View 627 June 14 - 20, 2010 (original) (raw)
Monday, June 14, 2010
Flag Day
Happy Birthday, Roberta
Afghanistan:
Here's a game changer:
: So much for "Afghanistan has nothing we want"
Dr. Pournelle,
Drudge notes the New York Times is reporting that they've discovered "Vast Riches of Mineral Wealth" in Afghanistan http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/
world/asia/14minerals.html?src=twt&twt
=nytimes&pagewanted=all . Now the fun really begins."The previously unknown deposits � including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium � are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.
"An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the �Saudi Arabia of lithium,� a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys. "
-- Robin Juhl Past Chairman, San Antonio Tea Party
Of course we knew there was oil in Iraq, but we didn't do much about that. When we first went into Iraq I would have thought the strategy was to get the oil flowing. Pump oil, keep the price down to $20/bbl. The DOW would go to 14000 or more and stay there. It looked good for that -- and then they sent in Brenner, one of the most arrogantly incompetent proconsuls since Roman times, and that all ended.
One wonders if someone somewhere hasn't known about Afghanistan's vast mineral wealth for a long time? It's the first I have ever heard of it, although I can't say it's astonishing given the geology. Whether that can translate into actual wealth is another story.
While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.
We'll see. It's certainly a potential game changer. And pretty clearly the discoveries are relatively recent: I'd bet the Russians didn't know about them.
A gold rush to Afghanistan?
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For a pretty good summary collection of views from here:
http://a-place-to-stand.blogspot.com/2010/02/economic-political-wisdom-jerry.html
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The new aristocracy.
Item: Thirty one probation officers, with the status of peace officers, cannot be fired because the investigation took longer than a year, even though some of them have been convicted of child abuse (to their juvenile charges), one was living in sin with a parole, one was convicted of sex with a minor (one of her charges), etc. But the union demanded statute of limitations for peace officers automatically clears them if the investigation -- which drags on and on what with the way things are -- takes more than a year.
Item: LA cannot fire incompetent teachers no matter how incompetent. That appears to be pretty universal in these United States.
Item: read about the Mineral Management Service and the saga of the BP wells. Regulatory agencies are often captured by those they regulate. Astonishing.
Item: America's Municipal Debt Racket :
Nearly 40 years ago the Garden State borrowed $302 million to begin constructing the Meadowlands. The goal was to pay off the bonds in 25 years. Although the project initially went according to plan, politicians couldn't resist continually refinancing the bonds, siphoning revenues from the complex into the state budget, and using the good credit rating of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition authority to borrow for other, unsuccessful building schemes.
Today, the authority that runs the Meadowlands is in hock for 830million,whichitcan′tpayback.Thestate,facingitsowncavernousbudgetdeficits,hashadtoassumeinterestpayments�about830 million, which it can't pay back. The state, facing its own cavernous budget deficits, has had to assume interest payments�about 830million,whichitcan′tpayback.Thestate,facingitsowncavernousbudgetdeficits,hashadtoassumeinterestpayments�about100 million this year on bonds that still stretch for decades.
The story is not unusual, and variations can be found in many cities and states.
The usual condition of mankind is that most live at subsistence levels, while a small number enjoy wealth that is great compared to everyone else. Now in ancient times it was pretty hard to be all that much wealthier than anyone else: the wealthiest on Earth could not have good teeth after age fifty or so, or travel from London to Paris in a couple of hours, and only the very wealthy could enjoy ice in summer; while all that is pretty well available to anyone now. Or has been; the pinch is closing in. Subsistence level -- poverty -- is defined differently in the US than it is in Kenya. Or in Mexico. Only with enough open borders and spreading the wealth around, how long before we see real poverty here? Given enough mouths to feed, any place can find itself flooded with the homeless and the hungry. But the aristocrats will continue to enjoy their privileges.
Item: the purpose of public education, in theory, is to teach skills that will make the next generation productive. Productivity is the key to wealth. Does anyone seriously suppose that this is the purpose of public education now? Or that, if it were the purpose, that is being accomplished? The purpose of public education is to support the employees of the public education system. Anything else is a long way secondary to that.
I could continue, but surely the point is made? The purpose of government is to hire and support government workers. Anything else is a long way secondary to that.
Where is Madame Defarge now that we need her?
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I have just heard the President's press statements about the Oil Gush. Apparently he is about to take inventory of the resources of the area, and ask the experts what ought to be done with them. His boot is still on BP's neck. I am not sure what arse he is kicking tonight.
I would have thought that taking inventory of resources and getting the views of experts would have been done long ago, but Washington Beltway Time is different.
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Lamar Alexander: An energy strategy for grownups.
http://www.wind-watch.org/news/
2010/06/12/an-energy-strategy-for-grown-ups/
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Query: I will shortly have to go somewhere that will not have high speed, so I will have to use dialup. I have an EarthLink account which I used for years, but that was on older machines. I have no idea how to set up a dialup connection in Windows 7. EarthLink shows a number of choices for dialup telephone numbers, but I have no way of knowing which is local to the phone I will be using. It used to be that you simply dialed O and a nice friendly person, generally a young lady, would tell you what you needed to know. I have the feeling that the telephone probably doesn't work that way any more. It has been a long time since I was stuck with dialup and I have forgotten how to do it.
I will be using the ThinkPad with 64-bit Windows 7 Professional. Any suggestions welcomed.
Setting up a dial-up connection
The "Network and Sharing Center" off the Control Panel will let you do this. In the bottom half, you'll see a "Set up a new connection or network." Should be fairly obvious from that point.
Jeff Cohen
Thanks!
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Apparently it was Thoreau who first used the phrase a trout in the milk. I would swear I first heard that in an opinion by Mr. Justice Holmes. Perhaps I did, and didn't notice that Holmes was quoting. In any event it's a good illustration of strong circumstantial evidence...
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