Anthony Martin's Weblog http://inertia.posterous.com A blog about some guy. posterous.com Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:54:03 -0800 Automatic Earthquake Tweet http://inertia.posterous.com/automatic-earthquake-tweet http://inertia.posterous.com/automatic-earthquake-tweet I have rigged a touchatag RFID tag to automatically tweet if there's an earthquake.  The tag has been enclosed in a display slab (the slab is intended for collectible coins).  I've labeled the tags with a post-it note and placed it in the slab as well.  The earthquake tag is being held by a top-heavy robot that will (hopefully) fall on the tag reader during a moderate or large seismic event.

It would be so cool if it worked, wouldn't it?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:05:00 -0700 "Proof" Deregulation Doesn't Work: Antitrust Law Exemptions http://inertia.posterous.com/proof-deregulation-doesnt-work-antitrust-law http://inertia.posterous.com/proof-deregulation-doesnt-work-antitrust-law

Application of antitrust law is capricious and the exemptions are established to improve the shaky credibility as to the effectiveness of these laws.  Then, when the exemptions ultimately fail to bring objective improvements, they are used as "proof" that deregulation was a bad idea.

I have often brought up the idea that deregulation is good.  This applies to specific topics like private health insurance as well as the agricultural industry and banking.  So if I sent you to this article because you and I were chatting/talking about deregulation, welcome, and thank you for following the link!

I'll try to keep this short and to the point (well, to the point anyway).  I assert that deregulation always helps an industry overall.  A quick example of this can be find in any industry that has never been regulated or has minimal regulation to begin with.  So for example, I'll cite mobile phones and computers as two areas where the lack of regulation has helped those industries.

Are there examples where regulations were removed, causing an overall improvement?  My progressive friends who argue for regulation will cite antitrust exceptions as a counterexample to the benefits of deregulation.  They maintain that the exemptions (or exceptions) to antitrust law prove that deregulation is bad.

I keep hearing this argument, so let me address it from my point of view.

What is antitrust law?

First of all, what is antitrust law?  Primarily, the way regular people like you and I tend to encounter them is in the form of government price controls.  A corporation is only able to charge an amount that the government deems is fair and equitable.  Any time there is a cap on prices, the "evil greedy" corporation try to find a creative way to get around these caps.  Because evil greedy corporations are ... uh greedy!

According to the Department of Justice ...

Many consumers have never heard of antitrust laws, but when these laws are effectively and responsibly enforced, they can save consumers millions and even billions of dollars a year in illegal overcharges. Most states have antitrust laws, and so does the federal government. Essentially, these laws prohibit business practices that unreasonably deprive consumers of the benefits of competition, resulting in higher prices for products and services.


One way the evil greedy corporations could get around the price caps is to bring the price far below the fair and equitable amount.  This would supposedly put the competition out of business.  So antitrust law has also been created to keep prices from going too low.

Got that?  The same body of laws keep the price from going too high and too low.  Sort-of like Goldilocks (not too hot ... not too cold ... just right).  How is that possible?  Well, the summary above says it best, "... when these laws are effectively and responsibly enforced."  It is subject to the whim of the government.

And that's the main purpose of antitrust law.  There's a lot more to it than that, but the main goal is to protect consumers and keep prices where they should be.  And "where they should be" is determined by government.  And how does government know where prices should be?  They have really smart people, never mind the so-called "market signals," so stop asking those kinds of questions!

But I will question.  I always question.  I'll question if these antitrust exemptions even qualify as deregulation.  I assert they do not.  It is regulation on top of regulation that is then labeled "deregulation."  It is more accurate to call them "faux-deregulation."

What are antitrust law exemptions?

In a nutshell, antitrust law exemptions are where government gives a pass to certain corporations to do things that would normally be illegal under antitrust law.  Basically, if your industry is organized enough to have a lobby, you can probably get an exemption, if you have enough time and money.

One example of antitrust law exemptions is when the government allows corporations to join up and share resources.  So, for example, the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 allows for joint operating arrangements between newspapers to share production facilities and combine their commercial operations.

Before this act, it would have been illegal for two competing newspapers to join forces like this because government thinks it reduces competition.  But government realized (with the help of the lobbyists) their own regulations were getting in the way.  So they had a choice of either killing the newspapers with regulations or creating an exemption for them.

Why doesn't it work?

