Category Archives: Business

Medicare Cheated out of Billions by … the Rich

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Medicare FraudThere’s an interesting case slowly making its way through the courts about a company that is accused of stealing potentially billions of dollars from taxpayers in the form of medicare overcharges. The case isn’t about all the stealing, it’s about the guy who got fired because he tried to fix the problem.

You can read the story for all the details but basically a new guy was hired by an insurance company and almost immediately found evidence of chronic over-charging by filling out forms fraudulently. He claims to have discussed the issue in significant detail with corporate officials who recognized the problem and began putting away cash for what they assumed would be eventual fines. None was forthcoming and so they took the more expedient solution of firing Josh Valdez.

That’s what the case is about. A whistleblower who was fired. It’s not about the potentially billions of dollars that were stolen from taxpayers by insurance companies in Puerto Rico. This was merely one division of the much larger Aveta Inc. The charges were filled in April of 2011 and are only seeing the light of day now.

The suit filed by Valdez uncovered the fact that the fraudulent practices of Aveta are likely happening in many places. There are few audits of the Risk Score of patients which determine how much money goes to the insurance company. These scores can be artificially altered to ensure more money is paid out. According to Valdez up to $350 million of the $1.4 billion paid out was fraudulent for the each of the years between 2007 and 2011.

Remember, this is a single insurance fraud scam in Puerto Rico. Think big and then remember the financial crisis that this country is facing.

It is my opinion this kind of fraud occurs all the time and has contributed significantly to the growing debt our nation faces. This is the sort of situation that I think sets Libertarians apart from Democrats and Republicans. Democrats will scream and yell about corporate greed while Republicans will do the same about government waste. Here’s a newsflash for you … it’s both! And you are the reason it continues. Those who insist on voting for Democrats or Republicans just perpetuate the situation. They’ve both got their hands out and are grabbing the money as fast as they can scoop it up.

None of the alleged activity has been proven in court yet and it’s all speculation, but anyone who thinks this sort of thing is rare is just fooling themselves. The United States government is enormous beyond comprehension and the lack of oversight is shocking. The company involved claims it is just a disgruntled employee. We’ll see what the courts say but I’m expecting a relatively small fine against the company and some monetary reward for Valdez but nothing that will approach the amount that has been and continues to be stolen.

Greed is good, welcome to the United States.

As usual I’m not going to just talk about the problem. What are the solutions?

The idea behind Medicare is sound. We don’t want older people to miss out on medical care because of lack of money. That is a reasonable use of government money. Yet the amount of money involved will always be a magnet to those who want to steal.

A big part of the problem is software. The government is running on antiquated software and generating the reports necessary to discover this sort of activity isn’t easy. There is also a lack of inspectors so most insurance companies are allowed to self-report.

The only real solution is for people to actually want it solved. The solutions are there. More inspectors, better reports, tougher enforcement. As long as government officials are being bribed by the self-same companies that are defrauding us there will be no remedies. Being a good-guy will just get you fired, as Valdez discovered.

If you think voting Democrat or Republican will change things … best of luck.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere

When $500 means more than money

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herb-kohlThere’s a feel good story making the rounds in the sporting world and I feel compelled to write a blog about it. The owner of the Milwaukee Bucks sold the team for $550 million after having purchased it for $18 million in 1985. That’s a good return on his investment to say the least. That’s not the nice part of the story although it is certainly good for Mr. Herb Kohl.

Mr. Kohl was a rather reluctant purchaser back in 1985 only agreeing to buy the team to keep it in Wisconsin. They were at the time playing in the smallest arena in the league and no other local investors were stepping forward. Eventually a new arena, the Bradley Center, was donated by a local couple.

There was much pressure over the years to sell the team for a lot of money to investors in larger cities who hoped to move the team but Mr. Kohl refused to make such sales even spurning a very generous offer from Michael Jordan’s group. He didn’t have much success as an owner during his years and Bucks won no championships and often did not make the playoffs. This past season they finished with the worst record in the league.

Mr. Kohl agreed to sell the team to a pair of investors from New York who have pledged to keep the team in Milwaukee. It seems likely he could have sold it for more to other investors who wanted to move the team to a larger city where profits would likely be higher. He chose not to do so.

All that is really just background to the nice part of the story.

After the sale in which Mr. Kohl realized a very nice profit of $532 million for a 39 year investment he decided to send each of the employees of the Bradley Center a check for $500.

I know the cynics out there will suggest the amount is small compared to his profit but I don’t see it as such. Judging by the reactions of those who received the money; from the president and CEO of the building to an usher, they don’t think so either.

The employees of the BMO Harris Bradley Center are like family to Senator Kohl, and this was a way for him to demonstrate his appreciation.

I am not quick to shed tears. I sat there and shed tears for maybe five to 10 minutes because nobody just walks up, gives you $500.

