Rebane's Ruminations
November 2026
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  • George Rebane

    Unemployment2010 

    Rahm Emmanuel is not the only one who does not want to waste a good crisis.  Businesses across the country have attempted to use this recession like no other one to get rid of deadwood employees and reconfigure themselves to be more competitive in the marketplace.  With galloping technology allowing fewer people to produce more, the economy should be screaming.  But all around the world and now here in America, it is the cold hand of government that promotes both stasis and statism.

    America has about 150 million workers of whom more than 10% are out of a job, that’s over 15 million unemployed.  And the abnormal part is that almost half of these unemployed have been out of work for over six months.  At this stage of our supposed recovery, this is scary.

    Congress and the administration, instead of making it easy for companies to hire, have put unheard of levels of friction into the system, and promise to do much more.  Government has never figured out where to ‘invest’ (aka tax and spend) in order to grow the economy; we have known this since the beginning of WW2.

    So now, instead of leaving money in the private sector so that it can be put to the best uses, the feds along with many states (e.g. California) are taking it for their vote buying stimulus programs, increasing taxes, raising the minimum wage, mandating job killing nationalized healthcare, removing reward from investment risk, mangling the energy markets, imposing ideologically driven green industries, promising to rob taxpayers to make good on union extorted government employee pensions, and increasing the size of an already bloated government payroll.

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  • George Rebane

    JohnWooden John Wooden, a gentleman, mentor, and a teacher of character, died today aged 99.  John Wooden was also the legendary basketball coach at my alma mater UCLA, and a man revered by all who were fortunate enough to know him.

    My high school basketball coach Sy Korach was a friend of John Wooden, and when I announced that I would be attending UCLA in the fall of 1958 Mr. Korach wanted to introduce me to him.  I recall that Coach Wooden invited us down to the Westwood campus on one spring evening in 1958.  Mr Korach drove me down and marched me into the Men’s Gym to Coach Wooden’s office. 

    He greeted us both very cordially, sat us down, and after a few words with his friend Coach Korach, he turned to me and put a very nervous 18-year-old at ease with questions about my basketball experience and academic plans at UCLA.  He invited me to come out for the team that fall.  As we said our good-byes, it was clear to me that this man taught his players more than basketball.

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  • George Rebane

    The growth of central government is now at a gallop.  Anti-capitalism that was rampant is accelerating even more.  Some of us are quietly observing the anniversary of the arbitrary abrogation of contract law when Obama took over Chrysler and gave all its corporate bondholders a haircut.  For those not familiar with lending money to a corporation by buying its bonds, that is the most secure form of corporate debt.  By law, the company must pay it off, even if it means liquidation.  Hence, that level of security, bolstered by the law of the land, rewards the lender with the lowest interest rate.

    In one Zimbabwe style sweep, Obama swept that away last year.  Now after many court cases and appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court, all the non-socialists are wondering how corporations are going to borrow money for the long term to support growth and jobs.  The socialists don’t have a clue about the problem they have created.

    Scott Davis, CEO of UPS, seems to have missed this point (here) as he argues for lower capital gains rates for long term investments.  As an investor, my question is – who is going to trust a growing, fiscally insane, and confiscatory government in the future?  There is no guarantee that any seemingly sane capital gains tax rate will remain on the books over any planning horizon.  The engine of America’s growth has always been fueled by eager investors (domestic and foreign) putting their money to work in a secure investment environment that appropriately balanced risk and reward.  Apparently those days are behind us as we adopt the European style of economic stagnation.

    A reminder to all is that capital gain rates will jump from 15% to 20% on 1 January 2011, and then to 24% in 2013.  All of this will guarantee that this recession will be with us for a very long time.  But when such capricious investment environment is viewed in the larger context of national and states’ deficits, debt, and unfunded obligations coming due, perhaps it doesn’t matter.  For example, take a look below at the growth of current entitlements in the federal budget.

