High Way Patrol Officers Waste Tax Payers' Money

Parking On The Sideline

Quite often during rush hour you see a highway patrol car parked highly visible next to the shoulder like a scare crow. All of a sudden traffic slows down in fear of this one vehicle. What a costly nonsense!

Not only does this cause ripple effects, as I surmise, but it makes driving on the highways more dangerous since this contributes to those dreaded, irrational sudden stops on the highways during rush hour.

Reporting A Low Impact, No Casualty Accident

How long does it take a highway patrol officer to write-up a traffic accident of two vehicles involved in a slow speed, little damage, and no casualties accident? More than 30 minutes, despite the fact that this officer is equipped with a tough notebook.

Do you think in the 21^st century, the highway patrol officer would take any digital pictures of the accident or digitally record the statements made by the persons involved in the accident? Are you kidding! The least you would expect is that the highway patrol officer takes digital pictures of the scene and persons.

Why did this highway patrol officer feel obliged to officially report this accident? Because the estimated damage of this accident was above $1,000. If this is the official threshold for reporting an accident by highway police, then that means almost every accident a highway police officer encounters need to be reported. Is that right?

Receiving A Copy Takes A Minimum Of 15 Days

One of the notes at the bottom of the “Arizona Department Of Public Safety – Collision Exchange Slip” says “Please allow for 15 days before requesting a copy of your collision report.” This “Slip” is not to be confused with the “report”. E.g. it does not contain any details about the collision.

Is this the 21^st century and it takes the police 15 or more days to furnish a collision report? The police must be seriously understaffed or …

Proposal For Profound Reforms Of Western Big Government Democracies

Introduction

As I mentioned before it is sometimes appropriate to take the tabula rasa approach meaning to start with a clean slate.

Governments of Western democracies have become way too big and intrusive over the past hundred years or so, in particular in the US. Individual liberty and responsibility have become hollow. A substantial correction is overdue.

A Brief Definition Of Public Service

Public service as defined here is to include everyone including elected representatives, first responders (police officers, firefighters, etc.), judges, and civil servants paid primarily by tax payers for their service. As an aside, fire fighting could potentially be privatized.

Election By Random Drawing Of Everyone In Public Service

This might be too radical a proposal. However, I would argue that the democratic principle of one man, one vote is a dead end road. But if jurors are randomly drawn for jury duty in our courts of justice why not everyone who works in public service. This would certainly remove much of the ridiculous partisanship we have observed for decades.

This would improve the understanding that everyone, not only those who claim they have a particular vocation for public service, has the responsibility to serve the public. Public service by the people, for the people, and of the people.

Finally, elected representatives would be a representative sample of the population. E.g. Gerrymandering would be a relique of the past.

Just imagine if judges were randomly drawn. Perhaps, finally more common sense instead of lofty or construed legal principals would prevail in the court system.

A randomly chosen candidate should pass a qualification/aptitude test. Once the candidate has passed this test, he or she will be trained thoroughly for the job.

We may need three heads of government (e.g. three US presidents) or three judges for every court.

Strict Term Limits For Everyone In Public Service

Everybody who works in public service should be term limited. No exception!

Public service should not be a live time occupation or sinecure. Overall, I believe such a rotation of public servants would be beneficial compared to the status quo.

No Health Care For Everyone In Public Service

Everyone in public service should be adequately compensated so they can buy health services or insurance on the free markets. Living by example.

No Pensions For Everyone In Public Service

Everyone in public service should be adequately compensated so they can buy services or products or save for their retirement on the free markets. Living by example.

Epilog

This is just a taste!

Why Mitt Romney So Awfully Failed!

Sandy Was Romney’s Opportunity To Shine

Besides being way too vague and timid on policy issues or his reform plans, he missed his opportunity when superstorm Sandy hit the north east coast. Mitt Romney turned out to be as timid as those too big to fail bank CEOs who were arm twisted by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

A Mormon Without Charity When It Counts

Did nobody advise Mitt Romney to write immediately a check of one million dollars to the Red Cross or other aid organizations in the wake of Sandy? This would have been one heck of a photo op.

If the some of the richest Americans commit half of their billions of dollars of their wealth to good causes why couldn’t he seize the opportunity?

