Think twice before "investing" time and money in kollege-----Peter Thiel’s Graph of the Year

Peter Thiel’s Graph of the Year: "Wonkblog
 For 2013, we asked some of the year's most interesting, important and influential thinkers to name their favorite graph of the year — and why they chose it. Here's Peter Thiel's."

"Knowledge may be priceless, but a higher education is clearly not. 
University administrators keep hiking tuition, the wages of graduates keep falling, and a whole generation of Americans is struggling under the crushing burden of debt as they postpone their dreams for a tomorrow that may never come."

15 Fast Food FAILS!!

Life Clock-How long you got?

Life Clock:

History for January 4 - Perihelion, Brilliant and Caring, a whole bunch of "How'd that work out for ya?"

History for January 4 - On-This-Day.com:

Earth at perihelion—that point in its orbit when it is closest to the sun (about 91,400,000 miles).

Birth anniversary of physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727).

Birth anniversary of Louis Braille (1809-52)

1884 - The socialist Fabian Society was founded in London.














1951 - During the Korean conflict, North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul.










1965 - In his State of the Union address, U.S. President Johnson proclaimed the building of the "Great Society."

1974 - U.S. President Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as Minnesota's 37th governor.

2006 - Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first woman to hold the position.

Amazing American. Amazing life.--------WWII Veteran Aviator Bill Overstreet and His P-51 Mustang, "Berlin Express"

Bill passed away Dec. 29, 2013
He was 92.
WWII Veteran Aviator Bill Overstreet and His P-51 Mustang, "Berlin Express"
Bill relates, “Not long after (the March 6th Mission), I had a freak accident. 
I think it was a mission to southern France. 
While over enemy territory, a burst of flak cut my oxygen line. 
Since I was at about 25,000 feet, I soon passed out. 
The next thing I knew, I was in a spin, engine dead since the fuel tank it was set on was dry. 
Somehow, I recovered from the spin, changed fuel setting, got the engine started, and dodged the trees that were in front of me. 
Then, I looked at my watch. 
Ninety minutes were not in my memory. 
I had no idea where I was, but remembered where I had been headed so I reversed it. 
I was able to find the coast of France and headed for Leiston. 
By this time, I was low on fuel, so I landed at the Fourth Group base.  – Lowell Thomas on radio, newspapers and TIME magazine.“

Now they tell us.

Great Moments in Border Control

Great Moments in Border Control | Cato @ Liberty:
"One reader recalled the travel woes of distinguished Polish pianist Kristian Zimerman, as recounted by the L.A. Times:
Zimerman has had problems in the United States in recent years.
He travels with his own Steinway piano, which he has altered himself. 
But shortly after 9/11, the instrument was confiscated at JFK Airport when he landed in New York to give a recital at Carnegie Hall.
Thinking the glue smelled funny, the TSA decided to take no chances and destroyed the instrument.  
Yes, by all means, let’s put federal agencies in charge of as many aspects of our lives as possible."

WeMOG-Kayak training!

For anyone interested in practicing with their kayak in a swimming pool, or learning to roll their kayak,  I will be supervising pool sessions and providing instruction in Grandville this winter. 

The next sessions are January 18 and 25 from 3 - 5 p.m.

The cost is $15 the first time, and $10 each time after that.
You can read about more details at this website: http://www.wmcka.org/events.php
Call me if you have any questions. (231) 893-6905
I have extra equipment if you don't have enough, or don't have the right type.
Roger Starring

The Obama Box

The Obama Box | Washington Free Beacon:
"The dramas the president favors are soap operas with sophisticated vocabularies.
Left unmentioned is the difference between the shows Shears poo-poos and the shows Obama watches.
It is the same difference between a juicer bought at Wal-Mart and one bought at Williams-Sonoma: the latter is a luxury good.
It takes cash to afford the cable connections, premium channels, and Netflix subscriptions required to watch all of the titles on the president’s viewing list.
It is also necessary to have leisure time, which, disturbingly, the president seems to have a lot of. 
No wonder he finds out about everything from the newspapers."

