Archive for the 'economics' Category
Is it, really?
Then let them try it, with no subsidies.
No monopoly distribution model.
No State PUC, NRC, or Department of Energy protection from competition.
No Price-Anderson Indemnification.
No carbon taxes.
No disposal subsidy.
No lawsuit protection or “tort reform”.
No EPA pollution “permits”.
No favorable tax treatment.
Build it on the market, or not at all.
Is Thorium the Biggest Energy Breakthrough Since Fire? Possibly. – Forbes.
When I Was Seven…
…I would have traded my left eye for a bike this cool;
LOOK at the friggin’ MAG WHEELS, for one thing. HOLY SH!T!
But if you go by the idiots that post reviews of stuff online, it’s a cheap piece of crap;
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090806100208AAUILrE
Is a 20″ Mongoose Rebel Freestyle Bike a good bmx bike?
“I was just wondering is this was a good bike because i have this bike and I want to start bmx. So yeah. And what are good brakes for this bike?
Please answer. Thanks “
Member since:
July 09, 2009
Total points:
856 (Level 2)
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
“noo not good they suck if its from walmart or any other dept store so no it sucks its to heavy. a goodBMX bike costs like 900 and up get a haro only buy the bike at bike shops no where else”
Apparently, according to these geniuses, you have to spend $300 – $800 (and definitely NOT $130 at Wal*Mart) to get an acceptable bike for a SEVEN YEAR OLD.
SIGH.
I would love to study the safety culture of this plant – if it is even half as safe as the manager claims it is, we could learn a tremendous amount about what it takes to run a truly safe operation;
New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India – New York Times;
“We can’t maintain the luxury of Europe and the United States, with all the boots and all that,” said Sunil Modi, director of Shakti Industries. He said, however, that the foundry never had accidents. He was concerned about the attention, afraid that contracts would be pulled and jobs lost…
India’s 1948 Factory Safety Act addresses cleanliness, ventilation, waste treatment, overtime pay and fresh drinking water, but the only protective gear it specifies is safety goggles.
Mr. Modi said that his factory followed basic safety regulations and that workers should not be barefoot. “It must have been a very hot day” when the photos were taken, he said…
…At the Shakti Industries foundry, “there are no accidents, never ever. Period,” Mr. Modi said. “By God’s will, it’s all fine.”
via New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India – New York Times.
U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time.
Effing SCARY.
I happened to catch a bit of this on XM the other morning, and I was SHOCKED by the, er, ENTHUSIASM Gupta and his co-host showed toward the idea that getting to work on war-pulverized bodies was a good thing;
“…by claiming that the dollars exchange rate has no effect on domestic prices, Mr. Bernanke demonstrates that he probably lacks the competence to be a bank teller, let alone Chairman of the Federal Reserve. A weaker dollar means Americans have to pay more for imported goods. But it also means domestic producers have to pay more for raw materials and imported components, which raises domestic production costs as well. It also means that more domestically produced goods are exported, reducing the supply and raising the price of what is left for Americans to consume. This is Econ 101.”
Actual Photo of Coal-To-Gas-To-Electricity Technology
“Gov. Pat Quinn will sign controversial “clean coal” legislation Wednesday that paves the way for a new plant in Chicago that converts coal to natural gas, the Tribune has learned”
When is the approval coming for the plant that produces electricity by burning piles of thousand-dollar-bills? OH WAIT – ITS THE SAME PLANT
It would be hilarious, except that real people need the tax money more.
(PHOTO: NASA Global Warming Propaganda Pages)
Elizabeth Warren, and that “Social Contract”
Sheldon Richman points out in The Freeman today that Elizabeth Warren, late of presidential advising, and snubbed for a prime sinecure is running for Senate from Massachussetts. Her ads mar all my Facebook pages, and as Sheldon points out, her entire schtick is that rich corporations benefitted from taxpayer largesse, so they should pay more, a lot more. Left out of this equation are the other 100 – 200 million taxpayers, and what THEY would rather have done with the money. But that’s life in the Left Lane, isn’t it? Full of sleight-of-hand and rhetorical tricks.
I commute in southern New Jersey on either I-295 (taxpayer-paid) or the New Jersey Turnpike (user-fee paid with some taxpayer subsidy) – they run roughly parallel along this stretch, so they “compete” for users. Because the NJTPK is tolled, while I-295 is not, you would think that a business using this route, say Bolt Bus or one of the Chinatown buses would use I-295 exclusively. In fact, while there is some of both, most of them appear to prefer the Turnpike. Why is that so? After all, they are already paying corporate tax, payroll tax, fuel tax, and apportioned highway taxes, but on TOP of that, to use the Turnpike, they ALSO have to pay a (presumably significant) TOLL. Why, exactly, IS that?