In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control, and those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely. [Pournelle's law of bureaucracy]
The Star-Spangled Banner first was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven” by composer John Stafford Smith.
The New York Times (9/11, Kolata, Subscription Publication) reports that a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that the median cost to develop a cancer medication is $757 million. The study evaluated company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for 10 cancer medications. After being approved, “the 10 drugs together brought in $67 billion, the researchers also concluded — a more than sevenfold return on investment.”
Sinecure comes from Medieval Latin phrase (beneficium) sine cūrā “(benefice) without cure," i.e., an ecclesiastical post that does not involve the cure of souls, or seeing to the needs of parishioners. Sinecures were used and abused in patronage. Sinecure entered English in the 17th century. Cure implies "care," for example curing meat.
I]magine that you were to learn that you are going to die tomorrow. Though it may be impossible to imagine accurately how you would feel, it is a safe guess that you would be quite upset. Now I will tell you something that you probably do not know: based on recent worldwide mortality statistics, there are about 156,000 human beings who will in fact die tomorrow. How do you feel now? You may find this information disturbing. But if you are like most people, you are far less upset at this news than you would be by the news that you yourself were about to die. This suggests, again, that your concern for yourself is perhaps thousands of times stronger than your concern for most other people.--Huemer
The latest federal survey data shows that while teen marijuana use continues to decline in the era of legal pot, adult use is rising. The percent of people over the age of 18 who smoke it in a given year has risen from 10.4 percent in 2002 to 14.1 percent in 2016. In other words, 46 million people got high last year.
More concerning, though, is the number of people who are getting high all the time — heavy users who smoke on a daily or near-daily basis. The federal data shows that those numbers are increasingly precipitously.
Who are...the Fabians?
The earliest, securely attributed self-portrait by a European Master was made by Albrecht Dürer at the age of 13. Although there are works defined as self-portraits that pre-date this, he was the first artist considered to have looked at his own image in this way.
A joke from Quora:
Guy walks into a bar, sits down and orders a drink.
Takes a sip and says to the bartender, “Next Monday morning I think they should gather up all the money in the world and divide it up equally among all the people in the world. That would fix what’s wrong.”
Terence Tao, 42, has an IQ of 230. Al Capone's was 90.
A terrifying article from the WashPo:
Throughout much of the Cold War, the United States had stationed nuclear-armed weapons in South Korea. Then in 1991, President George H.W. Bush withdrew all tactical nuclear weapons deployed abroad, and Moscow reciprocated.
The debate over redeploying those weapons is sharply dividing South Korean politics. The main opposition party is now doubling down on its calls for a redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons, buoyed by widely circulated reports from the weekend citing a senior White House official that the Trump administration isn't ruling it out as an option, as well as similar comments by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whom many here recognize as a leading U.S. voice in security matters.
Golden oldie:
http://steeleydock.blogspot.com/2013/07/sunday-sermon-72113.html
An argument against the "stranded profits thesis": (The following is a story, not a fact about Apple accounting.) Apple sells an Iphone in Spain. Apple Spain pays a huge licensing fee on software, owned by Apple Ireland, so it’s not a profit in Spain. Apple Ireland thus collects huge amounts of cash from all over the world, taxed at the low Irish corporate tax rate. Apple Ireland deposits this cash in an Irish bank. (I presume they do fancier things with the money, but I’m telling a story here). The cash is “stranded” overseas, right?
No. The Irish bank can lend the money anywhere. It can buy US mortgage backed securities, it can lend the money wholesale to US banks who lend it out to US businesses. It can even lend the money to Apple US. If Apple or any other US company wants to invest, they can borrow from the Irish bank. Conversely, if profits are repatriated to US banks, those banks can lend the money overseas.--Cochrane
Aaaaaaannnnnddddd....a graph:
The Star-Spangled Banner first was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven” by composer John Stafford Smith.
The New York Times (9/11, Kolata, Subscription Publication) reports that a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that the median cost to develop a cancer medication is $757 million. The study evaluated company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for 10 cancer medications. After being approved, “the 10 drugs together brought in $67 billion, the researchers also concluded — a more than sevenfold return on investment.”
NPR (9/11, Harris) explains that the study authors concluded that “it costs, on average, $650 million to develop a new cancer drug” and “add in another $100 million or so to account for income those companies could have had if that money had been invested in the stock market instead of in new products.” The total is “far lower than the $2.7 billion figure that the drug industry frequently points to when it justifies the soaring cost of medicine.”
STAT (9/11, Silverman) reports that the analysis “is already engendering criticism, a reflection of an ongoing debate over true development costs and how these should be calculated.” According to STAT, “the pharmaceutical industry has often used R&D costs to justify its pricing.”
Sinecure: N: 1.