Fuel Trucks Anybody?

Why did Romney not immediately buy hundreds of fuel trucks to help the victims of Sandy to fill up their cars? Each truck could have been emblazoned with “Vote For Romney!”. Thus, he would have proven leadership and that one man alone can outdo the federal and state governments.

Losing Faith In The American People

Yes, I do as a first generation immigrant to the USA!

Four More Years With Obama

What happened on election day of November 6, 2012? The souls of the founders of this great nation had to witness how one of the worst presidents since Franklin D. Roosevelt was reelected. This must have hurt! Was this a vote of a food stamp nation or an electorate of which 40% or so pay no federal taxes?

Those Who Voted For Obama

Deserve Neither Liberty Nor Safety

The Great American Experiment is only 236 years old, but the majority of the current generation of American people is too complacent and ignorant. Many contemporaries would never subscribe to “give me liberty or give me death” or would never pledge “our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor”.

Benjamin Franklin said it best “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” What would Benjamin say today?

What happened to the Tea Party that turned the election of 2010 around?

Is it possible that conservative Christians did not vote for a Mormon to become president, because e.g. Mormons are considered to be a sect?

Last Best Hope

The World is watching as this exceptional Nation continues to vanish from earth by its own doing.

Let me conclude with Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote from his Second Annual Message on December 1, 1862: “In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free--honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth.”

My hope is that non-Western countries like India, China, Brazil and so on will not repeat these mistakes, but learn from them and exceed were the Westerners failed.

Arizona Proposition 114: Protecting Crime Victims From Liability For Damages Deserves No Vote

Preface

I know, I am coming late, only two days left to the November 6, 2012 election. Unfortunately, I did not have time to read the Arizona’s General Election Guide any earlier.

Official Content Of Proposition

Here is the link to the official webpage for Proposition 114.

“1. Article II, section 31, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be amended as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

 31. Damages for death or personal injuries

Section 31. No law shall be enacted in this state limiting the amount of damages to be recovered for causing the death or injury of any person, EXCEPT THAT A CRIME VICTIM IS NOT SUBJECT TO A CLAIM FOR DAMAGES BY A PERSON WHO IS HARMED WHILE THE PERSON IS ATTEMPTING TO ENGAGE IN, ENGAGING IN OR FLEEING AFTER HAVING ENGAGED IN OR ATTEMPTED TO ENGAGE IN CONDUCT THAT IS CLASSIFIED AS A FELONY OFFENSE.

 2. Article XVIII, section 6, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be amended as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

 6. Recovery of damages for injuries

Section 6. The right of action to recover damages for injuries shall never be abrogated, and the amount recovered shall not be subject to any statutory limitation, EXCEPT THAT A CRIME VICTIM IS NOT SUBJECT TO A CLAIM FOR DAMAGES BY A PERSON WHO IS HARMED WHILE THE PERSON IS ATTEMPTING TO ENGAGE IN, ENGAGING IN OR FLEEING AFTER HAVING ENGAGED IN OR ATTEMPTED TO ENGAGE IN CONDUCT THAT IS CLASSIFIED AS A FELONY OFFENSE.

 3. Short title

This measure may be cited as the "Crime Victims Protection Act of 2012".”

No Arguments Against Proposition 114

According to the above mentioned General Election Guide “[t]here were no arguments “against” Proposition 114” only two separate arguments for it.

This caught my eye. Do we have to assume everything is OK with this proposition? Is it so self-evident? I doubt it.

My Arguments Against This Proposition

Such common sense, detailed legalistic instructions should never be written into a constitution! Period. A constitution should be written in a concise language that almost anyone can understand. It should be strictly limited to essential principles.

If a criminal successfully sues an innocent victim of the crime for injuries inflicted by the victim while committing the crime, then something is wrong with the judge or jury or the victim’s attorney was incompetent. Instead of a constitutional amendment, a law would be in my estimation sufficient to achieve this purpose.

Just the long winded definition of these two constitutional amendments are big red flags indicating there will be lots of trouble ahead to interpret these legalese.