The primary reason antitrust exemptions are faux-deregulation is because antitrust law itself is ambiguous.  You can't make clear exemptions if the overall law isn't clear.  The application of antitrust law is unpredictable and at the whim of whoever is in charge.  Some actions cause the law to come down like a ton of bricks.  But then those same actions performed by another corporation are allowed, even before the exemptions are drafted.

It's a tangled web of law that is totally incomprehensible.  All it really shows is that the free market has never really been trusted by government, therefore blaming the free market for the failures of government to regulate it is foolish.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:47:36 -0700 Utilitarian Argument Against Taxes http://inertia.posterous.com/utilitarian-argument-against-taxes http://inertia.posterous.com/utilitarian-argument-against-taxes I'm not a democrat or utilitarian, but one of the things I hear from time to time is the idea that Jesus was a democrat.  At least, that's what democrats say to try to appeal to non-democrats (I think it's because it's assumed that a lot of non-democrats are into Jesus).

Basically, the usual assertion is that Jesus helped the suffering, so shouldn't we institutionalize the practice with government mandate?

The simple answer is "no."  The complex answer is "no."  And all other answers in between is "no."

The US government forwards 23¢ of every dollar it collects to help the suffering.  Playing strictly on the utilitarian argument (I think a lot of democrats are into utilitarianism), if your goal is to help the poor and suffering, paying taxes isn't the way to go about it.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:19:00 -0700 Hannah's Doodles http://inertia.posterous.com/hannahs-doodles http://inertia.posterous.com/hannahs-doodles

Here is what Hannah (3) drew tonight on my iPhone. She knows I have a sketching app (she calls it coloring), and she likes to use it after her bath. She picked all the colors too. And she signed it with an H. The only thing I helped her with was moving the view window to a new spot so she could start a new doodle.

I also drew shapes like stars which she colored over.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:18:43 -0700 Windows 3.11 on iPhone http://inertia.posterous.com/windows-311-on-iphone http://inertia.posterous.com/windows-311-on-iphone Is that really Windows 3.11 running on my iPhone?  No, not really.  I'm just accessing it over VNC with my iPhone.  It's actually running on my desktop in Virtual PC as a 386 DX with 64 MB RAM and 250 MB HDD.

What happened was, I decided to install DOS 6.22, then it grew from there.  I found a Windows for Workgroups 3.11 ISO file, then the Y2K fix.  Then the 32-bit update with Freecell, and so on.

I even found the Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 and S3 Trio64V video driver so I could have sound and use full color depth (I left it at 640x480 just for kicks).  There's the network card driver and a TCP/IP stack so I can access the Internet.  Not easy.  Virtual PC itself was no help at all with any of this except for the ability to undo disk writes.

It's like building a ship in a bottle.  Some people see that as fun.  Others say, "WHY!?"

It's also great how all this stuff came back to me.  Little things, like which IRQ the sound card is on or which DOS programs will run in EMS vs. XMS.  Then there's remembering what to do when you install a video driver that doesn't work.  Yep, run the setup from the command line because there's no "safe mode."

There were also some surprises like the fact that Creative Labs drivers can still be downloaded from their web site, even in 2009!  Another surprise was that Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 was available along with a matching version of Outlook Express.  IE even installed a version of Java that runs applets.  Not from Microsoft's web site, mind you.  No, I had to Google all this.  Thanks Google!

One thing I found downright shocking was that AOL Instant Messenger works.  Think about that for a second.  This app is twelve years old and version 1.0 can still connect to the same servers.  Well, I guess that's not too amazing considering AIM is merely a chat app.

So none of this is actually useful, but it's certainly a blast from the past.  Fun stuff.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:03:59 -0700 Ralph Lauren: The Hits Keep On Coming http://inertia.posterous.com/ralph-lauren-the-hits-keep-on-coming http://inertia.posterous.com/ralph-lauren-the-hits-keep-on-coming


Although Ralph Lauren have apologized for their last outrageous bout of Photoshop exuberance, they still haven't apologized for the original DMCA their lawyers issued to this blog.

