08:11 – I just mailed off the state and federal estimated tax payments. Government should be just like any other product. If you want it, you pay for it voluntarily. If you don’t, you don’t.
I spent yesterday working on the front matter for the biology book and also on rewrite on the first group of lab sessions. I just re-worked one of those, on antibiotic sensitivity of bacteria, yet again. This is the third time, so let’s hope it’s a charm. In the first iteration, I based the lab session around antibiotic test papers, which is the usual method of testing sensitivity of bacteria to different antibiotics.
The problem with that was that I wanted to do a follow-up procedure in which we retested the now-resistant bacteria against the various antibiotics. That required re-culturing the bacteria in the presence of an antibiotic, which really meant I needed to supply the antibiotics in more concentrated form. So, several weeks ago, I rewrote that procedure to use solutions of the antibiotics rather than impregnated test papers, and respecified the kit contents accordingly.
The problem with that method is that it turns out that dilute solutions of some of the antibiotics I used are not stable in dilute solutions, even when refrigerated. So, yesterday I re-rewrote that procedure around different antibiotics, one of which I can supply with the kits in liquid form, one as capsules, and two as powders, all of which are stable.
That, of course, meant that I had to track down sources for the materials, put together purchase orders, and actually order the materials for the first batch of kits. Not to mention creating new labels for those components and creating new MSDS sheets for each. I’ve now done all that (other than the MSDSs), and updated the bill-of-materials for the kits.
14:12 – Wow. I just took a break to do a backup, and while the backup is copying to the thumb drives I was checking news sites. It appears that that Italian cruise-ship company has hit the rocks in more ways than one. The ship itself is a write-off, and I suspect the insurers will balk at paying a third of a billion dollars to replace the ship, given that the captain acted completely irresponsibly. I understand that he knowingly approached the rocks to get close enough to shore that his head cook could wave to a family member. Then the captain bailed at his first opportunity. The hell with his passengers, he was out to save himself. And now I see that the company has left the shipwrecked passengers stranded, literally. Most of the passengers lost all of their possessions, including passports, credit cards, and cash. Not to mention things like prescription medications. Ordinarily in a situation like this, one would expect the company to fall all over itself to help the people it dumped into the ocean. Buy them clothing and personal items to tide them over. Intercede to help them get temporary papers or replacement passports. Pay airfare to get them back home. And so on. Apparently, this company is doing literally nothing to help, not so much as buying the victims a cup of coffee. Victims who’ve asked for help have been told to sue the company. It’s not that the company is trying to avoid admitting responsibility. They’ve already done that. They’re just not willing to spend a cent to help the victims. Apparently, the captain was not the only miserable excuse for a human being employed by this company.
Government should be just like any other product. If you want it, you pay for it voluntarily. If you don’t, you don’t.
That money pays for roads, police protection, fire protection, national defense. If you don’t want any of those then you will have to find an isolated island and build all your own roads and set up your anti-santa gun for defense. Although since Santa is still flying around I would say your defenses are not that good.
I don’t mind paying taxes for the public infastructure. What I really, really don’t like is paying my taxes and watching the money being sent to other countries to waste on the leadership disguised a aid, money sent to the lazy in this country, money being sent to the welfare deadbeats in this country, money given to the military for the newest toys for the generals to play with, and especially money being paid to congress critters who are effectively idiots.
Well, as I’ve said, there’s nothing government does that private enterprise wouldn’t do better. I’d happily pay the police and fire departments directly. In fact, in my world it would probably be required by the insurance companies before they’d insure me or my house.
As to national defense, I’d just as soon we not have any other than militias in the original sense. Armies don’t conquer peoples, they conquer governments. And, as history has shown over and over, having an army or a navy presents an irresistible compulsion to use it. The free market will serve our national interests just fine.
Ah, but only if they actually would. While I agree with the sentiment, I rarely see private enterprise do anything well, anymore. Many corporations are as moribund with incompetent people as the government is.
Many corporations are as moribund with incompetent people as the government is.