Kim Jong-Un had uncle stripped naked, thrown into a cage and eaten alive by dogs

Kim Jong-Un had uncle stripped naked, thrown into a cage and eaten alive by dogs | Mail Online:
"How Kim Jong-Un killed his 'scum' uncle:
-Dictator had him stripped naked, thrown into a cage and eaten alive by pack of dogs
-A pack of 120 starving dogs were set on Jang Song Thaek and five aides
Kim Jong-Un and 300 officials watched horrific execution
-Punishment, called 'quan jue', or execution by dogs, lasted an hour
-Uncle was accused of treachery and corruption by the brutal regime
Kim has carried out a 'massive purge' of threats to consolidate his grip"

IMF paper warns of 'savings tax' and mass write-offs as West's debt hits 200-year high

IMF paper warns of 'savings tax' and mass write-offs as West's debt hits 200-year high - Telegraph:
"Much of the Western world will require defaults, a savings tax and higher inflation to clear the way for recovery as debt levels reach a 200-year high, according to a new report by the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF working paper said debt burdens in developed nations have become extreme by any historical measure and will require a wave of haircuts, either negotiated 1930s-style write-offs or the standard mix of measures used by the IMF in its “toolkit” for emerging market blow-ups.
“The size of the problem suggests that restructurings will be needed, for example, in the periphery of Europe, far beyond anything discussed in public to this point,” said the paper, by Harvard professors Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff.
The paper said policy elites in the West are still clinging to the illusion that rich countries are different from poorer regions and can therefore chip away at their debts with a blend of austerity cuts, growth, and tinkering (“forbearance”)."

Yikes! There may be hope for Dead City------Detroit police chief: Legal gun owners can deter crime

Detroit police chief: Legal gun owners can deter crime | The Detroit News

Detroit— If more citizens were armed, criminals would think twice about attacking them, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Thursday.

Urban police chiefs are typically in favor of gun control or reluctant to discuss the issue, but Craig on Thursday was candid about how he’s changed his mind.

“When we look at the good community members who have concealed weapons permits, the likelihood they’ll shoot is based on a lack of confidence in this Police Department,” Craig said at a press conference at police headquarters, adding that he thinks more Detroit citizens feel safer, thanks in part to a 7 percent drop in violent crime in 2013.

Craig said he started believing that legal gun owners can deter crime when he became police chief in Portland, Maine, in 2009.

“Coming from California (Craig was on the Los Angeles police force for 28 years), where it takes an act of Congress to get a concealed weapon permit, I got to Maine, where they give out lots of CCWs (carrying concealed weapon permits), and I had a stack of CCW permits I was denying; that was my orientation.

“I changed my orientation real quick. Maine is one of the safest places in America. 
Clearly, suspects knew that good Americans were armed.”

Isn't being mugged and taxed to death "not humane" too?-------------NYC Aims to Ban Horses, Create Stable of Electric Cars

NYC Aims to Ban Horses, Create Stable of Electric Cars | CNS News:

When it comes to horse-drawn carriages in NYC, Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio says, “It’s over.”

Sworn into office by Bill Clinton yesterday, de Blasio aims to replace the horse-drawn carriages that have historically pulled visitors through Central Park with electric cars.

Antique-style design electric cars are currently what are being considered. The mayor's team says the plan to go retro in style and modern electric in horsepower will help save the carriage workers' jobs that would otherwise end with the ban.

So possibly in the near future, during a trip to NYC tourists can look forward to - getting into an electric car.

“No tourist comes to New York City just to ride on a horse carriage," Allie Feldman, executive director of NYCLASS, an animal rights group, told CNN.

De Blasio says horse carriages are “not humane” and are cruel to the animals.

Next election (TAX INCREASE) Feb. 25, 2014-----Muskegon County Clerk

Muskegon County Clerk:

Barry wants to up it to $30 BILLION????? -------------------Americans Spent $7.45B in 3 Years Helping Other Countries Deal With ‘Climate Change’

Americans Spent $7.45B in 3 Years Helping Other Countries Deal With ‘Climate Change’ | CNS News:
 "American taxpayers spent $7.45 billion to help developing countries cope with climate change in fiscal years 2010 through 2012, according to a federal government report submitted to the United Nations on a subject that Secretary of State John Kerry described as “a truly life-and-death challenge.”

That sum of $7.45 billion, which reached more than 120 countries through bilateral and multilateral channels, met President Obama’s “commitment to provide our fair share” of a collective pledge by developed nations to provide a total of nearly $30 billion in “fast start finance” (FSF), the report stated."

