China Cuts Growth Forecast to 7.6%

China‘s banks cut interest rates because their economic growth was downgrade to 7.6% for this year. In Europe most countries are hoping for 0% growth and the U.S. would be happy with 2%. What’s the difference between China and the west?

I’m not economist, but from what I can see, it’s the size and scope of government spending, taxation, and regulations.

In the long run 7.6% economic growth will help the people much more than anything the government can do.

Government Innovation

I have an anecdote about government innovation.

Years ago I worked for a company that produced small high performance electric motors. When the engineers would come up with an improvement on a particular model, they would call the customers, describe the improvement, and usually get an OK on the spot. But if the same motor was also sold to the government it took reams of paperwork and months to wait for an approval, if it ever came at all. Consequently the motors we sold to the government ended up being several generations behind those we sold to private industry.

I see the same principles being applied to health care, energy, automobiles, and anything else the government is involved with. Government is the enemy of creativity and innovation.

“Let’s Reach for Hope”

“Let’s reach for hope” is Obama’s campaign slogan of the week. But he doesn’t say how reaching for hope will accomplish anything.

He doesn’t say what to do with hope when you grasp it. If you have a handful of hope, can you take it to the bank? Or the grocery store?

What are we supposed to be hoping for? Rain? Socialism? A chicken with 4 wings and 4 legs?

It sounds to me like a handful of hope doesn’t really count for much.

The Plague of Anus Stitching

In the paper the past few days have been stories of a midwife who stitched closed the anus of her patient because she was dissatisfied with the tip she received for delivering a baby. This barbaric and shitty practice must end.

I have been looking for a charitable cause to donate my time, and I think ending the practice of anus stitching is a cause I can get behind. I will start a charitable foundation called Anus Stitching Stopped.

First of all, I will go to Washington and present my case for a grant from the government. This will be easy since congressmen value their anuses as a source for both thoughts and words. After securing a few million dollars, I’ll start a website where I will raise awareness of the problem and solicit more donations.

Hollywood celebrities are always on the lookout for new charities to endorse, so I’ll fly to Los Angeles and present my case to Angelina Jolie, Tom Hanks and Madonna. Surely at least one of them give their endorsement. With Tom Hanks’ endorsement I will wipe up in donations to the website.

Hopefully Tom Hanks and I will fly to areas of the world where anus stitching is most common for photo opps with victims. I will post the pics on my website, more donations will pour in. My foundation will be flush.

Once established as a major problem in the consciousness of the world, I will start a museum of anus stitching, probably in New York. In the museum I will have pictures and displays showing of the horrors of anus stitching. The museum will display tools and methods used throughout history in stitching the anus. Stitching patterns used around the world will be compared. Perhaps even an interactive display of some kind can be set up so children can pretend to stitch an anus.

In the future as my foundation becomes rich I will endow scholarships in proctology at favored universities.

I think I am on to something big.

Chris Dodd Should Be in Jail

Today Judicial Watch issued its list of most corrupt politicians in Washington. At the top of the list is Senator Christopher Dodd. Judicial watch’s summary of his corruption follows.

Chris Dodd. Working for You

<

1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT): This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 “Ten Most Corrupt” list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him. In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat. In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against Dodd for undervaluing a property he owns in Ireland on his Senate Financial Disclosure forms. Judicial Watch’s complaint forced Dodd to amend the forms. However, press reports suggest the property to this day remains undervalued. Judicial Watch also alleges in the complaint that Dodd obtained a sweetheart deal for the property in exchange for his assistance in obtaining a presidential pardon (during the Clinton administration) and other favors for a long-time friend and business associate. The false financial disclosure forms were part of the cover-up. Dodd remains the head the Senate Banking Committee.

For a number of reasons, it looks like Dodd will not be re-elected. But that is scant punishment for his lifetime of crime and corruption. The system is Washington is itself so corrupt it is all but impossible to punish anyone for anything less that hiding a bag full of illegally gained cash in a freezer.

Today we learned from an article in the Washington Examiner that Dodd slashed aviation security funding for a favored campaign contributor constituency. There will be no consequences for this, another corrupt deal.

In addition to the corruption, Dodd is at least partially responsible for the mortgage melt down and the current economic mess. Of course making bad policy and pushing stupid laws is not a crime in Washington. In fact it is usually rewarded. The money lost by the American people because of his legislation makes the money stolen by Bernie Madoff look like pocket change.

In the end Dodd will skate from this and the other messes he helped create and retire in the lap of unearned luxury. He will be revered as an elder stateman and invited to sit on the boards of major corporations. He will earn fat speaking fees and take a lucrative lobbying job at some law firm.

What a system these guys have made for themselves. It’s no wonder they are willing to spend millions to get a job that pays almost nothing.

Lucky To Be Alive!!

First, some of us survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.  They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, fish from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no child proof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets. When we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, no kneepads.

As children, we would ride in car with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose or a faucet and NOT from a bottle.  We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. or contacted hepatitis.

We ate rice with margarine and drank soft drinks with sugar in them, but we weren’t overweight.

We were always outside playing. We’d  leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day and we were O.K. We would spend hours building our trolleys or slides out of scraps and then ride down the street, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have PlayStation, Nintendo, X-box, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no internet or internet chat rooms

We had friends and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. The only rubbing we get is from our friends with the words!

We’d play in the dirt , wash our hands a little and ate with our bare hands. We were not afraid of getting worms in our stomachs. We have to live with homemade guns. We made up games with sticks and cans.

 We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Mini basketball teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t,  had to learn to deal with disappointment. 

This generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and managers ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU, our children,  are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the government regulated our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it?!