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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Canada and Draft

I do not expect the U.S. Military to ever re-start the draft. There are a lot of reasons for this. The Military leaders say a draft gives them a lower caliber of solider because they have to take everyone given to them. The political leadership would have less flexibility to use military force with more an non-volunteer force.

Right now on college campuses around America there are kids saying "I'll go to Canada if the draft comes back." This is the same thing that was being said when I was in college. They might need to think of another plan. It seems that Canada is no longer friendly to U.S. Military deserters. I am not surprised by this. I did not think Canada would be so willing to thumb the U.S. in the eye now a days.

Labels: Canada, draft, Military, New York Times

- Rich, 8:03 AM

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Moving to Mass Transit

There is an article in today's New York Times about how the rise in gas prices are causing more people to ride mass transit. A few weeks ago I tried to figure this out for myself. The break even point for me is for gas to be $5.25 or 5.75 a for it to be worth me taking the light rail to work.

The big problem is that I would not give up my car if I started to take the light rail. I would still have pay for auto insurance for my car. If I got rid of my car, it would be easy to switch to taking mass transit to work, but it would be harder to do everything else in my life.

Gas has to be very high before it is cause effective. This might be because I live close to work, I drive a car with good gas mileage, or that the price of mass transit is rather high. Right now cost is the number one reason for me to switch.

I like the idea of mass transit. I think it would be great for me to take the light rail to work. The biggest problem is time. The light rail or the bus takes much longer to get to work. Driving takes me 15 to 30 minutes while the light rail takes me 45 minutes to an hour to get to work. Time is important to me. I guess if the price gets high enough price will get less important.

Labels: gas, mass transit, New York Times, self

- Rich, 2:29 PM

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Think Twice (or more)

The New York Times had a story about the Unintended Consequences of Laws. These are very important ideas. I learned a long time ago that lawmakers need to pay attention to these. This is not a new idea. I learned about back in college (the 90s). There are lots of laws that encourage people to do things other than what the law is intended to do.

This is why I do not believe in passing symbolic laws. There is no point in passing them. They might come back and do something bad in the end. Why would I want to do something like that. I want my laws to be useful.

This is one of the reasons that I am not a fan of the Initiative Process. Many of these laws are poorly written or poorly thought through. I understand the point is to give regular people the chance to make laws, but most of the time that is not what is happening. Big interests are trying to go around the state house to get a law passed.

People need to think before they act. This is important when their actions have far reaching impacts.


Found this via a Tantek Çelik Twitter

Labels: Freakonomics, Initiative Process, law, New York Times

- Rich, 7:09 PM

Monday, December 10, 2007

Where to go in 2008

Above the city
Originally uploaded by earthdog.

The New York Times travel section did a story about the 53 places to visit in 2008. I would like to be able to visit all of them. Right now San Francisco and San Diego are the only two places on the list that I will likely travel to next year. In San Diego I doubt I will get a chance to stay in the new Hard Rock Hotel. If you want to hire me for some kind of job that will send me to all these places, I will be happy to go.

There is a good chance I will go to Portland sometime next year. My guess is that I will do a lot less travel next year. I doubt I will get to as many places as I did this year.

Labels: flickrpost, list, New York Times, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, travel

- Rich, 8:48 PM

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

The Green Consumer

I found a link on Terrapass to a New York Times article about Green Consumerism. It brings up a some interesting paradoxes.

“There is a very common mind-set right now which holds that all that we’re going to need to do to avert the large-scale planetary catastrophes upon us is make slightly different shopping decisions,” said Alex Steffen, the executive editor of Worldchanging.com, a Web site devoted to sustainability issues.

Right now I feel like I am getting this message. I feel that ads about many "green products" are telling me I do not need to change how I act to save the world, I just need to change what I buy. I think the whole compact fluorescent bulbs ads feel this way.

“We turn toward the consumption part because that’s where the money is,” Mr. Hawken said. “We tend not to look at the ‘less’ part. So you get these anomalies like 10,000-foot ‘green’ homes being built by a hedge fund manager in Aspen. Or ‘green’ fashion shows. Fashion is the deliberate inculcation of obsolescence.”