I think the main trap that those of us who like to quote Ayn Rand fall into is equating money to achievement. They think Mr. Kohl should be praised for making so much money. It’s fine and good that Mr. Kohl made all that money but his real goal was to keep the team in his city and provide entertainment for the fans. It’s a real shame that the Bucks weren’t better under his stewardship.

Mr. Kohl didn’t buy the team because he loved basketball. He didn’t purchase them to make any money. He did it to keep them in his town. He did it because it was the right thing for him to do. It ended up being the financially right thing for him as well. Funny how that happened, isn’t it?

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere

Banning Soap – The Power of the State

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Triclosan-2There’s a rather interesting news story about how the state of Minnesota has banned the sale of a chemical called triclosan that is used in anti-bacterial soaps. It gives me a good opportunity to talk about who best protects us: the federal government, the state, or our own purchasing habits.

The Federal Government through the Food and Drug Administration regulates a huge variety of products. Frankly I’m not really sure that this power should exist. The justification is that certain products are inherently harmful and the government should protect us from such things. The FDA has protected U.S. consumers from products on a number of occasions including the infamous thalidomide case.

The justification for the very existing of the FDA can pretty clearly be traced to the free press and journalists like Upton Sinclair who wrote books like The Jungle. When the people of the United States started to become aware of the things that were put into their food they clamored for remedy from the government. Thus did Theodore Roosevelt bring into existence what today we call the FDA.

Interestingly Sinclair himself, an avowed socialist, did not support the creation of this bureau claiming that all it did was help industry and put a $30 million dollar burden on taxpayers. One wonders what he would think of the fact that the FDA currently has a budget of $4.36 billion dollars and is the agency that oversees 25% of all consumer goods sold in the U.S.

This is where states like Minnesota came into the picture. While the Constitutional argument for the FDA has already been decided and vast powers given to the federal government I think it is without question that a state has the power to make such regulatory decisions.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

This power of the state often drives federal law as we are seeing with marijuana.

I’m a Libertarian and have strong doubts about the FDA as a whole. On the other hand, I have no doubt that the quest for profit leads industry to shortcuts and that these shortcuts can be, have been, and continue to be dangerous to the citizens of this country.

I’m generally distrustful of government. I’m also aware that industry will knowingly put me in harm’s way to increase profit.

Where does this leave me? Leave us? Leave our nation?

Good questions and there are no easy answers.

One step in the right direction is the transparency engendered by the internet. The more information we have the better decisions we make. If we know how the animal is being treated we change our purchasing habits, thus the rise in Free Range farmed animals.

In the end I think solutions arrived at by transparent, real capitalism (not Crony Capitalism) are probably the best, imperfect though they are. If we allow politicians to dictate things outside the purview of the Constitution we are asking for trouble. If we allow industry to make decisions while hiding the dangers of their products we are asking for trouble. Until recently we had to rely on the government to curtail industry for the most egregious violations.

I’ll make one final argument and then be on my way. While the state of Minnesota is going forward with the ban of triclosan the reality is that because of public outcry the companies that make soap were already phasing it out of production and offering triclosan-free products. That’s the power of the people. That’s power that works, not always quickly, not always in time to save every life, not perfectly to be certain. What other good options are there?

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere

 

My Portfolio is a Democrat

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Financial PortfolioI’m a Libertarian. I vote for all Independent candidates the only exception being elections in which there is a but a single person running. I think it’s vitally important for the future of our country that voters eschew the two-party system and cast their ballot for officials who are not beholden to parties but instead to philosophic ideas and to the realities of the world.

That being said I cannot help but watch as my portfolio once again rises and sends my net worth higher and higher. The last time this happened was when President Clinton was in office.

The reason I bring this up is because there is a fairly strong connection with business and Republicans. In the eyes of most voters Republicans are “business friendly” while Democrats are not. The reality is somewhere in between but my portfolio pays little attention to anything other than growth.

My portfolio doesn’t care about policies, it doesn’t care about regulations, it pays no heed to the D or R before a candidate’s name. It simply reports back in percent growth each year and it is madly in love with President Obama. It wants to kill former President Bush.

My brain wants to look at nuances and take into account the myriad of other factors that weigh in on economic growth. My portfolio cares not for such things. It says vote for Obama. Vote for Clinton (Bill).

While I was most certainly alive during the Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan Presidencies my portfolio was largely yet to be born. It’s alive now and it won’t shut up. It tells me no more of the policies of President Bush and the Republican. It whispers to me in my sleep. It says it wants to grow and there is a part of me, the greedy money-grubbing part, that nods its head and tells the other parts to listen to the portfolio.

I find it interesting because this advice runs against the common dialog. I’m curious, my great gaggle of readers. When you go into your study and have a quiet talk with your portfolio, what does it say?