Which makes it quite difficult to resist showing you this window display from Sydney, Australia. Thanks to PG!

via photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com

Ok, this one is DMCA proof, I assume.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:58:00 -0700 Letters From A Nut: Metro Annoyances http://inertia.posterous.com/letters-from-a-nut-metro-annoyances http://inertia.posterous.com/letters-from-a-nut-metro-annoyances

Being long winded when it comes to all forms of writing, I also have a strange habit of actually writing letters.  I'm not talking about e-mail letters.  I'm talking about old fashioned "typed" letters on paper, mailed with a fricking stamp.  Ok, I don't use a typewriter and I do send e-mail too, but when I want to be really annoying, I print them, stuff them in an envelop, and hope at least one eyebrow will raise from my antics.

When I write them for mailing, I try to stick to some semblance of the formal rules of letter writing if I can.  I tend to just use Einstein's format for FDR (see below).

Here is a letter I wrote (albeit slightly edited and reformatted for the internets) originally addressed to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (a.k.a. "Metro," formerly RTD, formerly MTA, etc.).  The letter was written and sent in June of 2008:

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
One Gateway Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952

Sir or Madam:

    My daily round-trip cost is $2.45 in total.  I commute four days out of the week and spend the fifth day working from home.  As you can see, I have no need for a $5 daily pass, nor $62 a monthly pass, since I only spend about $42 each month.

    Needless to say, I have nothing to complain about with regard to bus fare.  My commute seems longer than it was when I drove the seven miles over a year ago, but the price is much easier to deal with.

    I notice that many of the Metro buses have been outfitted with flat panel displays called "Transit TV" which inform and attempt to entertain riders en-route.  One of the features I have noticed of this system is that as the bus driver presses down on the bus accelerator, the audio from Transit TV system intentionally gets louder to compensate for the extra noise from the bus engine.

    I find it odd that radios are prohibited by law (California Penal Code § 640.3 "Playing sound equipment on or in a system facility or vehicle.") yet sound equipment from the Transit TV systems are lawful.  In fact, I find Transit TV downright obnoxious.  Why should I be jarred away from my book to hear commercials for people with bad credit?  On the Torrance Transit line, if some-one's earphones are too loud, the bus driver asks them to turn them down.  I am seriously considering what it would take to remove Metro from my daily commute.  In all likelihood, the only thing I need to do is purchase a bicycle.

    I would like to know if Transit TV has been granted an exception from the law, and if so, I require to know where this exception is documented so that I may start a petition to remove the exception, if I find any such interest from other riders to do so.

   No doubt, Metro receives revenue from Transit TV for playing those obnoxious commercials.  It would be one thing if the monitors merely displayed messages in silence.  No doubt revenue could still be gathered by silent ads.  I can only guess this is all in an effort to avoid raising the bus fare.

    As it is, the bus fare really doesn't bother me, but I pay $1.55 to get to work and $0.90 to get home four days a week because I incorporate Torrance Transit into my route.  It might make more sense to just remove Metro from the equation and pay only $0.50 each direction.

     When I come home, I get a transfer from Torrance Transit.  When I transfer to Metro, many times the Metro driver won't take my transfer, but let me on anyway.  Occasionally, Metro drivers offer resistance for even showing them the transfer.  It's like they think they are day passes, they don't recognize them anymore, or they think I'm trying to pull a fast one.  I'm not sure why the driver wouldn't want to take my transfer.

     I know the code requirement for fare disputes is to pay the fare (§640.B), but I have been polite with the drivers and thus far this has not been necessary.

     All this to say, I am not that impressed with your bus line and I have a sneaking suspicion you are getting rid of inter-agency transfers and force me to buy a day pass that the Torrance Transit line doesn't plan on accepting.  Is this true?  If so, all this will serve to do is confirm my desire to remove Metro from my daily commute.

Sincerely,
Anthony Martin


I do not write my letters really expecting any change or even a response.  Only about half of the letters like this ever get a reply.  And about half of those replies do not seem to pertain at all to what I originally wrote about.  This does not come as a surprise to me.  But years ago, I would get coupons and other perks for writing nutty letters to corporations.  Lately, nothing.  And I certainly didn't expect anything from monopolistic-pseudo-corporations like these guys.

And I was right.  There was no reply.  My address was part of the letter I sent (which was redacted here for posting online), so there's no reason they couldn't reply.  But because I brought up legal terminology, my letter was probably shredded ASAP.

But an interesting thing has happened since that time.  My primary complaint about the noise level generated by "Transit TV" seems to have been addressed.  I'm not sure if it's because of my letter or something unrelated like the fact that maintenance has gone completely out the window (maybe it's a combination thereof).

