If you cannot afford to buy an iPad, which you desperately want, take a look at this: Don't Be Blinded By 'Gadget Lust' http://bit.ly/9djNlA
Take a look at this video. I could not keep a straight face.
Apple iPad Stress Tests http://bit.ly/dlzSUE
I don't have any products whose name start with an "i," but I have one Mac Mini, which I am now using at my desk.
"Since 1992, more than 2,500 guns recovered by police and tied to crimes in the Washington area have been traced back to their original sale at Realco Guns in Forestville, Md. The total is four times that of the dealer with the next highest number of gun traces." http://wapo.st/cmMnta
What do you think of this description? If you happen to believe in laissez-faire economy, do you really think that there should be no "government" intervention on the gun market?
I hope that Realco Guns is shooting itself in the foot. Or should we expect the invisible hand of God?
"Cats are awesome and enigmatic. They even have a hint of the danger about them. I read somewhere that scientists say cats 'domesticated themselves.' Like, we domesticated dogs, and we made them into what we thought we wanted, but cats made themselves into what we actually wanted." http://bit.ly/8X9GEK
If cats have domesticated themselves, does it mean that we have been trapped into loving cats? Can you believe this theory?
I found Alfie Kohn's Twitter site. Of course, I am going to follow his tweets. http://twitter.com/alfiekohn @alfiekohn
You can read one of Alfie Kohn's articles titled "The Folly of Merit Pay" at http://bit.ly/clIkj6
Punished by Rewards
The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993 / 1999)
http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/pbr.htm http://bit.ly/9exoYR
I think that this book is worth reading. The writer's name is Alfie Kohn. His web site is http://www.alfiekohn.org/index.php
"In fact, the more we use artificial inducements to motivate people, the more they lose interest in what we're bribing them to do. Rewards turn play into work, and work into drudgery."(Alfie Kohn)
"How to Create Nonreaders" By Alfie Kohn
1. Quantify their reading assignments.
2. Make them write reports.
3. Isolate them.
4. Focus on skills.
5. Offer them incentives.
6. Prepare them for tests.
7. Restrict their choices.
http://bit.ly/95Oyw9
I have finished reading "The Conscience of a Liberal" by Paul Krugman. It describes American society and economy. It's an encouraging book.
"Liberals are those who believe in institutions that limit inequality and injustice."
"You're a liberal, whether you know it or not, if you believe that the United States should have universal health care."
"The Conscience of a Liberal" by Paul Krugman, p.268.
"By the early 1960s, [Milton] Friedman had made almost a complete return to free-market fundamentalism, arguing that even the Great Depression was caused not by market failure but by government failure. . . . Free-market economists began rejecting not just the New Deal, but the reforms of the Progressive Era, suggesting that even such government actions as policing food and drug safety were unjustified. And Friedman associated himself with the Goldwater campaign. "
"The Conscience of a Liberal" by Paul Krugman, p.116.
Paul Krugman thinks that one of the origins of neoconservative can be traced to Chicago economists led by Milton Friedman. He mentions the relationship between Friedman and Goldwater in his book.
"By the 1980s, the increasing influence of the Christian right on the Republican Party so conflicted with Goldwater's libertarian views that he became a vocal opponent of the religious right on issues such as abortion, gay rights, and the role of religion in public life."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Goldwater
Is "libertarianism" against or unrelated to what is called "the religious right?"
I notice some similarities between what is called anarchism and "libertarianism." What do you think of this?
"The accounting scandals at Enron and WorldCom dispelled the myth of effective corporate governance. These days, the idea that our banks were well capitalized and supervised sounds like a sick joke. And now the mortgage mess is making nonsense of claims that we have effective contract enforcement — in fact, the question is whether our economy is governed by any kind of rule of law." The Mortgage Morass By PAUL KRUGMAN http://nyti.ms/aqjEbw
Paul Krugman says that he believes in democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law.
"The Conscience of a Liberal" by Paul Krugman, p.267.
"A nice insurance company, one that didn't try to screen out costly clients and didn't look for ways to avoid paying for care, . . . would quickly go out of business."
"The Conscience of a Liberal" by Paul Krugman, p.221.
Paul Krugman says that insurers are not evil people. "They challenge the claims submitted by doctors and hospitals, trying to find reasons why the treatment offered wasn't their responsibility" because "the structure of the system leaves them little choice."