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere

Missouri Jumps in on the Tesla Anti-Capitalism Ban

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Tesla Banning MissouriI’m ashamed to say my own home state of Missouri has just jumped onto the anti-capitalism bandwagon and in the sleaziest, most deceitful, crony-capitalistic way imaginable.

I’ve written a couple of blog posts about how state legislators are protecting those that pay for their campaigns by passing laws to prevent Tesla from selling automobiles directly to consumers. First it was Texas and then it was New Jersey. When it comes to sneaky and underhanded my beloved Missouri has them both beat.

Let me reiterate quickly for those who don’t want to read the other blogs.

Tesla Motors wants to sell cars directly to consumers. Most states have what is called a Franchise Law where automobile dealerships purchase cars from the manufacturer and then sell them to consumers. This adds a “middle-man” to the process. The middle-man, in this case the franchisers, make a lot of money mostly on service and financing for the cars but also on the sale itself.

In New Jersey, Texas, and other states the legislature is trying to pass a law making it illegal for the manufacturer of a car to sell it directly to the people. In Missouri they’ve simply changed a couple of lines of existing law and inserted the alterations into an existing bill that has nothing to do with the issue. Disgusting.

The major proponent of the change in wording is Republican Mike Kehoe of Jefferson City who has been agitating against Tesla’s business model since it was first announced. He is a former car dealer. Kehoe, like most so-called Conservative Republicans, is nothing more than a greedy lap-dog slurping up the money the auto-industry here in Missouri gives him. Not that Democrats are any better but Republicans claim to be all about capitalism. They aren’t, it’s Crony Capitalism at its finest.

Those who promote this ban talk about a fair playing field and what’s best for the consumer but they are simply the bought and paid for slaves of industry. They don’t want what is best for you; they want what is best for those who pay for their campaigns.

To give you an example of how deeply entrenched is our Plutocracy and Crony-Capitalism take a guess as to how much money State Senator Mike Kehoe raised to finance his campaign in 2010. This is not a Senator of the United States. This is a State Senator running a campaign in Jefferson City with its population of about 43,000 people.

Have you guessed yet?

Did you guess over half a million dollars? That’s right. For one State Senator from a middle to small-sized state like Missouri. You wonder why politicians kneel to the money? Money is completely entrenched and politicians are totally enslaved by it. Freedom, bah.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere

 

 

Silicon Valley Settlement

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apple-pixar-google-lawsuitAn extremely interesting anti-trust case was just settled by Apple, Google, Intel, and Adobe for about $300 million. It’s a case that will have serious repercussions throughout the industry and I’m of the opinion that the resolution is just. There are those that will argue the companies got off lightly and others that the employees got too much compensation.

Let’s examine the situation. With the advent of the information age and the coming of the automation age there was and will continue to be a huge need for a highly educated workforce. The best and brightest workers are in high demand and will be increasingly so in the future. I spoke about the need for an educated workforce in this blog.

As the need for sophisticated workers increases so does the value of the workers who meet the requirements. Employers must then pay these employees increasingly large sums for their services. This is good and natural and everything that we Libertarians expect from a capitalistic system.

In this case the major players including those who just settled but also including Pixar, Lucasfilms, and Intel, who admitted guilt earlier, agreed not to try to hire top talent away from each other. There is a trail of emails that make it clear this was happening. Steve Jobs of Apple was particularly aggressive to the point of writing threatening emails to competitors. At least two of these, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and Edward Colligan of Palm told Jobs to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine, or used words to those effect. Good for them!

The collusion of the companies in the lawsuit is undeniable. The question is whether or not the technical employees were allowed to sue as a group. There are a number of legal hurdles that might have derailed the case on appeals. On the other hand, the guilt of the companies in denying their employees a fair opportunity to shop their worth is undeniable and the series of emails and likely testimony from the likes of Sandberg and Colligan made a much, much larger resolution possible. The lawsuit cited a figure of $3 billion which could have tripled to $9 billion.

Therefore I think the final outcome is just. The employees were certainly not recompensed the value of their services during the years of collusion but it is likely they could have gotten nothing at all and, even worse, the companies exonerated for their vile, anti-capitalistic behavior.

This resolution makes it clear that workers are absolutely entitled to the whatever wage anyone is willing to pay them. That companies cannot collude in this fashion because it undermines the entire capitalistic system. Employees benefit greatly as do companies like Facebook and Palm who agree to honor the tenants of capitalism.

This case is an excellent example to my fundamental Libertarian friends that a completely laissez-faire attitude from government towards business is naive and dangerous to the people and to liberty as a whole.

As a Libertarian I am neither pro-business nor am I pro-worker. I want everyone and every business to succeed on their or its merits. Capitalism is an excellent system but some government regulation is required to make sure it doesn’t become corrupted by anti-trust activities.

