Author Archives: OGHD

Inequality would exist in a society with equal incomes « Nation of Beancounters

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Interesting:

To examine how much inequality you would get even in a perfectly equal society, I whipped up a simple Python script to compute wealth distribution in a society where every person works for the exact same salary (this should be enough equality for anybody, yes?) of which he saves the exact same amount. For a 5% annual interest rate, the five wealth quintiles controlled 2, 7, 15, 28, and 47 percent of total wealth, respectively. For 10%, these quintiles controlled 0, 4, 10, 25 and 60 percent of wealth.

It’s incredible but now that I think of it, I can’t recall any inequality studies adjusting for age.

via Inequality would exist in a society with equal incomes « Nation of Beancounters.

I can;t help but suspect … Continue reading →

Who is "Occupying Wall Street" and Why?

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[pullquote]this President toys with civil war[/pullquote]If you have ever wondered just what a “Community Organizer” actually does, look no further than this evening’s coverage of unemployed masses now demanding the livelihoods, the liberties, and the very lives of their fellow Americans.  No President has ever been more divisive.  Abraham Lincoln led us into war to abolish slavery–the divisions were already there and in the end, he united us.  This President toys with civil war as an acceptable collateral risk inherent in his program, and if you are reading this, odds are he is not on your side.  If you are reading this, odds are he has already lumped you in as an enemy.

[pullquote]I find it difficult to criticize the individuals[/pullquote]I look at the news and I reach … Continue reading →

Uncomfortably Numb

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In our dark moments, we wonder: If this is freedom, what’s the big deal?

China

China is undergoing its most significant upheaval since becoming a communist state.  Any communist revolution is by definition an attempt to deny and suppress the spirit of man.  The current transition will be both more important and more successful than the revolution there, because this move has been anticipated for thousands of years–it is led by reality, rather than the other way around.  China, long famous for deprecating any knowledge or influence from barbarian realms, is becoming oriented beyond its own borders.

While we dither and kowtow by re-forming NASA into the North African Space Administration (with a mission to make Muslim countries feel proud of their accomplishments, no less), the Chinese are … Continue reading →

Anti-American Hikers

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Boy, no sooner do you extend a bit of patience than you realize how late it really is.  I hadn’t done any reading on the three hikers who have now all been released by Iran, so when I saw some comments on FaceBook which I thought were harsh and critical, I responded that I thought they were just granola hippies caught up in the Iranian propaganda.  I figured their criticism of America was just reflexive parroting of the Iranian line they had had no choice but to hear for a couple of years.

I wrote, in closing:

“They are hippie hikers who never understood the danger they were in, and I would not expect them to have a moral core to rely on to resist having their thoughts … Continue reading →

The Ides of September

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The President has been speaking for about five minutes.  It’s way too early for the “early returns” on his speech, but I have a prediction: I think that his high-handed yet empty rhetoric about what he will and will not tolerate or allow, and all the rest of his claptrap is going to bang hollow in a silent room.

I do believe that I am not alone in being spectacularly unimpressed with this moron upon the occasion of this part-campaign, part-lecture.  Now I have never been for the man, but tonight marks a special moment.  I have never heard him more urgently condescending, as if he must somehow pound his elementary knowledge into the heads of a bunch of retards (that would be us) before heading out for … Continue reading →

GM, Obama vs Ford, Boeing

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Here’s the gist of a compelling article up at RedState:

“Documents released last week by the U.S. Treasury Department indicate that General Motors and the Obama administration coordinated their PR strategy regarding GM’s much criticized 2010 ad campaign, in which the car maker misleadingly claimed to have repaid all its government loans.”

The advertisement campaign GM ran with included the “Chevy Runs Deep” series of commercials portraying a feel good attitude toward GM and its essential “American-ness”. Just in time for the 2012 election season, GM wants to rev back up that ad campaign as it did before the November 2010 elections.

You will not be surprised to learn that there is a series of coordinated efforts between the Obama Administration and General Motors.

via Is The … Continue reading →