When I was a kid and game theory was a new and hot topic I remember conversations going on around me about a “zero some gain” thing, and as the youngest of three, I totally understood. I got zero and my brothers got some. But then it turned out to be a weird blend of math and logic and language cobbled together to describe a zero-sum-game, where for every winner there is a loser. And at the end of the day, there is no net change. [At least I hope that’s what it means because I never quite read those books
[especially this one, which came out in 1979 when I was 7]]
What has brought this to mind is the constant disappointment we face in our political choices and how irrelevant their campaigns are to their performance, and yet the populace gets stirred into a frenzy each election [then why is voter turnout so low? hmnn a question for another day] that is all based on the idea of winners and losers as if political parties were in fact polar opposites. Setting aside the need for group identity, which undoubtedly lies at the heart of much political party adherence, it would be much more satisfying if political issues were decided more issue by issue than year be year by ostensible leaders of a different persuasion. Horses of a different colour, perhaps, but horses nonetheless.
People’s beliefs are not monolithic – the women’s vote, the [people of a dark complexion, I am not sure any longer what is the acceptable word]’s vote, the immigrant vote – nonsense. It is just political rhetoric that makes us fall into these groups. But if we could put significant questions to a ballot vote, then maybe we might get somewhere on many social issues, while avoiding intentionally divisive debate which only feeds the party system and dumbs down our political discussion.
It works elsewhere, why not in stodgy Canada?
And then I’ll bet we could legalize weed, and play a game where everybody wins, and the sum goes up on all of us.
Pete, check your email. I’ve got info on Provident for you.
Good morning all. Have an OK day. 😛
A hankering for simpler times … I have been quite nostalgic lately, and quick to well up.
Here’s a picture of offspring # 1 towing her best pal on Dodge Lake, our old camping heaven. I am thirsty for spring and unfrozen lakes.
why indeed. we have the same system set up as when it took my congressman a week to get to Washington on horseback, same as when it took two weeks to get news of a major event overseas, but only now we have 10 times as much government. why can’t we just fire (squad?) all these self serving pricks and spend the money on getting every voter a computer and a high speed connection? every damn issue down to the smallest detail could put to direct vote. yes, yes, leaving out some details here, but i really would like to hear a real reason as to why it can’t be done. well other than it would be progressive (bad by definition) and the present winners of this rigged game would win less.
edit – now that was one quick rant – about 45 seconds. 🙂 had to return to make a few repairs.
The closer to the person affected by the law the better. Bottom’s up as much as possible, and I think direct voting, but within regions, so progressive and backward can kind of lurch along together. And dry counties could stay dry, that kind of thing. The hardest part would be deciding which decisions were local and which were regional, state and national. Some laws shouldn’t be national – especially in a country with as diverse a population as the U.S.
States are a great idea.
no one needs to reinvent the wheel either. we have already had bottom up power in the world. pretty much every time after a big blood letting.
technology improves everything but government it seems.
as far as to who runs what – if it doesn’t work revote at internet speeds.
but i ramble.
Off the top of my shallow head, I think basically that government should keep out of profitable business and only run unprofitable ones. Canada Post is s great example. I agree that it is a worthwhile, taxable, goal to make sure everyone anywhere in Canada can get mail. But I don’t understand why Canada Post has to have a profitable arm to offset the unprofitable side. And of course the profitable arm has managed to get legislated that couriers must charge something like 3 times the Canada Post rate. And it is now a union battleground as well, and just to hate on both sides, the head of the postal union makes at least 250K at last glance, while the people he supports go on strike for 8 weeks which they can’t afford because they only make 25K and have to live on strike pay while on strike. But does the union chief take strike pay? Would mess up his suit budget.
So instead of letting the couriers make money and be taxable enterprises, and people would be paying far less for sending stuff which would be an enormous wide spread benefit to the tax paying public, we have a massive Crown corporation and a heavy union leadership making their own members miserable, while they get rich. I will look up the CEO’s salary but will first bet that it tops 600,000. And that will be without mentioning the pension and medical coverage he and his family will be getting.