The resolution arrived at in this case is the sort that serves capitalism, serves business, serves workers, and in the long run, serves us all.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere

 

Vending Machine Service Guy

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Vending Machine techI was teaching today in a large office building and because we started class early we also went to lunch early. This meant I was in the cafeteria when the vending machine service technician was at work. I came away inspired and somewhat dismayed.

I watched as the technician opened each machine and began to fill them from cartons stuffed with various bags of chips and other supplies. I asked him how he knew what was needed in each machine. He replied that he came up and counted what was needed, went back to his truck, loaded the appropriate supplies, and then returned to load the machines.

“Who loads your truck,” I asked wondering how they knew the amount to put in each truck. I was interested because it was clear that some items were much more popular than others and whoever loaded the truck needed to know this to supply it properly. “I do,” he said. “It makes for long days.”

He mentioned that some new machines index what is needed and report to him when he plugs into them. I found the entire process inefficient although the fellow was certainly hard-working and conscientious. After he loaded the food into the machine he painstakingly put $5 dollar bills into the bill scanner one at a time so that it would be able to change $20 bills put in by patrons. He then loaded the change dispenser by cracking open rolls of quarters, dimes, and nickles and feeding them into the tubes stopping only to pick up spilled coins. It looked to me as if he knew his job quite well and was proceeding at a rapid pace considering what he had to do to each machine.

Yikes! I thought to myself. This is insane. An employee inexperienced on a particular route is going to load the wrong supplies in the wrong amount and end up not having enough of one thing and too much of another. Even someone who really knows the route isn’t going to hit the numbers perfectly.

We’ve got guys at work that could write a software program to report everything that came out of each machine. It could easily broadcast this information back to the warehouse. Employees could come in at midnight, load cartons with what was needed, and mark the boxes by business, floor, and machine. Loaders could load up the trucks when they arrived.

The driver would stop at each location, take the box indicated, load the machines, and be done with it. It would speed up the entire process by at least 50% if not more.

It would take a mechanical engineer or two to design a speedier system for loading coins and bills but I don’t think it would be that difficult. Someone still needs to manufacture the devices and place them into the machines but that could be done as new machines rolled off the assembly line and eventually you’d have an army of smart vending machines reporting exactly what they needed at all times.

As far as payment goes; I can see the vending machine company supplying refillable swipe cards to all workers in an office and then equipping the machines to take the cards. Anyone could fill the cards at home by transferring money through a website and then swipe as necessary. This would dramatically reduced the need to fill the machines with bills and change; an extremely time-consuming process for the technician.

So anyway, that’s what I did today besides teach a great group of people how to use Microsoft Project 2010.

How was your day?

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere

Not Enough to Eat for Scholarship Athletes

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Follow the MoneyThe true nature of the NCAA was on full display when the president of that organization agreed that certain rules about food were “absurd”.

What I’d like to talk about today is why the NCAA has rules about how much food the student-athlete gets. Before I talk about that I’d like to honestly discuss many of the misconceptions people have about the “full-ride” scholarship that the student-athlete receives.

When I read through the comments on stories like the one above, I find there are many people honestly misinformed. Here are some of the most basic misconceptions.

Assumption

The scholarship entitles the student-athlete to a free college experience including books, classes, food, room, and travel to games.

Reality

An athletic scholarship is based on a certain formula and the average Division I scholarship student-athlete pays $2,951 to attend the school.

Assumption

The student-athlete receives a four-year scholarship.

Reality

Four year scholarships ended in 1973 and all athletic scholarships are for one year. When a student-athlete is injured or sees a performance drop such that they will not be able to compete for the team, they are generally not offered a scholarship for the subsequent year. This is waived if the injury appears to be short-term in nature and the student-athlete will recover to be able to contribute the following season.

Assumption

A four-year education is worth millions of dollars.

Reality

Tuition inflation means that most students do not pay anywhere near the full tuition to attend a university. As an example, my niece attends Case Western University which has a stated total annual expense of $60,129 of which $42,766 is tuition. The reality is that almost 98% of the students receive financial aid that cut costs more than in half. The stated cost of an education in this country is far higher than its real cost.

My Point

What I really want to talk about today is why the NCAA has a rule about whether putting cream cheese on a bagel constitutes a meal. Yes, that’s the rule that the original article is about.

The NCAA argues that they are defending the integrity of the sport by preventing schools from “bidding” on a student athlete’s service. That if the field is anything other than exactly equal those schools with a larger a financial base will get the best players to the detriment of the sport in general.

Thus they have a massive rule book filled with things that define how much food a school is allowed to provide to a student. A school is allowed to feed them three times a day and student-athletes are forbidden to remove any food from the cafeteria to be eaten at a later time (another misconception). Students are allowed to be given snacks although the amount of food is strictly regulated to prevent rule-breakers from sneaking food to the kids.