But private corporations don’t have to deal with congress like government agencies do. I’ll take a few incompetent company leaders over 450+ idiots that cannot agree on whether the toilet paper goes over the top or under the bottom of the roll.
Yeah, but much of that is a result of government interference. In a real free market, companies are lean, hungry, and efficient.
Whenever someone bitches to me about capitalism or free enterprise, I always point out that what they’re talking about isn’t either: it’s corporate socialism. To the extent that the US remains dynamic and productive, it’s despite government, not because of government. Everything the government does, without exception, impoverishes us to a greater or lesser extent. Government doesn’t *make* anything. All it does is forcibly transfer assets and resources from some people to other people. And it does that very inefficiently and ineffectively.
The beauty of private enterprise, is that there are always alternatives. There are two companies providing Internet access to my home. At the moment, I have service from both of them. One is annoyingly slow, and the other is fast and unreliable. Fast and unreliable was out for a few weeks, so I gladly decided to pay $15 for Tortoise Internet.
If the government provided Internet service, it would be slower than DSL, and cost more and be less reliable than cable.
As Friedman said, if the federal government ran the Sahara dessert, in five years they’d be running short of sand.
But that’s not always true, and I mean that private enterprise always provides alternatives, not the Saharan sand shortage, which would take more like 3 1/2 years. I recall the years when there was one phone company, and ATT’s logo was eerily similar to the Death Star. Alternatives often required moving to a different part of the country.
Nor is true that corporations don’t have to deal with Congress. Many a company has been dragged in front of Congressional Hearings. And I’m pretty sure much of Chrysler and GM are as confused by toilet paper as the bureaucrats in DC.
It seems to me that there are a few things that should be held as common societal benefits, like police and fire. I don’t want my house burnt because my neighbor didn’t buy fire insurance, for instance.
What I would like to see is the ability to direct my taxes to the departments I can support, or at least a breakdown of which services get how much of my tax bill, so I can complain more effectively. 😉
I much preferred the town government we had when I lived in Mass. The slide to oblivion took much longer out there. I am paying significantly more for EVERYTHING now, than I was when I took over my folk’s house after their deaths. And that includes Internet, which I am once again fighting AT&T over.
Dave, where do you get $15/mo Internet?
On the Costa, I have read that the boat is breaking apart, so repairing it seems out of the question, now–even though that is what the company at first said it would do. Insurance apparently will cover all losses over the first $30 million.
The ultimate owner is Carnival–according to what I have read. I am surprised that they are not making a great public show of taking care of the passengers. But then, I’m not really a cruise person, anyway, so even if they did, it likely would not sway me. But this kind of treatment sure as hell guarantees I will not be on a Carnival cruise in the foreseeable future.
I have been listening to Klassik Radio from Hamburg today, and they have almost been having a wake, on-air. (Stick below in your player–although it’s night there, now.)
http://edge.live.mp3.mdn.newmedia.nacamar.net/klassikradio96/livestream.mp3
Apparently, there remain a considerable number of Germans who are missing. I think it is safe to assume they have not survived.
Say what you want about free market and private enterprise, but this disaster is an utter failure of free enterprise–which continues with the extremely poor treatment of the survivors, who are being treated like Bain holdings ejecting their employees into outer space.
That is a 12 month introductory price from AT & T. It’s what passes for the fastest DSL in our area. I don’t know why it’s so affordable here. Other than it has to compete with both UVerse and cable. I also don’t know what the price is after the introductory period.
Oh, puh-lease. If the government provided internet service, it would be slower than the post office.
(I’d have said “than DHL” but I have no reason to malign that company even by inference.)
Thanks for the info. That’s what I had until a week ago, when the deal ran out and I was billed for $50/mo. After calling them, they said that I was no longer eligible for the previous deal, but they had another one where the full price was $39.95 and the deal was half off for 12 months, which would be $19.98. I just got the order confirmation in the mail, and they lied again. They will be charging me $28/mo. Gawd I HATE AT&T. So much for free markets doing such a fantastic job. Give me a regulated monopoly any day.