Arg. And then we could pay taxes to support all the things that private enterprise doesn’t do well. And I know the argument lies in what those things are, but it irks me when I see big glossy ads for PetroCanada telling me to be proud of the oilsands. That is not what government is meant to be for, she said very calmly.
And good morning, if it isn’t out of keeping with the situation.
Okay, this is from January of this year, when the CEO was dodging the media after people in the Toronto area didn’t get any mail for a couple of weeks over Christmas because the routes weren’t staffed. Notice while the salary quoted is lower than what I guessed, he is able to earn a 33% bonus – and I’ll bet he always comes close. So you get to add another 100+ and the pension will be enormous and ironclad. Oh, and his qualifications? He was a crappy elected member of parliament, and this is his fat reward. Enough to make one barf.
I like seniors embracing the hearty walk to their new community mailbox. We once had an Ontario minister of health suggest it wasn’t so bad to not get your diaper changed once every 24 hours I think it was for seniors in government nursing homes and saying he would wear one for that long to prove it. I think they switched him to the industry portfolio.
And that makes me realise that they aren’t even going to live up to their mandate of delivering mail to people anywhere in Canada. Shameful pigs at the trough.
And I can’t find the union bosses salaries because they have spent an astonishing amount of union money fighting a bill passed in 2012 that would have required them to release such information, and succeeded in lobbying our unelected senate to strip the bill of any meaningful disclosure despite over 80% of unionized and over 80% of un-unionized Canadians agreeing with the bill. And 8 out of 10 Canadians agreeing on a bill is huge.
Here’s the lowdown on cheap eats. This is an intro and a hearty congratulations to Nate Silver for getting his much expanded blog up and running after a lengthy hiatus. I’m sure it will become a daily read for me. It won’t be just politics or baseball anymore.
How to Eat at McDonald’s When You’re Monumentally Broke
Now that’s a link I must send to my emaciated, broke, middle child. And I was glad to see the Bacon McChicken whatever slide down the list to be replaced with a breakfast sausage thing. Much more appealing in the dollars per pound contest.
Good Morning- sort of- snowing again. I got an email coupon for a free 8×10 from Walgreen’s. I’ll use this one. Do you think I’m getting my money’s worth?
A foggy sunrise last October. The prismlike sun flare was not added, it was always there, though not visible and brought out by backlighting.
*&^LIUYKH:J>!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stunning. The foreground is very focused … adds to the perspective. And worth every penny!
Thanks. It’s not perfect, I had to accept some highlighting to get the desired effect, but I like it.
And to touch on the frugal theme again, I do not use Photoshop. Photoshop costs $. I use whatever is free, currently Photoscape.
Those are some cool pictures, very pretty country.
What is that, about 80 acres of pasture, ? sectioned off, …. anybody run cattle out there?
That post, is that next to a gate, or where the fence makes a straightened turn along a road? no gate, just along the road… did you just get out of the truck, or just pull over there and shoot that picture without getting out?
Yeah, there’s Holstein cows to the right you would have seen if not cropped to an 8×10.
I try to devote a couple of weeks each October to satisfy my appetite for scenery and my thirst for roadies.
This was close to home and serendipitous in that I had been by here hundreds of times and not seen any reason to stop. I was headed elsewhere but the conditions here that day brought me to a halt. I got out of the truck and stuck around for a while watching the light change and the fog burn off. Snapped off 40 frames. On a foray like that, I will usually take 250-300 shots in a day’s time and will be happy with 3-4 keepers. I was lucky that day and got 8 or 9. I spoke with a National Geographic photographer once and he told me he averaged taking 7500 for one fullpage photo that gets published.
A couple more from the same spot follow.
1
2
i like the 2nd grouping of trees . it almost seems to float, especially in the first picture.
my brother has a big Mulberry tree groomed like that at the far end of his yard. it has a perfectly manicured undercarriage, like cut by a scissors, and exactly parallel to the ground. it tuns out that the deer like to eat what ever they can reach of the small branches in the winter.
i like the sky color in the middle painting. did you have to alter the colors much or at all for that one?