These kids are young, growing men spending a great part of their day in vigorous physical exercise. I was once a young man who spent hours a day practicing and playing sports. I was hungry constantly. From the time I arrived home from school until I went to bed I was basically eating. I’m 5′ 7″ and weighed 130 at the time (not anymore).

My point is that the NCAA’s stated goal of keeping one school from having a competitive advantage over another school is merely a smokescreen. The reality is that college football and basketball generates huge amounts of revenue from sources that will be a surprise to many of my readers.

Texas A&M auctioned off replica helmets signed by Johnny Manziel and other team stars for $15K each. Johnny Manziel, unlike every other non-student-athlete, is not allowed to sell his signature.

Schools auction off seats at their various alumni dinners for thousands of dollars. The more someone pays the better table they get with the star athletes sitting with them.

Athletic apparel companies give millions to the schools which “redistribute” it to the coaches. This new strategy came into being in 2010 when the nature of Shoe Contracts became public. The athletic companies used to give the money directly to the coaches but the rank hypocrisy turned people off.

Coaches get paid in exclusive country club memberships, “Ask the Coach” media contracts, and a plethora of other non-salary revenue. The President of the NCAA is paid well over seven figures. The entire organization is tax-exempt.

I think it’s important not to lie to ourselves. The NCAA is not in the business of keeping the integrity of the sport intact. They are in the business of ensuring their cash-cow keeps churning dollars.

A lot of people benefit from the way the NCAA currently operates from the fans, to the construction companies building stadium, to politicians sitting for free in luxury boxes, to NCAA employees jetting around the country on private jets provided by the wealthy who want access to the glory of the athletes, to the seven-figure salaried announcers, to the fans who enjoy the game, and to the players who get to go to school.

All I’m asking for is a little equity between all those interested parties.

I don’t begrudge the networks their advertising revenue, the construction companies their profits, the coaches, athletic directors, sideline reporters, and countless others their salaries.

The current system strikes me as grossly unfair to the student-athletes who are the underpinnings upon which all other profits are based. It’s strikes me as anti-American. It hits me in my Libertarian guts.

The value of a NCAA Division I football and basketball player has increased by an almost astronomical amount in the last twenty years and their remuneration remains unchanged.

I don’t like it and I don’t like the lie the NCAA tells to justify it.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere

Kim Dotcom Gets his Stuff back – Two Years Later

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Kim Dotcom Gets StuffThere’s a lot going on in the news lately with insane people murdering strangers and babies. I’m letting all that stuff sink in before I write anything. In the meantime there is a news story where I know exactly how I feel. Over two years ago at the behest of the big money in the United States the police in New Zealand set up an illegal surveillance operation on a man named Kim Dotcom. They eventually raided his house and stole, I mean seized, all his stuff.

Well, the courts have finally ruled that the police can’t keep his stuff forever. Hooray. It only took two+ years!

I’ve written about this case on several occasions but I’ll recap quickly for those not fully aware of the circumstances of the legal trouble in which Dotcom finds himself embroiled.

Dotcom was the main owner of a file sharing site called Megaupload. The site was used by many legitimate people and businesses to store various files in a secure, cloud environment. It was also used by many others to share files illegally. One person purchased a song or an eBook or a movie and then shared it with other people who had not made such a purchase.

This sort of file sharing has long been regarded by the movie and music industry as a drain on their profits. The argument over whether sharing reduces actual purchases is quite interesting in its own right but most of what I’ve read indicates it has little or no effect on overall sales. While some people download a file they would have otherwise purchased the evidence suggests this is generally not the case. The person who downloads either ends up making the purchase later or would never have made the purchase at all. This can be argued but it’s not really the point of my blog.

The point here is that people with a lot of money, the recording and movie industry, decided to put pressure on U.S. politicians and politicians in New Zealand to put an end to Megaupload. This money and influence purchased police action. Dotcom was raided and still faces extradition orders from the United States. His business was destroyed. Servers with information were taken and the files eventually destroyed.

This in itself is frightening. That people with money can influence a government into arresting people and destroying their livelihood. The corruption of the enforcement and judicial branch of any government is not something to be taken lightly. If a wealthy person can buy the arrest of another person, are any of us safe?

Even worse, in my opinion, is that the authorities held onto Dotcom’s possessions for well over two years and he still hasn’t been brought to trial. They illegally watched his home, raided it in an extremely overzealous and publicity minded fashion, took his stuff, and still haven’t brought him to trial.

Whether you support file sharing or not it seems to be me that anyone who believes in freedom cannot support a government acting in this manner, particularly at the behest of moneyed interests.

When politicians have too much influence over the judicial and enforcement agencies of our government there is the real possibility of freedom being taken from us. Where justice is just a word, not a beloved and cherished idea, there is danger to everyone.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere

German Tank Sale Story – Stupid Headline

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Leopard 2It’s a bit of a stretch but I’m awarding my stupid headline of the week to an article about how Germany recently refused to sell up to 800 of their mainline battle tanks to Saudi Arabia. The article itself is interesting and there is nothing wrong with the headline which actually describes the contents pretty well.