    FedBudgetFractions 

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  • George Rebane

    The ability of autonomous quadruped robots to cross very difficult terrain has taken another leap forward.  The Defense Advanced Projects Agency sponsored work at Boston Dynamics in developing Little Dog is reported on in the video below.  RR readers were introduced to Big Dog in 2008 (here).  Think of the possibilities that this technology will enable in areas such as work in difficult terrains, search and rescue, prosthetics, mobility for the disabled, police work, and, of course, warfare.  (H/T to an RR reader for the heads up on this update.)

    [4jun2010 update] In a similar vein advances have been made in the brain-computer interfaces that allow direct neural control of machines.  Here is an example of advanced prosthetics for amputees where the neural pick-off is trans-cutaneous from residual nerve endings that have been surgically re-positioned.  And here is a breakthrough in a direct (wired) brain interface that allows a monkey to operate a complex mechanical arm.  The use of the phrase 'mind control' in describing this is a little bit hopeful – using mind control is actually a whole new ballgame we'll cover another time. 

  • George Rebane

    Palin_etal If one doubts the separation between the American conservative and progressive, then doubt no more.  Henry A. Giroux lays it all out in no uncertain terms as to where the country is today and where it should be heading.  He does not do it on some backwater channel, but as the leading essay on truthout.com, one of the more prominent socialist websites that is funded by subscribers.  In ‘Revenge of the Zombies: Palin, Beck, and Limbaugh and the Return of the Dark Times’ Giroux’s characterization of conservative and Tea Party America is a chilling depiction of how one side can de-humanize the other – in preparation for what?  The brave new world anticipated here is worthy of some serious contemplation.

  • George Rebane

    • Minimum wage and American Samoa bailout;
    • Taxpayers bailing out union pensions;
    • David Crane (Arnold’s adviser) – diversify energy sources by diktat;
    • And more …

    MinWageAmericanSamoa All conservatives and the progressive elite know that the minimum wage is a populist ploy for buying the votes of the ignorant.  Them that use it, get elected.  And them that voted for it lose twice – higher prices for the stuff they buy, and fewer places to find work.  Oh yes, the rest of us also lose.  The evidence is overwhelming that jacking up minimum wages hurts most the very people that the snake oil sellers claim it helps.  Now there is a simple little test case that may even enlighten the adamantly ignorant (but only if the word gets out).

    For American Samoa there is a hidden little $18 million lollipop in the next stimulus bill cynically named the ‘Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act’.  You see, when the Dems raised the min wage to $7.25 in 2007, the Samoans pleaded for their usual exemption for all the obvious reasons.  This time the unions – after all it’s their party, bought and paid for – put the screws to their hacks, and the exemption was denied.  The result was that tuna canners like StarKist and Chicken of Sea chickened out and cut jobs, left, or are about to leave American Samoa for more competitive labor markets.

    The Samoans think that the minimum wage is a horrible idea, and would much rather have jobs at $4/hr than be unemployed at $7.25/hr.  Not to worry, Washington DC (stands for Dufus Colony) to the rescue with the hidden handout.  But you gotta promise not to tell anyone, because no one in The DC knows what to do after that $18M runs out.  Progress to the people.  (more here)

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  • George Rebane

    Molecule … and not a minute too soon to suit this pudgy commentator who always licks his platter clean.  Many food research outfits have been working on modifying our favorite foods and condiments so as to increase their nutrition, taste, and satisfaction while reducing their harmful effects – starting with how much we want to eat.  Emma Davies in The New Scientist writes a comprehensive report on the goings on in this promising area.

    So what is a nanofood? It isn’t just about nanoparticles. Many foods have a natural nanostructure – the proteins in milk form nanoscale clusters, for example – that can be altered on the nanoscale to enhance their properties.