For many people I know, I feel that they want to be environmentalists, but they do not want to give up their luxury's. They still want to travel, have the big house, or work the job that gets them a lot of money. I think that they are being sold the idea that green shopping is enough for that to have that leeway.

I work for a consumer electronics company. I believe that you cannot work for a consumer electronics company and be an environmentalist. My job is to help sell desire. Selling that desire is bad for the environment. When I would bring this idea up at work it would ruffle a lot of people. They did not like my idea and they did not agree with it. It made them rethink how they saw them self in the world and that is never comfortable.

In the end consuming less can only be a good thing. It is not enough to just consume better. We have to be mindful of where our money is going and where it is coming from. I know that this is very hard for me and most the people I know.

Labels: consumerism, environmental, green, New York Times

- Rich, 5:15 PM

Friday, June 08, 2007

Money Advice

I was reading Money Advice for Grads and I could hear the first thing come out of a lot of my friends mouth. How will I have a social life if I do these things? I think there are a lot of things you can do to save money here.

- Use websites like Upcoming to find free events. -- Some are free to attend and some have open bars. A little reading can go a long way.

- Socialize with people from work -- I hear lots of people say that do not want to be friends with people they work with. This is an immature way to look work interactions. When you are looking for a future job, people like you is important.

- Don't buy all the gear the moment you start a new hobby -- In a lot of social circles hobbies are viral. I knows lots of people with scuba gear the never really used.

- Never shop when you are depressed -- I cannot tell you how many people I know who use retail therapy and ended up putting thousands of dollars on their credit cards.

- Make your own lunch -- You work 260 days a year. You can see how to do that math on that.

- Pre-plan going out to lunch with colleges -- It is important to go out to lunch with the people you work with. It builds strong bonds and he helps you understand the rest of the business. Pre-planning where you are going can help control costs.

- Don't become a snob. Drink the coffee they have in the office if it is free, learn how to drink cheap beer, and never turn down a free sandwich.

- Don't smoke or quit smoking -- Taxes and addiction are not a good combination.

- Have your friends over to your place -- I know that being young people want to go out. If you are going to a bar to just hang with your friends, think about having them over you place. The beer is much cheaper at home.

Labels: advice, list, lunch, Money, New York Times, tag overload, work

- Rich, 4:33 PM

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Air of the Truth

I was reading the story about Al Hurra. I think that this is an interesting story. I just want to remind everyone that the best way to get people to trust you, tell the truth. If they are seen as a shill for the US government, no one will trust it. If they do not tell the truth and it is found out, they will not trust you either. Trust is important.

Labels: Al Hurra, government, New York Times, State Department

- Rich, 10:14 PM

Monday, May 28, 2007

Copyrights and wrongs

Techdirt has a story about how a Mark Helprin thinks that Copyrights should last forever. I think that Techdirt has it right and Mark Helprin has it wrong.

The key point here is that in pretending (or simply ignorantly claiming) that intellectual property is the same as tangible property, Helprin completely misunderstands what rights copyright law gives him. It is not the same right as he has over his own property -- which, after he sells it, he no longer has control over it. Instead of "property rights," copyright gives him a monopoly right (which is what Jefferson preferred to call it) to control how his output is used even after it's sold. That's completely different than a property right -- and, again, the reasoning is simply as an incentive for creation, not to guarantee control. Apparently, Helprin needs quite a history and economics lesson -- but if he had his way, that would be much more difficult since such ideas would be locked up forever.

A monopoly is a good point. If I own money it does not stop other people from using their money in the same way I use my money. If I own Mickey Mouse, I can stop other people from creating a cartoon mouse that has the same characteristics as Mickey Mouse. I can make a cartoon mouse that is different, but if I get too close I will have to fight off a Disney lawsuit.

Copyright has two useful purposes. The first is to assure that Authors get paid for their works. The idea was so that the publishers at the time did not ripoff writers. Just owning a press at the time the constitution was written gave someone a lot of power. It is not like now where the average person can afford to desktop publish.

The second useful purpose is to encourage the creation of new works. What some people would say is that having the copyright forever would encourage artist to create as many works as they can. This is taken care of by having the copyright last the author's life. If copyright lasted for ever Shakespeare's' decedents would never need to create anything. They could live off the work of Shakespeare forever. That would not encourage the creation of anything.