Meanwhile, we have steady winds here at 35mph, with gusts to 60. Seems worse than a couple weeks ago when the power went out. The big wheeled trash tote containers that the city provides, are blowing down the streets and alleys, and that has never happened before. They are heavy.
SteveF, I can send you some reasons to malign DHL if you would like. I have some “experiences” I could share.
Though they’re not the worst! That would have to be UPS. I once expected a package containing some hard to source food items from Germany, and they lost it. Each time I called they just told me that the wurst was yet to come.
Pa-dum-tish!
Dave B wrote:
“If the government provided Internet service, it would be slower than DSL, and cost more and be less reliable than cable.”
Down here in Oz the government’s messing with something called (IIRC) the National Broadband Network. The cost is heading skyward faster than an ICBM and various factions want their own out of the way place serviced first at extraordinary cost. I have a Very Bad Feeling about this scheme. Of course it’s become part of the government’s wheeling and dealing with various non-government parties. I support government being involved in some sorts of infrastructure, but certainly not this. It’s going to be an enormous white elephant.
Yeah, private enterprise can be inefficient too, I did some courses with some people from Toyota Australia once and they said that while government was often inefficient their own corporate leadership did stupid things too, not because of government interference but because their management were composed of *people*, many of whom are stupid to some extent.
A number of years ago my then ISP, WebOne, was taken over by another ISP, called iiNet, who immediately sacked all of WebOne’s support staff. I couldn’t get any response from iiNet at all, their call centre would keep me on hold for 20+ minutes before I gave up, they didn’t respond to e-mails, so I switched to a new ISP. Now iiNet has just taken over TransACT, which provides the cable (phone, television, video on demand, but not ISP services) services to me. I dread the next time I have to call TransACT.
Anyway, that’s what I think f private enterprise. I support the system, of course, but am a bit more skeptical about their claims to efficiency than our host.
RBT wrote:
“As to national defense, I’d just as soon we not have any other than militias in the original sense.”
That might work if every other nation in the world chose anarchism as well. If the US alone had been an anarchy during the Cold War we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
That is impossible fantasist history. If we’d just stuck to the original Articles of Confederation and avoided the Mexican War and all subsequent wars, there probably wouldn’t have ever been a Cold War. No sealed railroad car to Russia, no Klaus Fuchs or Rosenbergs, no Vietnam or Sandbox Wars.
http://www.usconstitution.net/articles.html
They’re just not willing to spend a cent to help the victims.
I suspect it is on the advice of their attorneys and more than likely their insurance company.
Fortunately, that won’t play in the US. Juries have given big awards to people who have been ignored and abandoned in extremities and death. I suspect that is true in Europe, too, as the law is not that different. A ticket to ride is a contract, so the ship company has significant responsibility for passengers, whether they like that or not.
This sounds a lot like a repeat of the BP offshore disasters.
So I’m presuming the “17 April 2012” was intentional since you had just sent out your estimated tax payments?
At least here, the local travel agency is apparently taking care of its customers. Seems to be true that the cruise company is doing little.
As far as private enterprise being efficient: I agree, with one caveat. Small and medium companies are efficient, and (have to) care about their customers. Once the company has grown to the point that it is run by accountants and managers with no experience in the field of business, all bets are off. There are ways for big companies to make money (like acquisitions) that have nothing to do with customer service.
Where we live we have private trash collection, and I have had only one recurring problem with the service. When Monday is a holiday, I’m still laying in bed when they pick up the trash. So I have to remember to put the trash out the night before.
I don’t like to put the trash out the night before, because sometimes the bin is turned over somehow or other. But as I’m a late riser, and trash collection can be as early as 7 AM I have little choice.
This is more along what I’m thinking. Many corporations are indistinguishable from government, and in many cases worse than any government can be. At least the bureaucrats I know (and I’m related to some!), though certainly not all of them, actually want to do a good job, and I’ve met plenty of private enterprise employees who don’t give a fuck about their customers.
Speaking of trash, I better get going and put mine on the curb!
Yes, that’s what I meant by corporate socialism.
Speaking of not-so-good news, Sears and K-Mart will likely vanish soon, according to this article
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/01/sears_and_kmart_how_the_great_recession_may_have_killed_big_box_chains_forever_.html
Just like the EU, Sears debt is being downgraded.