So, what’s my problem with the story? The picture accompanying the story is a World War II Tiger tank! I’ve included a picture of the Leopard II, to which the article refers here in this blog (click the picture or my link above to see the original article).

It’s an interesting decision by the German government based on the fact that Saudi Arabia is a totalitarian state that exports terrorism all over the world. The thinking being that maybe Germany should not be selling Saudi Arabia formidable weapon’s systems like the Leopard II even if it means foregoing as much as $25 billion dollars.

There are a lot of other countries in the world where they turn a blind eye to the politics of the nation as long as the cash is green and the gold … well, gold.

I’m not sure who gets the congratulations for the stupid headline victory though. The article was written by Agence France-Presse but reprinted in Yahoo. Either way, nice story but getting the proper picture would not have been difficult.

And to our true allies the Germans I say: Gut gemacht.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Broken Throne
Next Release: The Black Sphere

Money Grubbing Jews are the new Poster Child for Christianity

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Pat Robertson and Daniel LapinThere’s an interesting story hitting the news sites these days in which evangelist Pat Robertson started talking about money-grubbing Jews. It’s not what you think.

Robertson was speaking with a wealthy Rabbi about money issues when he wondered what it was that made Jewish people prone to wealth (I’ll tell you why, they value education. End of story). Why they polish diamonds rather than fix their cars or mow their lawns. The Rabbi immediately recognized it was a compliment and began preening away about how he pays someone else to mow the lawn and fix the car.

What I find fascinating is that a thousand years ago, a hundred years ago, even fifty years ago such a statement would have been made as an insult. The predominate feeling was that Jewish people were more concerned with making money than with doing the right thing. That money was more important than leading a good life. That Jews put the pursuit of money before all else.

The new Christian paradigm is that greed is good. Pat Robertson was unequivocally complimenting Jewish people. He wanted his own flock to emulate their wealthy ways.

This is largely not what religious Christians believed until fairly recently. There are a number of factors driving this change in attitude, not in the least is the very close relationship between Evangelical Christians and the Republican Party. I don’t want to get overly involved in why attitudes are changing. It’s just an interesting phenomenon.

I do want to say that greed is not good. I’m a fan of Ayn Rand and it pains me when I see people equating greed with her central message of Objectivism.

I absolutely believe people should be rewarded for achievements. That by rewarding people for doing well we encourage more people to do well. But I think the Republican Party, and their allies, have it in reverse. We should do great things because it makes us feel good. We should achieve because when we achieve we help ourselves and everyone around us. If rewards come to us from these achievements that is natural and good. But we don’t set out for the rewards.

I write my books because it makes me feel great. I love the sense of accomplishment when I finish a new book. I love hearing that people get enjoyment from reading my books. I haven’t yet gotten any financial reward for writing my books. Would I love to make millions? Yes. Will I keep writing even if no one ever buys my novels? Yes.

Why? Because doing what you love will make you happy, regardless of the reward. Life is long and if you don’t spend it doing things you love, longer yet.

If I wrote books with an eye to making money I might succeed. Perhaps I should have written a moody vampire novel and maybe I’d have made millions. I’m not sure. But I know the books wouldn’t have been any good. I wouldn’t have poured my passion into them, my love. Books like that wouldn’t have made me happy, no matter the financial gain they gave me.

In the end you have happiness. Are you enjoying your life? Will chasing money bring enjoyment or will doing the things you love bring it?

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Coming very, very soon: The Broken Throne

La Chingona – is it a Bad Word if you don’t Know it?

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La ChingonaI read an interesting story in the news today about a specialty pizza being offered by the Pizza Patrón chain which is located primarily in Texas but in a number of other states as well. They have a new pizza covered with jalapeno infused pepperoni with more diced hot peppers on top.

I know the very idea of such a pizza will send my buddy Jeff and his daughter immediately to Texas to make a purchase.

The problem is that the chain has launched an advertising campaign calling the pizza La Chingona. What would you think of a public advertising campaign with billboards and signage in the store that offered a pizza called The Fucking Bad-Ass?

The problem is that La Chingona doesn’t literally translate so crudely. It is a slang term used primarily by younger people in Mexico to have such meaning. A literal translation is more like “Cool Girl”. Language is filled with words that can have two or more meanings even without slang definitions.

In response to this campaign a number of chain owners are refusing to put up the advertisements and number of media outlets are refusing to play the commercials.

A quick perusal of the Urban Dictionary T section gives us words and phrases related to Tea bags, a Tony Danza, Turbeville, Thomas, Thot, Tyler, two girls one cup, etc.