Important news! -----------------Dogs Poop in Alignment with Earth's Magnetic Field

Dogs Poop in Alignment with Earth's Magnetic Field | Motherboard:
"Dogs seem to have an awful lot of ritual before hunkering down and soiling the sidewalk.
It’s not uncommon to see a dog owner—plastic bag in hand—rolling his eyes as his furry companion sniffs and spins, getting just so before hunkering down to do the least considerate thing possible.

But for whatever its worth, all that spinning is far from arbitrary. 
What dog owners witness is a small and furry version of the aurora borealis and a link between species and environment that’s as holistic and beautiful as a dog pooping can be.
A team of Czech and German researchers found that dogs actually align themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field when they poop."

Inept socialists can't even run a little power plant-------Lansing outage sparks calls for more oversight

BINGO!
Lansing outage sparks calls for more oversight | The Detroit News:
"Power issues remain for the utility, which is overseen by an eight-member board appointed by Lansing’s mayor and approved by the council. "

Is ANYONE surprised?-------------'They had no idea if my insurance was active or not!': At Virginia hospitals, Obamacare confusion reigns as frustrated patients walk out

'They had no idea if my insurance was active or not!': At Virginia hospitals, Obamacare confusion reigns as frustrated patients walk out | Mail Online:
"'They had no idea if my insurance was active or not!': Obamacare confusion reigns as frustrated patients walk out of hospitals without treatment
MailOnline spoke with patients who were told they would have to pay their bills in full if they couldn't prove they had insurance
One was faced with a $3,000 hospital room charge and opted to leave the hospital after experiencing chest pains
'Should I be in the hospital?
Probably,' she said
Another, coughing in the cold, walked out without receiving a needed chest x-ray
Consumers face sticker-shock from medical costs under the new Obamacare system, made worse if they can't prove they're insured
As many as one-third of new enrollees' applications have seen problems when the government transmits them to insurance companies"

Walgreens, WalMart Offer Free Prescriptions to ObamaCare Customers

Data Goldmine: Walgreens, WalMart Offer Free Prescriptions to ObamaCare Customers
In what you can interpret as either an act of corporate altruism, corporate lobbying, or a mix of both, two giant retailers -- Walmart and Walgreens -- have agreed to save the Obama Administration from who knows how many horror-story anecdotes by agreeing to fill 30 days of free prescriptions for ObamaCare enrollees. 
The question is, though, what happens to the data and patient information these retailers collect?

When you have two of the biggest retailers in the country collecting untold amounts of personal health information from who knows how many people seeking free prescriptions, in the wake of revelations surrounding domestic NSA and Justice Department spying (on reporters!), it is not unreasonable to worry about this.
We also know that a number of large corporations have apparently cooperated with the federal government's data grabs.

According to one Walgreens pharmacist Breitbart News spoke with Tuesday, in April the DEA started requiring pharmacies to ask an increased number of medical questions and show a photo ID for certain medications. 
There have also been reports that through ObamaCare the federal government is compiling data based on a series of new and intrusive question doctors are required to ask.

Big Business has already shown a willingness to share data with the government and to help big government programs like ObamaCare succeed and there is just no question that the federal government is escalating its intrusion into what should be the most personal information of all -- the status of our personal health. 

Economic fascism---Stop the bailout, now

Charles Krauthammer: Stop the bailout, now - The Washington Post
First order of business for the returning Congress:
The No Bailout for Insurance Companies Act of 2014.
Make it one line long: “Sections 1341 and 1342 of the Affordable Care Act are hereby repealed.”
End of bill.
End of bailout.
End of story.

Why do we need it?
On Dec. 18, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers was asked what was the administration’s Plan B if, because of adverse selection (enrolling too few young and healthies), the insurance companies face financial difficulty.

Jason Furman wouldn’t bite.

“There’s a Plan A,” he replied. 

Enroll the young.
But of course there’s a Plan B. 

It’s a government bailout.

Hmmmm. I'm thinkin' we'd know this if W was President.

