George Rebane
Sen Liz Warren wants to reduce the size of big techs. As we know, big corporations get that way and survive by practicing the fine art of corporatism. That means essentially working with politicians and bureaucrats to buy competitive advantage through laws, regs, taxation, etc (all the ways that govt mangles markets) in exchange for contributing their monies through various channels to assure re-election success. If Warren were an honest woman, she would know that corporations automatically resize themselves once you pull out the mechanisms of govt support. IBM and GE discovered that for themselves. There is nothing magical about big centrally controlled bureaucracies in the private sector being more efficient than the same organizational structures in government – both ultimately reach an inefficient size. Corporations must suffer the uncompromising feedback from competitive markets, while governments – with the power of the gun – are immune to productive feedback and can keep on screwing up forever. (more here)
TechTestJr 2019 was given on 5-6 March at the corporate campuses of AJA Video and Telestream (NC Tech Connection is also a corporate sponsor). This year over 100 fifth through eighth graders took the STEM merit scholarship test which is sponsored and administered by the Sierra Economics and Science Foundation. TTjr was launched eight years ago by Mr Mike McDaniel, and board member Mr David Pistone has been the director of TTjr for the last six years. TechTest2019 for Nevada County juniors and seniors will be administered again this year on 30 March (9-1pm) in the NUHS Science Lecture Hall. This is TT’s 13th year as the county’s premier merit scholarship test for students heading for STEM majors in college. The annual test is preceded by two seminars of which I gave the last one this past Saturday morning at NUHS. (I have written the test and given these seminars since the beginning, and am now in the process of turning over the writing and reins of this project to younger turks.) NUHS math teacher Mr Kevin Baker is the TT Academic Coordinator who will administer the test. (more here)
Union columnist George Boardman followed Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Greg Diaz off the rails with his 18mar19 column repeating the fake news with his “WHY DOES the Nevada County Tea Party want to discourage people from voting in the special election? Are they afraid the wrong Republican will win?” This politically motivated error was covered in my last KVMR commentary, ‘Election Integrity – one more time’. Mr Boardman’s insistence that he views our fables and follies “… from the center stripe” continues to bring a smile to those who can clearly see from which side of the road he continues to do his reporting.
[20mar19 update] Brainless Beto in the White House? Now there’s a jarring thought argued by David Marcus in The Federalist (here) “Beto O’Rourke looks a lot more like recent Democrats who won the White House than any other candidates. Don’t underestimate him.” And rubbing salt into such a wound, that lightweight promises to pick one of the Democrats’ female proto-communists as a running mate. Can you imagine an O’Rourke/Warren or O’Rourke/Harris or … ticket? Such a revoltin’ possibility most certainly will cramp the cockles of me heart.
Reparations for blacks is on the Democrats’ marquee again. All the usual collectivist congress critters are signing up for that proposal as a sure-fire way to insure the black vote in 2020. Jason Riley asks “How can centuries-old oppression be to blame for problems that became sever only recently?” (here) And no one dares mention the ‘reparations’ (e.g. Sec 8) that have been continually paid to blacks since the Great Society days, all to no avail as the Democrat mismanaged inner cities have become killing fields for drugs and crime, and home to millions of unmarried single moms trying to raise and educate their kids. So we see once more how keeping them on the Democrats’ plantation works – they are always there, ready and willing, when their masters beckon with another manufactured social injustice.
[21mar19 update] Democrats continue leftward march. The party is now starting to show some cracks as the more saner members try to put on the brakes. In these parts the local lefties have been totally unaware of this massive ideological lurch which shifted into high gear under Obama. These pages are replete with our leftwing commenters’ arguments dunning the ‘ignorance’ of the conservative readers for not being aware that, according to their dim lights, the Dems have not moved, but it’s been the Repubs who are drifting right. This same knowledge base is amply reflected here in their other fractured assessments of the country’s goings on. Here’ a hot flash for our lefties, the Repubs are also worried that their more mushy members are beginning to kowtow to the Dems’ proto-communists. (more here)
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