All these words have vulgar meaning but they are not on the list of banned words from the FCC. Thus they fit into the realm of the pizza that inspired me to write this blog.

All this fuss over a few words. In my opinion it’s perfectly reasonable for the store to use this term for their pizza. It’s perfectly reasonable for chain owners and media outlets to refuse to play or show the advertisements. If a person is offended then they shouldn’t go into the store. This is the way freedom works.

Freedom is often unpleasant. It involves allowing pizza companies to use vulgarities and allowing hate filled people to protest funerals. Freedom doesn’t involve the government suppressing everything that anyone finds unappealing. It means the opposite.

I see and hear things on a daily basis that I wouldn’t say or do myself. Things I find crude. The idea that we can “protect our children” from the horror of having to see a sign advertising the Fucking Bad-Ass pizza is not realistic. The world is a crude and disgusting place. The best we can do is explain that those who behave in a crude fashion, will be treated as if they are so.

When we try to rid the world of all that is crude we also attack the cause of freedom.

I accept La Chingona. I accept Fred Phelps. I accept but I do not condone. If you like freedom then you have to show some personal responsibility when you see things you don’t like. It’s the price we pay.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Coming Soon: The Broken Throne

Tesla Banning – It's all about Service

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tesla-store-new-jersey-banNew Jersey became the third state to ban sales of Tesla cars because they refuse to be part of the franchise system. Texas and Arizona have already instituted the ban based on the idea that in those states you are required to be a franchise in order to sell cars.

I wrote about this issue back in August and spoke about how this new model of selling cars hurts those who pay franchising fees and those who collect those fees. In short, politicians in many states have set up a system wherein anyone who wants to sell cars must pay a bribe to the state in order to have a license. Those who cannot afford the bribe or do not want to pay are not allowed to sell product to consumers.

There’s another aspect to the story. Car dealers make most of their money through service calls and financing, not sales. When people take their car to the dealer for routine maintenance and repair they pay a premium for such service. 

If the Tesla method of selling cars catches on; this lucrative form of revenue decreases dramatically. The loan portion of the industry is also severely damaged.

What upsets me most about all the caterwauling from the auto industry and franchise owners in various states is their insistence that they are banning Tesla sales to save the consumers. This is the sort of “it’s for you own good” Liberalism that drives Libertarians like me to drink.

What it really is, is another example of Crony Capitalism where those with money run to legislators and beg to be saved from a new competitor.

It could be that the franchise system is better for consumers. I doubt it, but it could be true. One thing that I know for certain is that it’s not the government’s business to decide what’s the best sales model for a car manufacturer.

We here in the United States don’t have the best cars, the best internet speeds, or the best technology because Crony Capitalism is destroying real capitalism. Are you happy with your internet provider? Your television provider? How many choices do you have? Choices are good for consumers and, in the long run, good for businesses.

In a capitalistic system a business must provide a good product at a price people want if they want to survive an assault from a vigorous new competitor.

In the United States the owner of a business simply heads to the statehouse and bribes the politicians into passing laws to destroy their competitors.

I have a word of warning for all the franchise owners who are trying to legislate Tesla out of business.

Elon Musk has a lot of money and bribery goes both ways. Maybe you should think about changing your business model. 

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Next Release: The Broken Throne

Tesla Banning – It’s all about Service

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tesla-store-new-jersey-banNew Jersey became the third state to ban sales of Tesla cars because they refuse to be part of the franchise system. Texas and Arizona have already instituted the ban based on the idea that in those states you are required to be a franchise in order to sell cars.

I wrote about this issue back in August and spoke about how this new model of selling cars hurts those who pay franchising fees and those who collect those fees. In short, politicians in many states have set up a system wherein anyone who wants to sell cars must pay a bribe to the state in order to have a license. Those who cannot afford the bribe or do not want to pay are not allowed to sell product to consumers.

There’s another aspect to the story. Car dealers make most of their money through service calls and financing, not sales. When people take their car to the dealer for routine maintenance and repair they pay a premium for such service. 

If the Tesla method of selling cars catches on; this lucrative form of revenue decreases dramatically. The loan portion of the industry is also severely damaged.

What upsets me most about all the caterwauling from the auto industry and franchise owners in various states is their insistence that they are banning Tesla sales to save the consumers. This is the sort of “it’s for you own good” Liberalism that drives Libertarians like me to drink.

What it really is, is another example of Crony Capitalism where those with money run to legislators and beg to be saved from a new competitor.

It could be that the franchise system is better for consumers. I doubt it, but it could be true. One thing that I know for certain is that it’s not the government’s business to decide what’s the best sales model for a car manufacturer.

We here in the United States don’t have the best cars, the best internet speeds, or the best technology because Crony Capitalism is destroying real capitalism. Are you happy with your internet provider? Your television provider? How many choices do you have? Choices are good for consumers and, in the long run, good for businesses.