Frozen Out: 98% of Stories Ignore That Ice-bound Ship Was On Global Warming Mission

They mostly lie by omission.
Frozen Out: 98% of Stories Ignore That Ice-bound Ship Was On Global Warming Mission | NewsBusters

A group of climate change scientists were rescued by helicopter Jan. 2, after being stranded in the ice since Christmas morning. But the majority of the broadcast networks’ reports about the ice-locked climate researchers never mentioned climate change.

The Russian ship, Akademic Shokalskiy, was stranded in the ice while on a climate change research expedition, yet nearly 98 percent of network news reports about the stranded researchers failed to mention their mission at all.
Forty out of 41 stories (97.5 percent) on the network morning and evening news shows since Dec. 25 failed to mention climate change had anything to do with the expedition.

In fact, rather than point out the mission was to find evidence of climate change, the networks often referred to the stranded people as “passengers,” “trackers” and even “tourists,” without a word about climate change or global warming.

Chris Turney, the expedition’s leader, is a professor of climate change at the University of South Wales. 

According to Turney’s personal website, the purpose of the expedition is to “discover and communicate the environmental changes taking place in the south.”

The Five Biggest Myths About Income Inequality

The Five Biggest Myths About Income Inequality - Forbes

Myth No. 2: People at the bottom of the income ladder are there through no fault of their own.

In a study for the National Center for Policy Analysis, David Henderson found that there is a big difference between families in the top 20 percent and bottom 20 percent of the income distribution:
Families at the top tend to be married and both partners work.
Families at the bottom often have only one adult in the household and that person either works part-time or not at all:

• In 2006, a whopping 81.4 percent of families in the top income quintile had two or more people working, and only 2.2 percent had no one working.
• By contrast, only 12.6 percent of families in the bottom quintile had two or more people working; 39.2 percent had no one working.

The average number of earners per family for the top group was 2.16, almost three times the 0.76 average for the bottom.

Henderson concludes:

“…average families in the top group have many more weeks of work than those in the bottom and, in the late 1970s, the 12-to-1 total income ratio shrunk to only 2-to-1 per week of work, according to one analysis.”

Having children without a husband tends to make you poor. 
Not working makes you even poorer. 
And there is nothing new about that. 
These are age old truths. 
They were true 50 years ago, a hundred years ago and even 1,000 year ago. Lifestyle choices have always mattered.

The other Christmas "miracle". The miracle of capitalism----Christmas shopping 1958 vs. 2012 illustrates the ‘miracle of the marketplace’ which delivers better and cheaper goods

Christmas shopping 1958 vs. 2012 illustrates the ‘miracle of the marketplace’ which delivers better and cheaper goods | AEIdeas

Christmas shopping 1958 vs. 2012 illustrates the ‘miracle of the marketplace’ which delivers better and cheaper goods

This was posted last year on CD, and I haven’t had time to do an update for 2013, but thought I would re-post it again for those who might have missed it last year.

One way to illustrate your good fortune of being a holiday shopper today is to measure the cost of consumer goods by the number of hours it takes working at the average hourly wage to earn enough income to purchase typical consumer products at their retail prices, and then compare the “time cost” of goods from the past to today’s “time cost” for similar items. (Don Boudreaux has been featuring some similar comparisons in a series on Café Hayek titled “Cataloging Our Progress,” which inspired this post.)

For example, the retail price of an automatic Kenmore two-slice toaster advertised in the 1958 Sears Christmas Catalog (available here online, and pictured below on the left) was $12.95, or 6.54 hours of work at the average hourly manufacturing wage of $1.98 in 1958 (wage datahere). Today you can buy a comparable Kenmore two-slice toaster for $25.99, and the “time cost” would be only 1.35 hours of work at the current average hourly wage of $19.19, for a reduction of almost 80 percent since 1958 in the amount of work hours required to earn the income necessary to purchase a standard toaster. Additionally, the Sears website todayfeatures more than 100 different toasters, compared to the Sears catalog in 1958, which only featured a few different models.

OMG! The NYT discovers price elasticity-----Access to Health Care May Increase ER Visits, Study Suggests

Access to Health Care May Increase ER Visits, Study Suggests - NYTimes.com:

Supporters of President Obama’s health care law had predicted that expanding insurance coverage for the poor would reduce costly emergency room visits as people sought care from primary care doctors. 

But a rigorous new study conducted in Oregon has flipped that assumption on its head, finding that the newly insured actually went to the emergency room more often.