    In fact, researchers have been changing the nanostructure of food for years, for example by adding emulsifiers to improve the texture of ice cream. It’s the emergence of technologies such as atomic force microscopy that has changed the game by finally opening a window on the nanoworld …

    Every time I read about the accelerating pace of technology, I can’t help but hearken back to the constant stream of proposed benefits from new government restrictions and diktats that are awaiting legislative action to further prescribe our behavior and reduce our liberties.  In the area of nutrition we constantly hear reports of government prescribing what products we will be able to buy and what we should eat.  ‘Outlaw Big Macs and hot coffee!’

    The dolts in Washington have no idea what is coming down the pike, and how such new products as described by Davies will benefit us, all without the meddling and ministrations of Big Brother.  But then, where is the ability to tax and control in that approach?

    Thinking about this research should remind us of the new kinds of jobs that are constantly being created and the education required to perform in them.   At your local schools, check out the number of kids preparing for technical careers to the number who plan to go into the arts or get a government job.

  • George Rebane

    We begin to see more and more commentators ascribe the national nostrums coming from the White House to sheer incompetence (for example ‘He Was Supposed to be Competent’).   Remember when Ronald Reagan was called the Teflon President by the Left.  But his legacy is such an enduring testament to conservative governance that the progressives to this day are writing silly screeds condemning his tenure – they don’t dare let well enough alone.  Maybe now their pens will have a more urgent commission to bail out this president.  Witness the nobility of –

    “I ULTIMATELY take responsibility for SOLVING this crisis.  I’m the President, and the buck stops with me.”

    ‘Ultimately’ for ‘solving’ ??!!  Gee that’s magnanimous since he can have no other impact on the solution except to harass the oil workers with his ‘rage’ at their slow pace.  And we know he wants no responsibility for this administration’s contribution to the crisis – only to take the ultimate credit for cleaning up other people’s messes.

    And then, of course, there’s the Sestak Affair, the astounding explanation of which must have been issued by the cretin corps in the bowels of Blair House on the eve of a three day weekend – ‘maybe they won’t notice’.  His remaining escape from there is the now inevitable –

    RahmsFault

  • George Rebane

    – Countywide election of BoS and Planning Commission
    – Sestak imbroglio
    – Markey on NPR blames Bush for Oil Spill
    – US Money Supply, Constitution and the Dollar

    This morning’s emails contained a heads-up that the blinding light of morality and justice has again been shined on my bald noggin – well actually on Jo Ann, but then we fly in pretty tight formation.  My wife is the contributor of record of $300 to John Spencer’s supervisorial re-election campaign as documented on the front page of today’s Union, in a local progressive blog, and, perhaps, other places.  To the progressives this is not a right and proper expression of free speech.  Why? Because the Rebanes are known conservatives who live outside Mr Spencer’s district, and such contributions serve to politicize a non-partisan office.  Cease and desist!

    That such opposition is imbecilic needs no more ink to confirm.  Hell, we’ve even sent money across the country to candidates like Alan Keyes, Ron Paul, and others whom we could not vote for, but whose ideology in office we believe would make for a better country.  It is simply our and everyone’s right of free political speech.  Nevertheless, this little Nevada County dust devil does call for a little comment.

    PiperObama I believe that the members of the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission should be countywide offices.  We’re a small and cohesive county of 100,000 people with three small municipalities that have their own elected councils and planning commissions.  We are not so parochial as to seek geographically partisan representation over our small patch of mountains and valleys.  The offices are few and the best talent to fill them should come from any and all parts of the county.

    Barry to Rahm to Bill to Joe.  Yesterday’s latest load from the White House has us believing that a globally prominent, two-term former US President was chosen as the errand boy to carry the lamest (so far) message of the century to a US congressman getting ready to unseat a nationally-known political turncoat now promising to vote reliably within his newly minted ideology.  Sestak was offered an unpaid job on some presidential panel or other??!!  Give me a break.  That is one of the most demeaning assessments Obama has made of his own constituents.  He knows no Republican will believe that bullcrap.  So that leaves his own Democrat voters judged to be gullible enough to lap it all up.  Then again, maybe he’s right.

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