I suspect the problems really lie with ownership. Product knowledge and customer service have really taken a hit at the Sears stores I frequent. And their repair service charges have gone through the roof. Right now, I feel that I get the best service from Target. My Walmart is now seriously understaffed. The paint section never has anyone on duty anymore. Previously, I would see the guy in charge of that area every time I went to the store. He lives down the street, but retired last year, when they were about to do the major renovations — which a couple different employees have told me neither customers nor employees have liked.
Btw, LOTS of very young employees at my Walmart, nowadays. Looks like a change in direction for them.
I just read an interesting article the other day that argued that Amazon.com is the new Sears. It was talking about the days when Sears did a huge catalog business, of course. I keep thinking about joining Amazon Prime. It’s $79 a year and offers free 2-day shipping and also includes stuff like free streaming, one free ebook a month, and so on.
The comparison between Amazon and the old Sears catalog is very apt. I find it ironic that Sears, who pretty much founded the whole concept of not needing a brick and mortar store to buy from, is now failing and has to close over a hundred b&m stores, and they are blaming the internet for that failing.
Amazon Prime is not available in Canada, due to “copyright issues”, but I would sign on for their service in a heartbeat. I’ve bought a number of things from Amazon.com (as opposed to Amazon.ca, which sucks dead bunnies and carries 1/10th of the selection), and have been very pleased with their service.
You could move to Montana, or even OFDville… 🙂
RBT wrote:
“Then the captain bailed at his first opportunity. The hell with his passengers, he was out to save himself.”
Looks like you may have been a bit harsh on the poor old captain…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-19/captain-claims-he-fell-into-lifeboat/3781876
From the article:
“The captain who ran his cruise ship onto rocks off the Italian coast has reportedly told investigators he “tripped and fell into a lifeboat” as the stricken ship began to take on water.”
This kind of event makes lawyers rich.
I’ve been an Amazon Prime member for quite a while now, and have zero complaints and only good experiences. Worth the 79 bucks a year, easily. But most of my tools are Sears Craftsman.
Anyone here wants to move to OFD-ville, slide on by, and we will give ya the dime tour. No one will be rushing you with fanatic Prod bullshit like they do in other parts of the country and you will enjoy the peace and quiet and huge decrease in traffic. But ya gotta like snow and cold and mind yer own biz but also help yer neighbor even if ya hate their guts, if they need help.
Every so often I think about where in the US I’d have liked to live if I’d been born there. At the moment the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is looking quite good: near a couple of large bodies of water, lots of Cornish emigrants (I’m 1/4 Cornish origin), out of the way of the unwashed masses, lots of space (3% of Michigan’s population have 1/3 of the state by area), near Minneapolis, near Ontario. Ummm, scrub that last one.
I’d really like to live by the coast, preferably in bikini country, so that would rule out the UP for 10 months of the year, so perhaps SoCal, Florida or Alabama…
Not quite THAT close to those places. Minneapolis a many, many hours drive from the UP, much of it not on dual lane Interstates, because it is not between great population centers.
As a kid, I went to summer camp in the upper peninsula, and my wife worked there as a librarian for more than a decade. Like OFD says, though, you gotta love snow and cold, cause there is plenty of that. Summers are 7th heaven. Not much of an economy there, and you have to drive long distances to get anywhere — even to shop. And that includes through heavy snow in winter.
Jeri used to tell the story of a young Russian guy who killed somebody in a bar in Russia (before the Cold War), then — before the authorities could get to him — punished himself by exiling himself to Suttons Bay, Michigan, which was then virtually uninhabited. Suttons Bay is perhaps one of the most beautiful spots on the planet, and everyone who learned of this, laughed that such an ‘exile’ was punishment. The fellow lived a long, productive, and fulfilling life, halfway around the world from his youthful misdeed.
If I could afford it, I would live in San Diego, Vancouver, maybe Montreal, or Boston. Boston is the education and cultural capital of the US — no place beats it, and I have been around enough to know. It is the only place I have been in the US where you can walk down the street and hear foreign languages being spoken that are seldom Spanish. But at this point, I will probably stay somewhere close to my kids.