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Sinecure comes from Medieval Latin phrase (beneficium) sine cūrā “(benefice) without cure," i.e., an ecclesiastical post that does not involve the cure of souls, or seeing to the needs of parishioners. Sinecures were used and abused in patronage. Sinecure entered English in the 17th century. Cure implies "care," for example curing meat.
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I]magine that you were to learn that you are going to die tomorrow. Though it may be impossible to imagine accurately how you would feel, it is a safe guess that you would be quite upset. Now I will tell you something that you probably do not know: based on recent worldwide mortality statistics, there are about 156,000 human beings who will in fact die tomorrow. How do you feel now? You may find this information disturbing. But if you are like most people, you are far less upset at this news than you would be by the news that you yourself were about to die. This suggests, again, that your concern for yourself is perhaps thousands of times stronger than your concern for most other people.--Huemer
The latest federal survey data shows that while teen marijuana use continues to decline in the era of legal pot, adult use is rising. The percent of people over the age of 18 who smoke it in a given year has risen from 10.4 percent in 2002 to 14.1 percent in 2016. In other words, 46 million people got high last year.
More concerning, though, is the number of people who are getting high all the time — heavy users who smoke on a daily or near-daily basis. The federal data shows that those numbers are increasingly precipitously.
Who are...the Fabians?
The earliest, securely attributed self-portrait by a European Master was made by Albrecht Dürer at the age of 13. Although there are works defined as self-portraits that pre-date this, he was the first artist considered to have looked at his own image in this way.
Guy walks into a bar, sits down and orders a drink.
Takes a sip and says to the bartender, “Next Monday morning I think they should gather up all the money in the world and divide it up equally among all the people in the world. That would fix what’s wrong.”
The bartender says, “Funny you should mention that. One of my regular customers sits right where you’re sitting when he comes in. He’s a professor of economics. He says that economists have thought about what you just said. He says that if you did that, the money would all be right back where it is within a year. It wouldn’t make any difference.”
The customer says, “No, I mean every Monday morning!”Terence Tao, 42, has an IQ of 230. Al Capone's was 90.
Fabianism is generally described as a moderate, reformist type of socialism, achieving its ends not by class war and revolution but by persuasion and 'permeation'. Yet in a sense it was more radical than Marxism because it sought control not so much of the economy or polity as of society itself. It is fitting that the Fabian Society should have been founded, in 1884, as a society, not a party, for its primary focus was the 'social organism', and its ultimate purpose the 'regeneration of society', the 'reconstruction of the Social System'......The Webbs wanted to organise society in order to curb the anarchy of individualism and create a rational society in which the average sensual man would be prevented from indulging his whims and vices. Churchill wanted to organise society in order to create the condition in which individualism would thrive and the average sensual man - that is to say, everyman - could live his life freely, whims, vices, and all.--Himmelfarb
Her view that Fabianism is more radical is hard to understand because it is a wish, not a policy. The real efforts to eliminate the individual and his mistakes requires power, real power, and the Marxists brought just that. Compared to the wishes of Churchill, who wanted only for the individual to flourish with all his errors, Marxism is extirpative.
In 2017, a total of 22.2 million U.S. adults will have cut the cord on cable, satellite or telco TV service to date — up 33% from 16.7 million in 2016 — the researcher now predicts. That’s significantly higher than eMarketer’s prior estimate of 15.4 million cord-cutters as of the end of this year. Meanwhile, the number of “cord-nevers” (consumers who have never subscribed to pay TV) will rise 5.8% this year, to 34.4 million.
"Younger audiences continue to switch to either exclusively watching [over-the-top] video or watching them in combination with free-TV options,” said Chris Bendtsen, senior forecasting analyst at eMarketer. “Last year, even the Olympics and [the U.S.] presidential election could not prevent younger audiences from abandoning pay TV.”
"Younger audiences continue to switch to either exclusively watching [over-the-top] video or watching them in combination with free-TV options,” said Chris Bendtsen, senior forecasting analyst at eMarketer. “Last year, even the Olympics and [the U.S.] presidential election could not prevent younger audiences from abandoning pay TV.”
A terrifying article from the WashPo:
Throughout much of the Cold War, the United States had stationed nuclear-armed weapons in South Korea. Then in 1991, President George H.W. Bush withdrew all tactical nuclear weapons deployed abroad, and Moscow reciprocated.
The debate over redeploying those weapons is sharply dividing South Korean politics. The main opposition party is now doubling down on its calls for a redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons, buoyed by widely circulated reports from the weekend citing a senior White House official that the Trump administration isn't ruling it out as an option, as well as similar comments by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whom many here recognize as a leading U.S. voice in security matters.