And my secondary complaint about the odd treatment of transfers has also been addressed.  I have gotten zero resistance to my transfers for a long time.  There have been many new operators since that time too, so it's not because they got used to me.

So I can't say letter writing was effective here since I have no direct evidence to support it.  But I do enjoy it nonetheless.  And on occasion, it might even help.  Who knows?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:44:20 -0700 Yay Island's http://inertia.posterous.com/yay-islands http://inertia.posterous.com/yay-islands

We finally took T.J. (Titus) to Island's! He had lots to look at here.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:18:00 -0700 Electronic Cigarettes and the Peak Theory of Economics http://inertia.posterous.com/electronic-cigarettes-and-the-peak-theory-of http://inertia.posterous.com/electronic-cigarettes-and-the-peak-theory-of
First of all, IANAE (I am not an economist).  But I have been studying economics since the summer of 2007.  Since that time, I have run across many economic views.  The one that makes the most sense to me is the Austrian School of Economics.

In the most basic terms, the Peak Theory of Economics proposes that the price of something will rise until it doesn't.  I know I have oversimplified it, in a free market the peak would probably coincide with the equilibrium of supply and demand.  Peak prices are exaggerated by interference in the market.  Where the price should stay static or fall slightly (in a free market), political interference causes the price to artificially rise for a time then fall more sharply than it would have if there weren't political interference.

To illustrate, let's look at electronic cigarettes (for example, Blu Electronic Cigarettes).  The innovation of this product has emerged as a direct result of political interference.  Taxes, and the threat of taxes, as well as bans on certain kinds of products has resulted in new market innovations (which was not the political goal).  The economic factor of taxes makes alternatives surface.  Prior to the artificial cost imposed by government, entrepreneurs had less incentive to investigate alternatives.  But when taxes and bans came on the scene, entrepreneurs released investment into expensive alternatives which brought the price of those alternatives lower and lower.

So both taxes and artificially lower demand will probably affect the price of regular (combustion based) cigarettes.  This will result in more political interference.  What will the politicians do after that?  Hard to say.  Would they bail out the big tobacco companies?  Unlikely.  Will they start banning electronic cigarettes?  I think that's more likely.  Whatever they do, it will only exaggerate the problem and create more artificial peaks in prices, further perpetuating the Peak Theory of Economics.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:22:00 -0700 Lies and Propaganda http://inertia.posterous.com/lies-and-propaganda http://inertia.posterous.com/lies-and-propaganda Let's say your little sweet daughter comes up to you and asks if she can have some of your Honey Mustard & Onion Pretzels Pieces.  And you don't want to share for whatever reason, so you tell her they are yucky.  So she decides that's good enough and stops asking for some.

Victory, right?  No.  That's a lie.  The pretzels are in fact very yummy and you know it.  Telling her the opposite of what is true is wrong and will backfire some day.

Hopefully, you will never have this happen.  Or if it does happen, you will correct it.  Depending on your child, it may be impossible to correct the problem for many years.  Some kids remember what they've been told for a long long time.

And when that time comes, there may be some mistrust to deal with as result.  If someone has been lied to for a long time, even if that lie was propagated by other means, it can be very difficult once the truth comes out.

So just don't lie in the first place.  If the pretzels are yummy, tell the truth.  If you don't want your kid to have the yummy pretzels because it's too late in the evening for them to eat something like that, tell them the truth.  It is much easier in the long run.

By the way, in reference to the title of this article, when an individual tells an untruth, we call it a lie.  When an institution or organization tells a lie, we call it propaganda.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:31:00 -0700 Big Benjamin & Bob http://inertia.posterous.com/big-benjamin-and-bob http://inertia.posterous.com/big-benjamin-and-bob

Benjamin asked to watch a DVD. It's amazing. I'm so happy how far he has come with language skills. He is actually finding utility with his words. He came up to me with his movie of choice and said, "ba-de-bi-de." That's what i call "Benjamese" for "Bob the Builder."

When his mom came in, he expanded his request to, "I want ba-de-bi-de!"