Mideast Peace Drip By Drip

Sometimes It Takes Only One Man

His name Daniel Hillel. A Jew born in Los Angeles who moved to what later became Israel in 1931. The Wall Street Journal had an interview on 10/15/2012 with this soil scientist who developed micro-irrigation techniques (better known as drip irrigation) since the 1950s.

Thus, he contributed to turn Israeli’s deserts into productive agricultural farms. Israel thanks to him and others is a world leader in agricultural technologies and exporter of agricultural goods.

Helping The Arab & Muslim People

Mr. Hillel helped numerous Arab and Muslim countries to improve their agricultural output by using water more efficiently like Jordan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan and Palestine.

Such individual contributions to peace and prosperity are more valuable than many of these foolish high level peace talks or sophisticated diplomacy that are often more photo op for politicians than anything else.

Indispensable Plastics

In the above interview, Mr. Hillel made the point that it was the plastics boom in the 1960s that made among other things low-cost weather-resistant plastics available. Without plastics, micro-irrigation would likely not have taken off.

The Future Of Hydrocarbon Fuels

Replacement Of Fossil Fuels

I cannot predict how long humans will still largely depend on hydrocarbon fuels for most of their growing energy needs, but I guess this dependency will not really be reversed for another 50-100 years.

Despite the current ongoing discovery of new recoverable oil/gas fields and improved extraction technologies, I believe, the next big thing is to be able to produce hydrocarbon fuels in large quantities using genetically modified bacteria or plants or the like. Given the current exponential pace of technological and scientific progress, I think, such a breakthrough is imminent.

So Called Renewable Energies Are More Like Dead End Roads

Most renewable energies in use today (e.g. wind, water, solar, food for fuel, geothermal) are for various reasons only sources of supplemental energy instead of becoming a substitute to current sources of energy.

Biofuels are obviously so problematic, I don’t think I have to discuss this here. They are an insult to our intelligence.

The massive return to unreliable wind energy by using modern wind mills is an idea born by Don Quixotes.

The exploitation of water energy has also run into serious limitations (environmental as well). Mankind now has thousands of years of experience with engineering water for irrigation and more recently for energy use.

If solar energy efficiency can greatly be increased, solar energy has perhaps the best chance to make significant contributions in the future since the sun is much more reliable and a fairly constant source of energy that can be tapped into with fewer negative side effects.

What would be the consequences if we were to tap into geothermal energy on a massive scale? Would it cool down our planet faster and what happens then? I would guess this is also a limited source of energy.

Other Sources Of Energy

For decades we are waiting on nuclear fusion to become a viable source of almost unlimited energy production. However, the deep seated, human confusion and superstition about nuclear weapons, radioactive radiation, and nuclear energy are tough to beat. The Fukoshima nuclear accident and what followed has been a prime object lesson of human irrationality and folly even as we enter the 21^st century.

Maybe one day we will be able to harness hydrogen power on a large scale. Presumably, this would be a fairly safe and environmentally friendly source of energy. However, too many humans still remember the Hindenburg accident of 1937, right? Had this major accident not be so extraordinary well covered by radio broadcasts and photography …

As with hydrocarbon fuels (see above), I suspect that perhaps within the next two decades we might be able to cheaply produce sufficient hydrogen through genetically modified organisms/plants or by other means.

What about photosynthesis? Photosynthesis may one day in the near future become the true form of solar energy.

Future Energy Demand At A Crossroad?

Over history, the worldwide demand for energy per capita has been rising ever since and there is a good chance that this trend will continue for at least another 100 years. The question is how fast will this demand rise?

However, world population growth may finally peak in the next few decades and there is a good chance that world population may even begin to shrink before we enter the 22^nd century thanks to declining total fertility rates, increased life expectancy and other factors.

As long as the per capita energy use is so divergent among humans on this planet, there is a huge demand waiting to be fulfilled. Thus, during the next two or three decades world energy demand will rise fast, but once per capita energy use is more homogeneous across the earth than today, we may see a significant slowdown.

There is a huge potential for energy savings or conservation like more telecommuting/teleconferencing, more energy efficient homes, self-driving cars, LED light and so on, but I am afraid this will only slow down rising energy demand.