The study, published in the journal Science, compared thousands of low-income people in the Portland area who were randomly selected in a 2008 lottery to get Medicaid coverage with people who entered the lottery but remained uninsured. 

Those who gained coverage made 40 percent more visits to the emergency room than their uninsured counterparts. 

But Dr. Baicker and other economists who worked on the study said the increased use of emergency rooms is driven by a basic economic principle: When things or services get cheaper, people buy and use more of them. 

Even Though Legalizing Marijuana Is Inevitable, It’s A Bad Idea

Even Though Legalizing Marijuana Is Inevitable, It’s A Bad Idea - Investors.com:
"As the American Medical Association concluded in recommending against legalization last November, "Cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a public health concern."
The association added: "It is the most common illicit drug involved in drugged driving, particularly in drivers under the age of 21.
Early cannabis use is related to later substance use disorders."

And this point, for me, is the most convincing:

"Heavy cannabis use in adolescence causes persistent impairments in neurocognitive performance and IQ, and use is associated with increased rates of anxiety, mood, and psychotic thought disorders.""

They're still pretending the outrage will simply go away----TaxProf Blog: The IRS Scandal, Day 237

TaxProf Blog: The IRS Scandal, Day 237:
"9.  The IRS Overreaches
When a report surfaced in May that the IRS was targeting nonprofits with words like “Tea Party” in their name for increased scrutiny, it looked, momentarily, like President Obama was facing a major political scandal.
Within days, the IRS’ acting commissioner resigned and Republicans were calling for Obama’s impeachment. But things didn’t unfold as expected.
Obama maintained he had no knowledge of the policy, and it soon became clear that the IRS also targeted liberal groups seeking nonprofit status.
Instead, the revelations served as a reminder of the bureaucracy’s potential to overstep its bounds and spurred an internal review that found ongoing malpractice within the agency."

History for January 3 - Birthdays, Sorta Butter, First Slurp, How'd that work out, Great move, Great Dame, Don't Mess with Georgie

History for January 3 - On-This-Day.com:

Happy Birthday! Dabney Coleman, Mel Gibson, Bobby Hull, Robert Loggia, Eli Manning, Danica McKellar, Victoria Principal, Stephen Stills

1871 - Henry W. Bradley patented oleomargarine.








1888 - The drinking straw was patented by Marvin C. Stone.












1925 - In Italy, Mussolini announced that he would take dictatorial powers.











1959 - In the U.S., Alaska became the 49th state.









1988 - Margaret Thatcher became the longest-serving British Prime Minister in the 20th century.











1990 - Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican's diplomatic mission. 

Michigan State super fan 'Johnny Spirit' handcuffed then released at Rose Bowl

Michigan State super fan 'Johnny Spirit' handcuffed then released at Rose Bowl | MLive.com

Rose Bowl on field---Yes! &Trophies

Yes!&Trophies - YouTube: "

NFL should be alarmed that three of four playoff games, including Green Bay's home game, still not sold out

NFL should be alarmed that three of four playoff games, including Green Bay's home game, still not sold out | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo Sports:
"It would be a tremendous embarrassment to the league to have three of four playoff games blacked out locally, and likely, the tickets will get sold somehow to avoid that scenario.

But there's a bigger issue here. Is this the most stark example that NFL fans aren't too excited to go to games anymore?
A quick glance at Ticketmaster on Wednesday afternoon showed the face-value prices for the Packers playoff game ranged from $313 and $102, not counting Ticketmaster fees.
If you've attended a NFL game, you know that the cost doesn't end with tickets. 
Parking is outrageously and insultingly high at most NFL games. 
Concessions aren't cheap either. NFL teams have gouged and gouged and gouged, and maybe there's a breaking point."

The Global Warming Tipping Point is Near

Blog: The Global Warming Tipping Point is Near:
"In 2004, NASA's chief scientist James Hansen authoritatively announced that there is only a ten-year window to act on AGW (presumably by transferring mass quantities of taxpayer funds to global warmist causes) before climate Armageddon destroys humanity. 
Well, that window has now shut tight, and AGW is AWOL.
Al Gore, the high priest of AGW theory, has closed all of his Alliance for Climate Protection field offices, and laid off 90% of his staff.  
Contributions have all but dried up since 2008."