So I turned on the video as demanded. We are pretty accomodating with this language thing.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:54:02 -0700 A Tribute to the Polish People | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty http://inertia.posterous.com/a-tribute-to-the-polish-people-the-freeman-id http://inertia.posterous.com/a-tribute-to-the-polish-people-the-freeman-id
This movement should create a situation in which authorities will control empty stores, but not the market; the employment of workers, but not their livelihood; the official media, but not the circulation of information; printing plants, but not the publishing movement; the mail and telephones, but not communications; and the school system, but not education.
via thefreemanonline.org

An excellent article about where we're headed in the US. Check out the whole article when you get a chance.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:24:55 -0700 Hannah's Candy Store Mystery http://inertia.posterous.com/hannahs-candy-store-mystery http://inertia.posterous.com/hannahs-candy-store-mystery Hannah knows I'm much more agreeable to certain suggestions than her mother.  So Hannah has asked me on multiple occasions if I'll take her to the candy store.  But she has a particular candy store in mind.  Usually the conversation goes something like this:

Hannah: Daddy, I wanna go to the candy store, please.

Me: What candy store?

Hannah: The pink and white candy store.

Me: Where is it?

Hannah: It's on the sidewalk.

I have not figured out much beyond that.  I'll ask her where the sidewalk is, and we go around and around that it's near the candy store.

My current theory is that it's a recurring dream of hers.  She wakes up and remembers the dream, and asks about it.  The reason I think it's a dream is because when she talks about it, she hold her and up to her face and makes the OK sign.  Frequently, she'll do this when recalling a visual aspect of something in her mind.  It is not necessarily something that doesn't exist.  She'll recall seeing something real this way too.

I'm not entirely sure she made it up, but that seems like the most likely scenario at the moment.  I have to be careful about injecting my own ideas into this.  So I decided to interview her to see if I could get to the bottom of this mystery. You'll notice my line of questioning takes two kinds of approach.  Sometimes I'll suggest an idea which she confirms or denies.  Sometimes I ask more open-ended questions for her to fill in the blanks.

  
Download now or listen on posterous
20090926 173434.m4a (18607 KB)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin - Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:40:17 -0700 Untitled http://inertia.posterous.com/4626035 http://inertia.posterous.com/4626035

Very nice! Yay @posterous!!
via twittelator

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:17:43 -0700 iPod Vending Machine http://inertia.posterous.com/ipod-vending-machine http://inertia.posterous.com/ipod-vending-machine There's an iPod vending maching right inside Macy's. Yay capitalism!!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:47:56 -0700 No Red Flag http://inertia.posterous.com/no-red-flag http://inertia.posterous.com/no-red-flag No red flag for the back of your truck? Use the stars and stripes.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:53:21 -0700 Knott's Berry Farm http://inertia.posterous.com/knotts-berry-farm-1 http://inertia.posterous.com/knotts-berry-farm-1

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:56:13 -0700 Foster's Premium Ale http://inertia.posterous.com/fosters-premium-ale http://inertia.posterous.com/fosters-premium-ale I don't usually taste beer in my perfect beaker, but this is a kind of beer that deserves very little respect.

It's a gimmick can. The color is a clear copper, which is also a gimmick because the can said they use artificial caramel coloring. It has a sorta whitish head. Slightly grainy/citrus aroma and flavor with a dry finish and lasting bitter/graininess. I think the bitter is from the artificial color, maybe. Thin texture and moderate carbonation. I sabotaged the lacing with my (plastic) beaker.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:04:00 -0700 Suspicionless Checkpoint, Addendum http://inertia.posterous.com/suspicionless-checkpoint-addendum http://inertia.posterous.com/suspicionless-checkpoint-addendum

Lieutenant Stephen D’anjou says that the suspicionless checkpoint (covered previously) was announced to the Daily Breeze on September 2nd.  Again, I find no mention on the Daily Breeze website, so we still have an effective Internet blackout of this information.

The Lieutenant  believes it was also posted on Torrance Police Department website, but he said the website program never published it.  An honest mistake.  I've seen first hand that this can be a common mistake in any web publishing environment.

But there's something else I'd like to point out.  See if you can tell the difference between the two announcements.  One announcement was for the 11th, the other was for June 19th.

Download now or preview on posterous
DUI_Checkpiont_91109.pdf (33 KB)
Download now or preview on posterous
DUI_Press_Release_061909_-2.pdf (37 KB)

The information published about June 19th, 2009 listed the intersection as well as the time.  But the information published about September 11th, 2009 does not list the intersection.