As we go along with the exponential progress of the technology revolution that brought as computers, modern telecommunications, the Internet etc., energy consumption has increased dramatically. We are only at the beginning of this revolution. The massive built out of networks, data storage and processing etc. or whatever the future holds in store will continue.

In summary, I believe, worldwide per capita energy demand will rise significantly for the foreseeable future. Therefore, e.g. so called renewable energies are not more like a supplemental source of energy to satisfy an enormous future energy demand.

COBRA Health Insurance - A Big Government Joke

A Bit Of Background

COBRA stands for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. As far as its health insurance portion is concerned it is a prime example of lousy big government legislation coming out of Washington, DC.

Essentially it allows an employee to keep his/her employer-sponsored health insurance if a “qualifying event” like lay off occurs as if the qualifying event did not occur. This coverage is available for a maximum of up to 18 months. Great idea, but big government is what it is incapable: monstrosities instead of designing practical, cheap, and free market solutions.

This law is also a fine example of what ails the US health care system, where big government has essentially taken over health care to an extent that it resembles national health care services like in the UK or Germany.

COBRA Health Insurance Is Very Expensive!

Having been recently laid off myself, I received the usual notice letter from my former employer about my “right to continue health care coverage” under COBRA.

The catch: It would cost me $386 for single and $829 for employee & spouse coverage per month. These premiums include the employer share as well. While I was employed, I used to pay $208 per month.

On the market of individual health insurance, I would be able to obtain health insurance with a similar coverage for significantly less than $386. My unemployment benefits here in Arizona are $240 per week (the maximum benefit). What were the legislators in Washington, DC thinking or smoking to come up with such a lousy law?

Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Is Too Expensive

Given my example above, it is clear that at $386 the employer-sponsored coverage was way too expensive compared with what is available to the individual on the market of individual health insurance. The company, I worked for was small.

I venture to guess that my example is typical across the country irrespective of the size of the employer. Thus, I would presume that health insurance for most employees in the US is significantly overpriced thanks to this prevalent employer-sponsored group health insurance system.

Better Solutions

Apart from a fundamental, free market reform of health care insurance, which I would prefer, federal legislators have had at least two choices for a more sensible reform:

1.       Abolish the tax deductibility of health insurance for companies or

2.       Allow individuals to enjoy the same kind of tax deductibility as companies

If Mitt Romney Wins The Election The US Economy Will Take Off

One can only hope the American people do the right thing on November 6^th, 2012 and send Business Enemy No. 1 President Obama packing. Then, the largely held back US economy most likely will finally see a recovery as is typical in the wake of such a deep recession.

Like President Franklin D. Roosevelt unnecessarily prolonged the Great Depression, President Obama has done the same for the Great Recession.

However this election outcome is not a sure thing, decades of government dependency by large segments of the US population have deeply undermined the American spirit and dream.

New Genetic Tests For Autism

A Highly Recommendable Article
In The Wall Street Journal

My apologies again for my shameless reference to a long article titled “Progress in Identifying the Genetic Roots of Autism” published today (9/25/2012) in the Wall Street Journal, but it goes to show that Wall Street is really not about business and profit as some would like to believe us.

Environmental Factors

Since this article is primarily about genetic causes, it only mentions that environmental factors also play a significant role without further discussing it.

I have previously written a blog post about the link between Autism and obesity in mothers.

Meanwhile, I have read articles about the link of Autism and aging fathers, because of the increase of random mutations as they age. By the way, this study was led by the Icelandic firm Decode Genetics.

Possible Fallacies

This article could lead desperate parents to believe that there is or must be a genetic cause for every autism case among the vaguely termed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Therefore, there must be a cure available in the near future.

Given the intense research in this area and the increased public awareness, there may be a tendency to diagnose all sorts of symptoms as ASD. The article also mentions the dramatic increase in such diagnoses saying “ASD now affects 1 in every 88 U.S. children—nearly double the rate in 2002—according to the Center for Disease Control.”. This is like a sudden epidemy. How many are possibly misdiagnoses?

Possible Import

Rapid progress in Autism research may also benefit psychological/psychiatric disorders in general.

Arizona Unemployment Insurance: Work Search Requirements Are An Insult

I have previously written another blog post on Unemployment Insurance in Arizona.

