“Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue.
When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion
– when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing
– when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you
– when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice
you may know that your society is doomed.
Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit your country to survive as half-property, half-loot.”
- Ayn Rand, “Atlas Shrugged“ (speech by character Francisco d’Anconia)
“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy…”
― attributed to Lord Woodhouselee, Alexander Fraser Tytler (1714-1778)
“How Many Americans Get Government Assistance? All of Us”
“It is, in fact, hard to imagine an American who does not get government assistance in some form.”
- Howard Gleckman, June 4, 2015
Thanks for Reading!
Posted in History, Politics, Quotes, The Economy
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Tagged Bailouts, Democracies, Economy, Fail, Politicians, Rand, Tytler, Values, Welfare
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“If you have overcome your inclination and not been overcome by it, you have reason to rejoice.”
- Titus Maccius Plautus (254 BC – 184 BC), Ancient Roman playwright
Here’s hoping people have reason to rejoice today, and for future days.
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It might be too much information, but I wasn’t feeling too great Friday and Saturday after New Year’s Eve. With nearly every restaurant in my state closed by 9:30 PM – and my having only one drink – it sure wasn’t due to a hangover. It might have been related to some food I ate, perhaps some unresolved stress, or maybe even…dare I say it…the flu bug. But no matter: By late Saturday afternoon I was back to my old self again (except for maybe some unresolved stresses).
However, my temporary malady did cause me to check the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to see how the flu season was going in this age of COVID-19. And I noticed an interesting comparison, Continue reading →
Posted in Are You Kidding me?, Health, History, Medicine
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Tagged CDC, Comparisons, COVID-19, Data, Flu, Fluview, Health, Influenza, Statistics, Tracking
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Quote of the Day, and perhaps for every single day since July 4th, 1776:
“I hope we never find life on other planets because there’s no doubt that the U.S. Government will start sending them money!”
– Donald J. Trump, 9:59 AM, Jun 4, 2014, on Twitter
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Posted in Are You Kidding me?, History, I'm Laughing!, Quotes, The Economy
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Tagged Bailouts, Bureacracy, Funding, Humor, Politicians, Subsidies, Trump
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A corollary of Murphy’s Law states “The only thing that’s constant is change.” Here’s an example provided by Dr. Eli David, Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer at DeepCube:
See if you can spot the Continue reading →
In case you’ve been too busy being insecure over your Holiday Gift choices, the COVID-19 virus, or the 2020 Election results here’s something really big you may have missed:
Sometime between March and June 2020 Perhaps as early as October, 2019 a computer company called SolarWinds apparently updated a portion of their Orion software – used to monitor computer networks running under Microsoft Windows – with a software file called “SolarWinds.Orion.Core.BusinessLayer.dll” which might have contained a error.
The error allowed one or more “foreign actors” to exploit the error in the software, load malicious programs called SUNBURST, SUPERNOVA, and CosmicGale, and hack into the computer data networks of various US Government Agencies and perhaps thousands of companies.
…perhaps 140 or more Firms, Cities, and Government Agencies….hacked.
…perhaps up to 425 of the world’s Fortune 500 Companies….hacked.
But, in the midst of perhaps the most devastating computer attack ever known, this fact should make you feel oh-so-secure:
Now, doesn’t that make you feel more secure in the 2020 Election results? Are you sure?
Thanks for Reading!
Posted in Are You Kidding me?, Computers, Politics, So Wrong!, Technology
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Tagged Computers, Disturbing, Election, Fail, Hacking, Orion, Security, Solarwinds
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