Dog-Meat-Home Companion

Moving

2012-02-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

Like the Equanimist, Not a Joiner and Dog-Meat-Home Companion are moving to Wordpress. Future Dog-Meat-Home Companion posts will appear at http://dogmeathomecompanion.wordpress.com/.

“You can't always get what you want/But if you try sometimes you just might find/You get what you need” (Or, Governments exist to mediate between powerful “special” interests and civil society)

2011-03-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

I think of bankers, bond holders and insurers who would tell presidents to pass “austerity measures” so that they (these creditors) can get paid by populaces money that they must know they aren’t really due because the funds did not exist among their counterparties. But you don’t have to. Think of “Prop 8”, fossil fuels, pay-to-play internet, incentives to outsource, or soaring commodities prices

re Economic Adviser Immelt (or, This begins to smack of “the Plot to Seize the White House”)

2011-01-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

That President Barack Obama does not suddenly give GE business against which he had come out previously (as reported by Bloomberg here) when he has just announced that Jeffrey Immelt (GE’s CEO) will replace Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker (an economist) as head of his "outside" economic advisory panel ought not to reassure the US public that Mr. Obama is not a puppet and foil of business and

Barack Obama, Civil-Liberties President

2010-11-30T09:07:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama’s team is reported to pursue criminal action against a man who published material embarrassing to the US and its allies.Viola Gienger and Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg write in Clinton Condemns WikiLeaks Release as ‘Attack’ on U.S. Efforts, "U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department has an 'active, ongoing criminal investigation' into the release of

Update

2010-11-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

Busy. New posts coming soon. Wrote some stuff lately that's suddenly still more relevant. If you missed the following you might check them out in the meantime: "Changes in Public Policy Lack Immediacy" (Oct. 25) "Think' 'Bout My Constitution" (Sept. 3)

A Short Note Regarding Credit-Reporter Standards

2010-11-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Related to the idea that Corporations cannot be considered as individuals because corporate officers/employees are rarely if ever held to account is the issue of credit history. It seems to me that Credit Reporters fail to capture an accurate picture of financial history, while same gather and report hearsay as fact. In my own experience, my credit reports have contained little information

An Unlikely Origin of the Financial Crisis

2010-10-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

The financial crisis, which I hope will be the end of it (but fear will turn out to be just the beginning), was seeded in the New Deal and came to a head with the civil rights and women’s liberation movements. Think of the demise of the union, rising income inequality and massive deregulation as a blossoming flower. Nevermind, for a minute, a backlash against social

Changes in Public Policy Lack Immediacy (UPDATE)

2010-10-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

Abstract: Modern reporters (most of whom take editorializing to be part of their job description) seem to think that some change in a variable that impacts daily life should produce immediate, obvious, corresponding changes in daily life. There is no justification for this belief. Further, erroneous assumption that such changes should be followed immediately by reaction is dangerous folly.

Reconsidering the Role of Guidance Counseling (formerly "High School Guidance Counselors")

2010-10-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

State schools have a duty to maximize potential of available human capacity because it is in the nation’s interest to get kids ready to go out into the real world and perform real duties. In an effort to get kids ready for the real world, no position seems more aptly named than “guidance counselor”. But, my “guidance counselors” just wanted to make sure that, as a child, I

The "Mein Teil" Paradox, a cautionary tale

2010-10-12T09:34:00.002-07:00

The Tea Party reminds me a lot of the story of a young man who volunteered to be food (immortalized in Rammstein's “Mein Teil”). Here’s a link to the Rotenburg Cannibal’s wiki. If you’re not familiar with the story it goes something like this:A guy named Armin Meiwes advertised in search of a young man to eat. A young man Bernd Jürgen Brandes responded. Long foul story short, the pair together (

Thinkin’ ‘bout my Constitution:

2010-09-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

The Bill of Rights unequivocally grants every US citizen (every adult male, at any rate) the right to keep and bear arms. Amendment II. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” That right was explicitly granted to the people—not to the militias—ephemeral groups of adult males

An Evolving Meritocratic-Social View of Anti-Semitism

2010-06-04T12:15:00.001-07:00

Nevermind that anti-Semitism is not dead nor ever will be: there will always be somebody whom I hate, and I will have some enemy. Robust roots in 1.) perceived need and/or expediency and 2.) fear of Jewish practically guarantee ongoing distraction by round condemnation of Israel. But, same condemnation and other such red herrings are temporary solutions to ongoing problems. The enemy

Reality Check

2009-11-29T05:44:00.000-08:00

Does Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao really believe that the US would sacrifice its position to the Chinese? The US cannot possibly act unilaterally to stabilize the USD against other currencies in this environment. In fact, it seems silly that other countries are keeping their currencies so strong. (“Pride goeth before a fall.”) Moreover, the Chinese yuan is unfairly undervalued in any case. US

“The Slow One Now Will Later Be Fast”

2009-11-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

We reward some gifts. The best speller in the world, for example, is hard pressed to capitalize on his or her ability. The fastest runner, however, might land a high-paying endorsement contract. So, I guess, you should be born a runner not a speller; n'est-ce pas? Within the basic gift hierarchy there are more hierarchies.