An Update

Yesterday (9/25/2012), I have received two letters (each one page) in the mail from the Arizona Department of Economic Security/Unemployment Insurance Administration (AZUIA), both dealing with the work search requirements.

The first letter contains following line in the letter head “New Work Search Eligibility Requirements Effective August 5, 2012” (Emphasis added). This letter contains “Important Information”, about two thirds of the letter explains in more details what “systematic and sustained work search” means.

The second letter is captioned “Clarification of Work Search Requirements”. It says “[t]here has been a lot of confusion and misunderstanding on how to report work search requirements …”. Oh, really!

Then, AZUIA provides a sample table of what an “adequate” work search should look like with the caveat “(DO NOT COPY)” (Emphasis original). Are the taxpayers or are the bureaucrats morons?

I say what a moronic waste of taxpayers’ money!

Brief Background

Following information is presented on screen, when an unemployed person does her/his weekly unemployment claims reporting online as he or she is asked to enter work search efforts into an online work search log:

“Per A.R.S. [Arizona Revised Statutes?] 23-771.A.4, all claimants must conduct a systematic and sustained Work Search for each week of Unemployment Insurance benefits claimed.

A systematic and sustained Work Search consists of contacts during at least four days of the week.

If you select ‘Other’ please provide the Employer name, address and/or phone number, method of contact along with any other information.”

An Outrage

To put it bluntly, I think this online form to report your weekly work search efforts is outrageous!

Do these lawmakers not know that job search is a demanding full time job that comes with many disappointments along the way especially during the Great Recession? As if I have to be told by lawmakers that I “must conduct a systematic and sustained Work search”.

For a meager maximum of $240 unemployment insurance benefit per week (about 25% of what I used to make a week), I have to keep track where I applied etc. and spend up to about 10 minutes of my time to fulfill this bureaucratic requirement using a cumbersome web form. Not to mention that unemployment benefits are usually paid only for a maximum of 26 weeks. Hint to lawmakers: I do not mind if you shorten this period.

This meager unemployment benefit has to cover our rent, utilities, my health insurance premium, food, federal/state income taxes (yes, this is taxable income.) etc. On top of that these lawmakers want me to report my work search efforts, this is an insult.

Finally, it is none of the business of government to require me to report which employers I contacted when during my work search.

Waste Of Taxpayers’ Money

In August of 2012, there were almost 250,000 reported unemployed persons in Arizona. If only 50% of those have to fill out this weekly work search requirement and if we assume an Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) employee would spend 1 minute per weekly report on verifying this information, this would amount to the DES having to spend 260 work days per week just to check if it is done manually. Or did the DES buy a possibly expensive software to do this verification? Do they statistically sample? Anyway, if the DES tries to verify it would be a substantial waste of taxpayers’ money!

If the DES does not verify, then this is just another burden on the unemployed. So what the heck is this good for?

Diagnosing Psychological Disorders In Children

Disclaimer

I have no expertise whatsoever in this area. However, I am not entirely without personal experience. Psychological disorders and their medical treatment is a subject of interest to me. Further, I am only trying to briefly summarize certain thoughts that came to me when reading various articles related to this complex subject. I have intentionally not sourced this article very well for sake of brevity and time.

An Increasing Trend

It appears there has been an increasing trend in recent decades to diagnose children with different forms of psychological disorders (e.g. ADHD, Autism, psychosis etc.). One can almost get the impression of an ongoing, unprecedented epidemy or is it a phenomenon.

I have included Autism here as well, because the unusual outward behavior and the significant expansion of its definition to autism spectrum disorder. Latter development is usually a sign that doctors are clueless when they attach terms like “spectrum”. In my opinion, there is a significant chance for misdiagnosis. Yes, the US government describes Autism on their PubMed website as “… a physical condition linked to abnormal biology and chemistry in the brain. The exact causes of these abnormalities remain unknown, but this is a very active area of research. There are probably a combination of factors that lead to autism. Genetic factors seem to be important.”. Well is this not true of other psychological disorders as well?