Helprin is only seeing one aspect of the Public Domain. He is only seeing the part where stores can publish their over copies of books in the Public Domain. The other part of copyright is control. Once a work is in the Public Domain anyone can create their own version of the same story. Right now I cannot create a version of Gone with the Wind that takes place in World War II, because I would need to get the rights from the copyright holders. I can do a version of Oliver Twist that takes place in the 60s San Francisco.

Some ideas get so big, they go beyond of the person who thought of them. If we never let any new ideas go into the public domain we are robbing the world and robbing artist of a way to see the world.

Labels: copyright, Mark Helprin, New York Times, public domain, techdirt

- Rich, 1:03 PM

Friday, May 25, 2007

Immigration and America

I have been hearing a lot about the new immigration bill lately. I am happy to see from a New York Times/CBS News poll that Americans support the Immigration bill. I am happy to see that the middle is getting it right. Often on TV and Radio you only see the extremes of this conversation. You rarely get a commentator that takes the middle argument.

My experence with illegal immigrants is that they are extremely hard working. They are here to better themselves and their families. To me, that is the type of person that we should be attracting to America. Coming to America is often dangerous. They risk life and limb to take low paying jobs.

After a few hours of listening to Lou Dobbs. I am starting to wonder if Immigration is the next War On Drugs. I mean that Lou Dobbs has two main points, 1) we need to stop illegal immigration and 2) we need to secure the boarder. I have an idea, if we really want to make sure that bad guys, like terrorist and criminals are not coming over the boarder, let the people who are coming here for a job come in legally.

I am wondering if we need to radically rethink immigration. Lets make it so anyone without a criminal record can get a work visa. No caps or limits, they do not need a job before coming over. No need for a work permit. Let our job market truly be a free market. Anyone who comes here, you can get a job. We could take all the money we are using worried about people who come here to work and just focus on the people who come here for crime. That way we could really focus on who is crossing the boarder. There would be no reason for regular families to sneak over the boarder.

I know if I said this to Lou Dobbs he would freak out. I would like someone to show me the economics of why this would be a bad idea. Until someone does, I think this will be my current stance.

Labels: immigration, law, Lou Dobbs, New York Times, poll

- Rich, 6:09 PM

Friday, April 13, 2007

Buying V. Renting

The New York Times has a buying v. renting tool on their website. It does a pretty good job answering a question I have had for a long time. Of course I get a little depressed when I use this tool, but that is part of living in Silicon Valley.

Labels: New York Times, real estate, rent, tool, web

- Rich, 3:29 PM

Monday, April 09, 2007

Blog Manners

Today in the New York Times I see an article that asks, Is it too late to bring civility to the Web? All I can say is that some people need to get over themselves. It is sad that this question even needs to be asked. I would hope there is not a need for a code of conduct. I would hope that bloggers can conduct themselves, but if they cannot we might just need a code of conduct.

I want to say that if you comment on a blog, the person who owns that blog has the right to delete your comment, no matter what. The owner of the blog can delete your comment if they do not like the comment, think you use too many comma, or just don't like your last name. The blog owner is not stepping on your right to free speech. Your right to free speech is your right to link to that entry and make your blog post. that is where your right to free speech is.

I use a system where the comments only last three months anyway. I have always thought that comments are extra. They are an add on to the blog. If a comment is really good I will add it to my blog. I know that lots of people disagree with me.

Labels: blog, comment, conduct, manners, New York Times, web

- Rich, 7:59 AM

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Dead Bachelors in Remote China Still Find Wives - New York Times

I saw this article. All I can think is that you mush really care for someone todo this. Or you think people in the after life can affect your life here and now.

Dead Bachelors in Remote China Still Find Wives:

To ensure a son's contentment in the afterlife, some grieving parents will search for a dead woman to be his bride and, once a corpse is obtained, bury the pair together as a married couple"

Labels: China, New York Times, relationship

- Rich, 6:36 AM

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Like Biggie Said: Mo Money Mo Problems

I was reading the New York Times Article Fortune’s Fools: Why the Rich Go Broke. I hear people all the time ask how can people go broke after making more money that most people will see in a lifetime. After watching Paris Hilton on TV for a little while I can understand it.