Ascent to power and maintenance of civil society require different skill sets.

2009-10-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

Why do we assume that people who demonstrate extraordinary capacity to amass personal power are naturally fit to lead? It’s like buying the fastest combustion-engine-powered car in order to get the best gas mileage. Who amasses wealth? Wealth is not typically foist upon anybody who doesn’t inherit it. It seems ridiculous to think that there are more than a handful of nouveau riche who had wealth

(UPDATE 2) Special Report: eBay advertises and profits off of Nazi-paraphernalia sales

2009-09-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

*Includes eBay response of 09/30/2009*Includes reply to eBay email of 09/30/2009You might have noticed that eBay does not have a filter to keep Nazi paraphernalia off the site. eBay actually has terms that allow the sale of same. But, you may not be aware that eBay indiscriminately peddles the material.When I first noticed listings that prominently displayed the swastika I was horrified.

Is there any better measure of failure than the need for extraordinary security? (AKA, "Thoughts on the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh") (Update 1)

2009-09-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

Certain individuals seem naturally inclined to acts of violence; however, satisfied populations don’t appear to tend to protest and crime. Is it reasonable to assume, then, that the threat of protest and crime rises in some proportion to dissatisfaction? In a “free” society, like the US, the people can and may express themselves, band together, reinforce each other’s feelings, compliment one

Iran Defies Reason

2009-09-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

A week after "Cooperation for Peace, Justice and Progress: Package of proposals by the Islamic Republic of Iran for Comprehensive and Constructive Negotiations [re the Iranian Nuclear Program]," leaked on ProPublica.org and rockets launched from Lebanon struck Israel; and, one day after the AP revealed that a secret IAEA report states that Iran has the wherewithal to make a nuclear bomb; the New

A Short Note on Equality

2009-09-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

I am of the opinion that there is a grain of truth in even the “vilest” aspersions – that, for example, a curve representing the appearance and strength of some character of some population skews one way or another on some scale – and that there isn’t anything wrong (i.e., morally reprehensible) with that grain. The problem is neither that anybody seems or is better at one thing or another and

It’s hard to see just how many “idiots” there are from an Ivory Tower or the White House

2009-09-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

(AKA, Policy makers are writing to the wrong crowd; and, one-size-fits-all policy is not the right way to go: The days of dissemblance and obfuscation – a sort of intellectual wild wild west – must come to an end.)At my alma mater, there were a lot of smart people. I was, perhaps, (and I don’t flatter myself but offer as proof that I graduated magna cum laude) a little smarter than most. Still,

Currency expansion need not undergo reversal; reform to institute high employment and high quality of life will resemble a sea change in US politics

2009-08-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Continued slavish devotion to fear and greed – the impossible quest for perfect safety and luxury will undo centuries of Western progress – whatever the very bright people who got us into this mess would have us believe. The problem is not that there’s too much money floating around, too much stuff being made/too many services being provided, and too much stuff/services being consumed, but that

Briefest Notes - Expectations for aging US Americans (Context: Efficiency of Markets / Capitalism vs. Civility / Progress)

2009-08-18T01:37:00.000-07:00

The freemarket capitalists are going to have a difficult time getting old (and, if the foregoing generation is suffering now it is likewise): they have practiced, taught – inculcated – their spawn with the notion that might makes right – whether individually or as a product of some tyranny of masses – and, I think their progeny have learned those lessons well… The problem for old people with a

"A cheetah cannot change its spots."

2009-08-10T02:28:00.001-07:00

Much is being made of the many calls that the NY Times has uncovered between former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Lloyd Blankfein (of Goldman Sachs) during the week that our US government decided to rescue AIG (and, possibly, Goldman Sachs). I'm glad, but, I wonder why.Hank Paulson is a very rich man. [According to the Guardian he sold all "$480 million (£289m)" worth of GS when he took his

The Ivy League & Suchlike

2009-08-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

If the politicians and policy wonks who got us into this mess are the products of Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton... then what good is a Yale/Stanford/Harvard/Princeton... education? What good are the "top-tier" schools when their products bring us to our knees?