Possible Explanations

Doctors have over time become better in diagnosing such disorders, which have been in the past very difficult or impossible to diagnose or children went simply untreated. Latter assertion is quite true for psychology/psychiatry in general and not only in the past. Ambiguous disorders like psychological disorders are great business for doctors. To use a hyperbole, doctors since time immemorial like to expand and deepen their diagnostic tools almost to the point to declare everyone in need of medical treatment who enter their offices. Illnesses are infinite.

In recent times, more focus and money was assigned to this subject. Huge media attention has spread, parents are primed to be alert. Stigma, taboos are reduced, acceptance is improved. E.g. in the US, special needs education has proliferated receiving lots of money and special teachers. The more special needs children the better for school funding and teacher salaries.

There is the distinct possibility that a self-feeding vicious or virtuous cycle was entered in connection with this subject. And it will take perhaps decades before reasonable judgment returns.

Genius And Madness

I believe, most people have heard about the close link between genius and madness. Two recent movies “A Brilliant Beautiful Mind” (about John Nash) or “The Aviator” (about Howard Hughes) captured this topic quite well.

I highly recommend to watch both movies, in particular the first one, because it shows you how this brilliant mathematician and his wife suffered from the medications he was given and how he himself defeated the demons. The way he defeated the demons is, I believe, sometimes also prescribed by doctors even for children to learn how to cope with demons etc. in a playful way.

Children that are perceived as not “normal” may have special talents and gifts unlike other children. Early, aggressive treatment may only achieve forced conformity to “normal” and kill these special talents or gifts that would otherwise develop to the benefit of the child and the world. As they say if you can dream it you can achieve it. Vivid imagination or unusual behavior may after all be completely harmless and beneficial for the child’s development.

I am far from implying here that any child with a diagnosed or perceived psychological disorder is going to be the next genius. This would be a colossal misunderstanding.

Suggestions Or Food For Thought

Parents are naturally very concerned if they observe anything perceived to be not normal about their children. Naturally, parents seek help from a doctor. Given the great ambiguity of this subject, more than one doctor should be consulted and doctors of different specializations or of different approaches.

Keep in mind, psychology and psychiatry still remain very inexact fields of medicine. It’s more charlatanry than medicine.

It is very understandable that parents seek a rational explanation and the best medical treatment for their children, but be alert to the pitfalls. Yes, parents are very concerned about the possibly negative prospects of their child like antie social life/behavior, unsteady professional career, alcoholism, drug abuse, failed relationships, crime etc. that are commonly associated with psychological disorders. However, an overreaction to the diagnosis may have the same or similar outcome.

Depending on the severity or circumstances, I would not easily have my child being treated especially not over an extended period of time with certain psycho pharmaceutical medications, e.g. mood stabilizers, anti convulsants. Sometimes just close observation, change of daily routines, or other behavioral approaches etc. are perhaps better.

Some research seems to indicate that abnormal, psychotic like behavior in childhood disappears even without any treatment as they reach adulthood or later in life.

What are the long-term implications for our children if so many kids are classified as having a disorder and are in need of treatment? I do not mean to be in denial, but I want to caution.

Misguided Demand For A Return To The Gold Standard

Western Central Banks Are Culpable For The Great Recession

There is little doubt in my mind that the central banks (big government entities) of Western countries are to a large extent responsible for the Great Recession and the rapid and unsustainable expansion of government debt that has occurred over the past two decades.

Twice in the last ten years Western central banks have lowered the price of money (key interest rates) to nearly zero for extended periods of time and they still continue this reckless policy as I write this blog. In at least to other, previous blog posts, I have discussed this issue in more depth.

Return To Gold Standard To Reform The Monetary System

Thus, it is understandable that central banks have finally come under enormous scrutiny. Alternatives to the current, perceived to be broken, monetary system are being considered. One possible alternative, which has garnered some popularity, is the call for a return to the Gold Standard.

Digital Money Is Next

Gold is totally antiquated and nostalgic. We are on the cusp to introducing digital money.

Gold is easily manipulated and dependent on mining, jewelry demand, and human save haven fears.

Only Luddites would call for a return to the Gold Standard. The only thing, I believe, was a benefit of the Gold Standard is that it quasi represented a single, global currency or a point of reference with all its consequences.