Having had a friend from New Zealand decades ago, her descriptions of rural New Zealand make me want to visit before I check out. Would like to see Sydney and Brisbane while I’m close — other places I have had co-workers from. Don’t see that happening anytime soon, though.
I was going on the Wikipedia article on the UP, which said that Minneapolis was a much quicker drive from the UP than Detroit.
No, I don’t like snow. I was 22 years old before I even saw the stuff in real life: floating down past the office window in 1980, to melt soon after hitting the ground. We get a tiny bit of snow in Canberra every 2-3 years. The nearby mountain range has a sprinkling of snow in winter. I didn’t actually walk in snow and handle the stuff until I was 35 – in 1993 in Switzerland – in mid summer.
A thing I’d have against the northern US rural areas is the mosquitoes in summer – I hate ’em.
Sydney’s a nice place to visit but I’d hate to live there, the humidity drives me nuts. Adelaide, where I come from, is humid too but at least it’s small (a bit over a million people), affordable and sedate.
Skeeters ain’t that bad; it’s the black flies in the spring that will make life miserable for ya, also the brown deer flies. But that is a tiny part of the year, and in wet woods and fields.
Yeah, if I HAD to live in a city, it would be Boston, the devil you know and all that, plus a bunch of my ancestors settled the place originally.
The Black Fly Song. A Canadian Classic!
BTW, on the subject of what city would I move to, I ‘ll take a condo in both Vancouver and Boston. I find the two cities remarkably similar. Both are port cities. They each have numerous universities and technical schools (and yes, I know that most aren’t actually “in” Boston). They have ensured large areas of public green space and are regional centers for art and culture, and have large and varied multicultural communities. They even have similar populations of around 600,000 (Boston 617,594 vs Vancouver’s 578,041), though Boston’s metro population of 4.5 million is more than double Vancouver’s 2.1 million. As a Canadian, I’m used to high taxes, to Taxachussetts doesn’t scare me. In fact, I think it could save me some tax dollars!
I even got a similar vibe from the city, though Boston is far older. The people of both cities are proud of their homes, though the people themselves are quite different. Vancouver is very laid back compared to the typical Bostonian I’ve met. Although all bets are off during a hockey game between the two cities.
Boston, IMHO, is the better city overall. It’s age and sheer size ensures that.
That should be “so Taxachussetts doesn’t scare me”, not to.
Have I mentioned how much I miss the editing function? (copyright – Miles_Teg)
I thought going to hockey games in Vancouver was extremely risky…
Miles_Teg says:
I was going on the Wikipedia article on the UP, which said that Minneapolis was a much quicker drive from the UP than Detroit.
Well, yeah, you have to go through Chicago, but who would EVER spend time in Detroit? It and St. Louis are two of the armpits of the world.
I wish I had grown up in Boston. It is so accessible for people without a car (think teenagers). Very easy to get to the museums, the fun areas like Harvard Square, movies, friends — all without involving mom or dad. With commuter rails going in all directions, it is even easy to visit a girlfriend in another town (which my teenage son did often when we lived there). Very convenient to skiing and all the other New England tourist destinations. Fall in New England just cannot be beat. Plus, Boston is the ice cream capital of the US.
All this talk about it, makes me kind of homesick. I lived there for 18 years, which is over twice as long as anywhere else I have lived. Fourth of July and First Night (New Year’s Eve) cannot be beat — even by Silvester (New Year’s Eve) in Berlin.
Mosquitoes are not bad anywhere there is sunlight. They are real vampires. Minnesota taught me that a nicely located and oriented screened-in porch with a view suffices quite nicely for when the shade overtakes the sun at sunset. And if you have enough money like my rich uncle, you can include closeable windows when the heat and humidity of Boston gets unbearable (not necessary in Minnesota).
Dave is right: in New England, black flies are much worse than mosquitoes. Same is true for some parts of Lake Michigan, including the beaches at Evanston, where I once lived.