Labels: broke, New York Times, Paris Hilton, television, wealth

- Rich, 4:46 PM

Sunday, August 13, 2006

The Television Has Disintegrated

In the New York Times there is a commentary titled The Television Has Disintegrated. All That’s Left Is the Viewer. It is an interesting commentary. He points out that television is changing right now. He is not sure that people's mental maps about television is really keeping up with that change. I am not sure what TV will look like in 10 years. I am not even sure it will only look like one thing. For a long time people have been watching all the same content. Between HDTV, Standard Def, Internet Video, and everything else people want to sell to us, who knows what will win out. I know there will be more than one standard for television

Labels: HDTV, internet, New York Times, television

- Rich, 6:24 PM

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Women and Men in college

New York Times: At Colleges, Women Are Leaving Men in the Dust

Every year or so I see a story like this updating the state of men and women in college. The jist of the story is that women are doing better in college. It is getting to the point where women are doing much better.

Professors interviewed on several campuses say that in their experience men seem to cluster in a disproportionate share at both ends of the spectrum — students who are the most brilliantly creative, and students who cannot keep up.

'My best male students are every bit as good as my best female students,' said Wendy Moffat, a longtime English professor at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. 'But the range among the guys is wider.'

From the time they are young, boys are far more likely than girls to be suspended or expelled, or have a learning disability or emotional problem diagnosed. As teenagers, they are more likely to drop out of high school, commit suicide or be incarcerated. Such difficulties can have echoes even in college men."

This does not surprise me. My experience in college and high school was like this. Men were at the top of the class, but women made better grades on average.

There is also an economic rationale for men to take education less seriously. In the early years of a career, Laura Perna of the University of Pennsylvania has found, college increases women's earnings far more than men's.

"That's the trap," Dr. Kleinfeld said. "In the early years, young men don't see the wage benefit. They can sell their strength and make money."

I am not sure what to make from this? I think it is good for America that grades to not equal income. School might help you get ready for work, but it is not the same thing. I am not sure what this will say for the future.

I wonder if I am going to hear NPR shows about this topic? What do feminist think about women doing better in college? What does the average liberal think of this? Will I see this story in the next week on the 24 hour news network? How will they treat the story?

Tell me what you think.

Labels: college, education, Feminism, gender, men, New York Times, NPR, women

- Rich, 4:54 PM

Tax Revenues Surprise

New York Times: Surprising Jump in Tax Revenues Is Curbing Deficit

This is the kind of story that I do not talk about with my friends. I know that tax revenues is not the type of things that the average blogger really geeks out about. We talk about politics a decent amount, but taxes seems to be one thing we keep away from.

I like this story. The basic story is that we would be in great shape if we were not in such bad shape. We are reducing the Deficit from really outrageously bad to just outrageously bad.

Here is my favorite quote:

"The long-term outlook is such a deep well of sorrow that I can't get much happiness out of this year," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and a former White House economist under President Bush.

Even when good things happen the world is still going to hell.

Labels: Bush, New York Times, taxes

- Rich, 4:24 PM

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Dollar Dollar Bill

The New York Times did a story about the slowing Concert Industry. Did it occur to anyone that people want too much money for concert tickets. Of course Paul McCartney can get $250 a ticket. That is because there are a whole bunch of freaks that want to relive their youth of catch something that they were too young to be involved with. I am not sure there is a band under ten years old that is worth $60 a ticket. Because these old acts never got off the stage, new acts where not developed. I think the article missed the point of what is really happening.

Labels: Concert, music, New York Times, Paul McCartney, price

- Rich, 5:09 PM

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Racism and the World Cup

I read this story in the New York Times about the world cup: Surge in Racist Mood Raises Concerns on Eve of World Cup. This story saddens myself. In the US sports, at least on the field, is the great meritocracy. As long as you help your team win it does not matter what your race is. I guess that not true for the opposing fans.


Reading this story I am reminded of some of my friends and acquaints who never miss the chance to point out how horrible of a place the United States is. Most of them want the United States to be more like Europe. I guess we should be more like Europe in some ways, but not all.

Labels: Europe, New York Times, Racism, United States, World Cup

- Rich, 9:34 AM

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