November 2014

So the military is cutting service members just before they are eligible for retirement benefits in order to save money. The TEA party republicans are furious. I don’t want to hear it.

I was forced from my job as a firegihter-paramedic because the TEA party said that my pension was ripping off the taxpayer. Pensions, they said, are an anachronism. I replied that they were a promise to people who made a commitment to serve others, giving their lives in many cases, so that the public would be protected from harm. They claimed that they were saving money, while giving the bigwigs raises at the same time.

They mocked me for that. I was told that I should only have a 401(k), like everyone else. I was told that I should be forced to buy life insurance to replace the on duty death benefits I was losing. So I left, taking my pension while I still could.

How does it feel, now that the shoe is on your foot?

In Britain, cab drivers make 65,000 British pounds (the equivalent of $100,000) a year. That is enough to make one would-be cabbie give up his business as an engineer to spend more than a quarter million US Dollars and four years of his life in order to become a cab driver.

Meanwhile, Doctors working as general practitioners in the UK start at 23 thousand pounds, and max out at 65 thousand. The average pay for a cabbie is the same as the top pay for most doctors. So where do you think the brightest and most talented people are going? Certainly not into the medical profession.

That is what happens when you attempt to thwart market forces by intervening with government licenses and restrictions.

I was just sitting here thinking about the television shows of my youth. Does anyone remember the shows that I am thinking of:

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom
Wonderful World of Disney
Mork and Mindy
The Muppet Show
Happy Days
Laverne and Shirley
Barney Miller
Emergency!
SWAT
Welcome Back, Kotter
WKRP
The Jefferson’s
MASH

There were even more shows that were in reruns by the time I was of age to remember them, and I’m sure I have forgotten a few, but television sure has changed over the years.

Rattlesnake Tactical is a company that wants to open an ammunition factory in Osceola County. That county is waiving the $265,000 in taxes that they would otherwise be required to pay in order to open the doors. State business records do not mention the name of the owners, but I’m guessing that they have friends down at the county offices.

Why? Because my brother wanted to open a business a few years ago, and they would not waive the taxes. The government is in the business of picking winners and losers.

There is an American academic who was attending a conference in the UAE was arrested for taking a picture of a sign banning photography. From the headlines:

Architect Dr Robert Alan Black was lecturing at a conference in Abu Dhabi when he
innocently took a picture of sign banning photography

No one can “innocently” take a photo of a sign banning photography. He
knew the sign was there, he flouted the law, and took the picture
anyway. He broke the law. 

Dr Black
was lecturing at a conference in the city and was thought to have
innocently taken a photo of the strict sign near his hotel on a
walkabout of the embassy district.
He
appeared to be amused by the sign, and was entirely unaware that it
enforces an ultra-strict code which allows for a five-year sentence for
anyone who breaks no-photography rules.

70-year-old from Athens, GA, was held by police in United Arab  Emirates’ capital
for seven days before a translator alerted his family

OK. And?

Grandfather has been allowed just two snatched phone calls to his worried family
who say he is innocent and just wants to get out

He was allowed to call home twice in the past 2 weeks, which seems to be inconsistent with the implied claim that a translator needed to notify the family because he was being held incommunicado. He isn’t innocent.

Supporters tell MailOnline of fears for health of diabetic academic, who is said
to be losing weight behind bars and cannot afford local lawyer

 So he can’t afford a lawyer? Why did he intentionally break the law then?

Americans travel the world with the attitude that they can ignore the law wherever they go. This is what happens, and why people see us as arrogant.

The Pope has been advocating for the government to take care of the poor. He claims that wanting to care for the poor doesn’t make one a communist. That is true, but when you say that the government should care for the poor, what you are saying is that the government should send armed men to your home to forcibly take money from you and give it to the poor (after they get their own cut, of course) IS communism as it has been practiced.

I cannot listen to a man tell me that I need to give more of my money to feed the poor when he is the guy taking a dump on a solid gold crapper that is crusted with diammonds and said to be worth over US$50 million. . The Catholic church is wealthy beyond measure. Maybe the Pope can start there. Sure, the Pope doesn’t own that stuff, the Church does. Sure, he is technically under a vow of poverty. He does, however, live in a palace filled with priceless works of art, has hundreds of servants and body guards, an armored Limo, and a personal jet.

Communism is for the people, not the communists.

Last week I reported having some issues with my breakers tripping when I transmit with my amateur radio at anything above fifty watts. I have found the problem. It seems that Eaton, the company that made my circuit breakers, shipped out a batch of AFCI breakers that trip when exposed to strong RF interference.

Part 15 of the FCC rules state:

1) The device may not cause harmful interference.

2) The device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

I will be contacting Eaton on Monday.

I was having some issues with the IRS. In short, they have been claiming that I owe $8,400 in back taxes. We have been writing letters back and forth since May. I finally got my answer: I owe nothing, and my case is now closed.

That is one bit of drama that is off my plate.