It's already beyond recognition of what it was originally.  They're just going to keep tweaking and modifying this.

If you still don't understand why this is bad, please review my previous article on the subject.  Also consider an article called "Bloodsuckers in Blue" on Lew Rockewell's web site.

 

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:57:00 -0700 Ghost Fleets and Protectionism http://inertia.posterous.com/ghost-fleets-and-protectionism http://inertia.posterous.com/ghost-fleets-and-protectionism

Ghost Fleets and Protectionism

 

The Mail Online has some stunning images of The ghost fleet of the recession.

The biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history lies at anchor east of Singapore. Never before photographed, it is bigger than the U.S. and British navies combined but has no crew, no cargo and no destination - and is why your Christmas stocking may be on the light side this year.

 

Above: The 'ghost fleet' near Singapore. The world's ship owners and government economists would prefer you not to see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world's economies

Just 12 months ago these financiers and brokers were enjoying fat bonuses as they traded cargo space. But nobody wants the space any more, and those that still need to ship goods across the world are demanding vast reductions in price.

Do not tell these men and women about green shoots of recovery. As Briton Tim Huxley, one of Asia's leading ship brokers, says, if the world is really pulling itself out of recession, then all these idle ships should be back on the move.
This is the time of year when everyone is doing all the Christmas stuff,' he points out.

'A couple of years ago those ships would have been steaming back and forth, going at full speed. But now you've got something like 12 per cent of the world's container ships doing nothing.'

As the shipping industry teeters on the brink of collapse, the activity at boatyards like Mokpo and Ulsan in South Korea all looks like a sick joke. But the workers in these bustling shipyards, who teem around giant tankers and mega-vessels the length of several football pitches and capable of carrying 10,000 or more containers each, have no choice; they are trapped in a cruel time warp.

There have hardly been any new orders. In 2011 the shipyards will simply run out of ships to build

 

Above: 750ft-long merchant vessel is standing absurdly high in the water. The low waves don't even bother the lowest mark on its Plimsoll line. It's the same with all the ships parked here, and there are a lot of them. Close to 500. An armada of freighters with no cargo, no crew, and without a destination between them.

If ever you had an irrational desire to charter one, now would be the time. This time last year, an Aframax tanker capable of carrying 80,000 tons of cargo would cost £31,000 a day ($50,000). Now it is about £3,400 ($5,500).

This is why the chilliest financial winds anywhere in the City of London are to be found blowing through its 400-plus shipping brokers.

Between them, they manage about half of the world's chartering business. The bonuses are long gone. The last to feel the tail of the economic whiplash, they - and their insurers and lawyers - await a wave of redundancies and business failures in the next six months. Commerce is contracting, fleets rust away - yet new ship-builds ordered years ago are still coming on stream.

There are many more images in the story as well as tales of the local fisherman, such as Ah Wat who says:

"'We don't understand why they are here. There are so many ships but no one seems to be on board. When we sail past them in our fishing boats we never see anyone. They are like real ghost ships and some people are scared of them. They believe they may bring a curse with them and that there may be bad spirits on the ships."

The ghost fleet is not exactly "secret" given the availability of satellite images. Nonetheless, there has not been widespread reporting of this phenomenon by mainstream media.

Baltic Dry Index Shows Collapse In Shipping Demand

Given the buildup of ships sitting empty on the ocean, the collapse in the Baltic Dry Index is readily explainable.

 

Please see Investment Tools for more charts and information on Baltic Exchange Dry Index (BDI) & Freight Rates.

Protectionism Will Make Matters Worse

Growing protectionism will exacerbate the problems facing the global economy.

In the 1930's Smoot Hawley completely ruined the agricultural sector in one fell swoop. Now, Obama Risks Global Trade War With Misguided Tariffs over steel and tires.

China has retaliated by "investigating" automotive and chicken exports from the US.

Note that rising protectionism is a symptom of global trade problems and issues. Unfortunately, rising protectionism does nothing but make matters worse.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Ghost Fleets and Protectionism
Posted by Michael Shedlock at 12:48 PM
Ghost Fleets and Protectionism
via globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

I have been watching the Baltic Dry Index for quite a while and even feature it on my Posterous blog (what I call part of the Event horizon). This is scary stuff.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/12333/me_180.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10GPyQVsPvj Anthony Martin inertia Anthony Martin