Golden oldie:
http://steeleydock.blogspot.com/2013/07/sunday-sermon-72113.html
steeleydock.blogspot.com
Today's gospel is Mary and Martha. Christ always tries to contrast the physical and the spiritual, the mundane, daily world from the world ...
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An argument against the "stranded profits thesis": (The following is a story, not a fact about Apple accounting.) Apple sells an Iphone in Spain. Apple Spain pays a huge licensing fee on software, owned by Apple Ireland, so it’s not a profit in Spain. Apple Ireland thus collects huge amounts of cash from all over the world, taxed at the low Irish corporate tax rate. Apple Ireland deposits this cash in an Irish bank. (I presume they do fancier things with the money, but I’m telling a story here). The cash is “stranded” overseas, right?
No. The Irish bank can lend the money anywhere. It can buy US mortgage backed securities, it can lend the money wholesale to US banks who lend it out to US businesses. It can even lend the money to Apple US. If Apple or any other US company wants to invest, they can borrow from the Irish bank. Conversely, if profits are repatriated to US banks, those banks can lend the money overseas.--Cochrane
Boeing (NYSE: BA) today announced its investment in C360 Technologies, a Pittsburgh-based company focusing on 360° video and augmented/virtual reality. It is the latest investment by Boeing HorizonX's venture arm established earlier this year, and the first in a company headquartered in the emerging Pittsburgh tech market.
"Our C360 investment is a powerful example of how HorizonX can access rapid advances in innovation outside aerospace and bring them to our Boeing customers," said Steve Nordlund, Boeing HorizonX vice president. "Putting additional capital to work and linking C360's innovators with our Boeing teams allows us to accelerate new solutions, while providing new market access for C360. It's a win-win — especially for our customers."
Anachronism in style or technology or knowledge would not be accepted anywhere---except in the politics of the Left.
Thomas Espenshade and Alexandria Radford documented discrimination against Asians in their 2009 book, “No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal: Race and Class in Elite College Admission and Campus Life.” Their research demonstrated that, when controlling for other variables, Asian students faced considerable odds against their admission. To be admitted to elite colleges, Asians needed SAT scores 140 points higher than whites, 270 points higher than Hispanics and 450 points higher than blacks.
One of the tenets of Darwin's thinking was the necessity of large groups to allow penetration of population changes that would not be swamped by the norm. Asian populations allow that.
One of the tenets of Darwin's thinking was the necessity of large groups to allow penetration of population changes that would not be swamped by the norm. Asian populations allow that.
The argument of free speech of ugly ideas will go on forever. What might be a reasonable approach is that a parade permit come with an estimate of the social financial cost the parade organizers would be responsible for. So I would agree that the Nazis or Antifa have the right to their public displays, just not the right of my financial support for security, traffic control, cleanup and the like. That restriction could be abused, but it is a starting point.
I]t is not, as may sometimes appear, the progress of science which threatens our civilization, but scientific error, based usually on the presumption of knowledge which in fact we do not possess.--Hayek
There are real changes afoot. I am uncertain Trump can deliver but it seems that the Democrat Party has changed. A thesis:
Trump has capitalized on the damage done to elements in established economies with globalization. Those elements historically have been Democrat strongholds.
HealthDay (9/13, Thompson) reports new evidence review suggests that human semen is a “potential hiding place and breeding ground” for at least 27 infectious viruses, “including dread-inducing agents like Zika, Ebola, Marburg, Lassa fever and chikungunya, along with mumps, Epstein-Barr and chicken pox.” The findings were published in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
In a front-page story, the New York Times (9/12, A1, Appelbaum, Subscription Publication) reports that according to Census Bureau data which were released on Tuesday, the median household income in the US “was $59,000 in 2016, an increase of 3.2 percent.” The figures also revealed that the percentage of Americans living in poverty decreased. Meanwhile, access to healthcare coverage expanded last year, with data showing that just “8.8 percent of the population lacked health insurance for the full year, down from 9.1 percent in 2015.”
The Washington Post (9/12, Long) reports that 2016 was the “highest-earning year” ever recorded for the middle class. The article adds that the continued drop in the uninsured rate was “largely thanks to expanding coverage under the Affordable Care Act.”
In contrast, the Wall Street Journal (9/12, Radnofsky, Subscription Publication) reports that the additional decline in the uninsured rate was due to the fact that more Americans reached the age of 65 and became eligible for Medicare. The article says last year’s drop is minor compared to larger declines which occurred when the ACA was being implemented.
It’s simple. When you get flooding like we had in Texas, you are going to have perhaps hundreds of thousands of people shopping for new cars, all at once. If you get storms that destroy houses with wind and rain, as is the case in Florida, you get checks to fix them up almost instantly.–Jim Cramer, indulging in the broken window fallacy
Aaaaaaannnnnddddd....a graph:
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