No, when you adjust exposure and contrast, those colors pop right out. I went out again today to Pewit’s nest, doesn’t seem yet that I had much success. If anything at all, it will take a lot of work to bring something out.
If you look at the link and see the picture, which was taken from above- well, after falling down with my camera and tripod twice, I could’nt get up there for the shot I wanted and resolved to go back again w/ my Yaktrax.
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Lands/naturalareas/index.asp?SNA=200
more on verisimilitude. or as Mark Twain said, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
http://www.evolvingexcellence.com/blog/2009/08/fun-with-statistics-veneer-of-verisimilitude-edition.html
A short comedy in one act:
The scene: a Kwik Trip in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin
The characters: #1- customer Jerry”, played by The Dude; and #2- cashier, played by Kendra
The action: The Dude approaches the sales counter with his coffee purchase and quickly takes note of the pretty young cashier whose nametag says she is Kendra
The Dude (matter of factly) “Hello Kendra.”
Kendra (quizzically) “Hello…..?”
The Dude (smiling his best smile) “I’m Jerry.”
Kendra “Hi….?”
The Dude (looking into her eyes) “You’re cute.”
Kendra (blushing) ” Thank you.”
The Dude (straight faced) “Do you like older guys?”
Kendra ( now confidently, recognizing the game) “I have a boyfriend. This is funny, just last week a guy from Australia was in here and wanted to take me back with him, saying his son needs a mother. I told him my boyfriend needs a girlfriend.”
The Dude “Well, Kendra, you’re still cute.”
Kendra “I have my mother to thank, everyone says I have her smile.”
The Dude (not missing a beat) “Where’s she at?”
They both erupt in laughter as the curtain closes.
Another comedy
http://blogs.barrons.com/stockstowatchtoday/2014/03/20/gold-miner-rally-to-continue-prefer-quality-names-rbc-says/?mod=BOL_hp_blog_stw
if the miners doubled from here, but not just once, but twice, then i might forgive the doomer sites and their unapologetic front men… but it has to happen by April 15.
and to continue in keeping with the Dude’s penchant for dark comedy, go to the store and buy some limes. i thought it was a mistake. not ten for a dollar. ten for ten. i even went to a 2nd store. once back home i decided to investigate and found this…
http://www.npr.org/2014/03/20/291896473/soaring-lime-prices-put-squeeze-on-restaurants-food-lovers
i’m still making guacamole and salsa today. it’s supposed to be 50 freaking degrees tomorrow. i don’t know whether to shit or go blind. (i just like saying that.) 🙂
oh, and my bracket is already blown to hell thanks to Ohio State. i have always hated those fockers being from Wisconsin (Badgers), but you have to take a 6 seed over an 11, i mean really. i suppose Duke who i also hate, but had to take over a 14 seed will screw me over also just because Duke has screwed me every year for a decade or more. whether i pick them to win or lose, it just doesn’t matter. so i guess Buffet will keep his billion dollars, and i’m not going to be able to bust the COMEX this year going way long in June Gold futures. rant off.
bracket is now in the trash can. didn’t even get through the first day.
but go Badgers. and Villanova.
a toast to Spring.
“Bright Iduna, Maid immortal!
Standing at Valhalla’s portal,
In her casket has rich store
Of rare apples gilded o’er;
Those rare apples, not of Earth,
Ageing Æsir give fresh birth.”
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
how do you like them apples?
when will you learn DP? it’s best to fill out your bracket toward the tourneys end.
And if Duke is still in it… just fill out a couple.
i should have just copied Obama’s bracket. son of a b. HARVARD? c’mon. it’s freaking rigged. good night Irene. or is it Ilene? well if Duke blows it tomorrow at least i won’t have to fish my bracket out of the trash. 😛
i was good on St. Patrick’s, bad tonight. this demented foray into the netherworld is courtesy of strong drink and the even more vile weed.