In a capitalistic system a business must provide a good product at a price people want if they want to survive an assault from a vigorous new competitor.

In the United States the owner of a business simply heads to the statehouse and bribes the politicians into passing laws to destroy their competitors.

I have a word of warning for all the franchise owners who are trying to legislate Tesla out of business.

Elon Musk has a lot of money and bribery goes both ways. Maybe you should think about changing your business model. 

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Next Release: The Broken Throne

Despicable banks, Greedy Business, Palin, and Tesla Crash

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I’ve been working on my next novel quite a bit and haven’t done a Stupid or Misleading Headline in over a week so I thought I’d just do a quick perusal of the hot news stories to see if I could find anything worthy.

Yep.

Here’s a group of four to excite your fancy if you’re a Republican, Democrat, conspiracy theorist, or just about anything else.

I’m not going to get into a deep analysis of any of the four but they are all special in their own way.

Despicable Bank Bank of America is up to shenanigans with the way they process debit statements. It is a pretty obvious and ethically questionable move to try to get more defaults but hardly the most despicable thing of all time.
Greedy Businesses First off, the economy doesn’t suck. It’s not humming along at an early to mid 90’s rate but all economic indicators show mild growth and decreasing unemployment. Secondly the country is changing. Enterprise business is now dominant where once small businesses had the greatest influence. Greed plays a role but it’s hardly the only factor in the game.
Sarah Palin I suppose it is news when my fellow University of Idaho alumnus says something that turns out to be prophetic instead of nonsense. Still, does this make her a foreign policy expert? Hardly.
Tesla Crash Elon Musk is a bit of a P. T. Barnum type and his wild claims get on my nerves but just because he makes outlandish statements doesn’t mean his entire business is going to come crashing down.

Anyway, that’s it. A quick recap of headlines designed to seduce you into making that all important click. Don’t do it!

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Next Release: The Broken Throne

BitCoin and the Value of Fake Money

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BitCoinThere are a lot of stories in the news these days about BitCoin and the idea of digital currency as a whole. After a few conversations with people I’ve found there is a lot of confusion about how it works and the potential benefits and liabilities of such systems.

I’ll tell you immediately that I’m a huge proponent of digital currency although I agree that in its early stages there are many dangers. I think the forces arrayed against digital currency do not have the best interests of the individual in mind.

To understand digital currency we really have to understand modern currency as a whole. The coins and bills in your pocket, wallet, and purse have little to no intrinsic value. Even if made of real silver and gold they just don’t. See my post about Elastic Currency and my other post about the Gold Standard for more in-depth discussion on this idea.

What makes such currency valuable is that other people are willing to trade you goods and services in exchange for that currency. This is achieved through backing of the currency, generally by a government agency although not always.

When you win tickets at Dave & Busters you are purchasing currency which can be used buy things. Resort towns sometimes have a currency system for tourists. It’s all the same idea. Rather than carrying around a chicken to trade for something else of value, we use currency.

When a currency backing agency fails then the people who own that currency have nothing of value anymore. Confederate Money after the Civil War for example. When you purchase stock in a company that goes bankrupt so too is your money gone. During the Bank Runs that precipitated the Great Depression people lost all their money because the banks could not back it up. What happened to your retirement account during the recent financial crisis? You didn’t spend the money, you didn’t lose the money, but it still lost value.

No currency is perfectly secure; some are more secure than others and the U.S. Dollar has been among the most secure since the end of World War II.

Digital Currency is like other currencies except it has no physical presence. It is merely a number in an account that you can draw upon. In this it’s not much different from about 99% of your wealth. You don’t have bills and coins; you have bank statements, stocks, equity, homes, etc.

So, why is digital currency better? Because it means your wealth is with you at all time but cannot be stolen, at least in the traditional sense of the word. Yes, your account might be broken into but no one can mug you of digital currency. When you need to go into town to make purchases you are not subject to bandits.

The biggest advantage from a Libertarian point of view is that encrypted digital money is anonymous money. Government officials do not know who holds what. Governments can’t easily control the flow of money and have few if any regulatory powers. Purchases with such currency cannot be involuntarily taxed because of this complete anonymity.

There are dangers in the early days as we see in the headlines. Backing agencies can be corrupt and fail. But this is not a reason to give up on this form of currency.

Imagine a world in which every person has instant and complete access to all their money. You can go anywhere and purchase anything without worrying about tariffs and taxes. It is, after all, your money.

I’ve only touched the very surface of benefits and drawbacks to digital currencies. There are legitimate law enforcement issues in regards to illegal transactions. There are astounding possibilities about alleviating wealth inequality.

It’s a complex subject with no simple answers. I’m of the opinion that those who wish to control money, control freedom, and control the individual don’t like the idea of digital currency. Therefore it appeals to me.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Next Release: The Broken Throne

India’s $75 Million Mangalyaan Mission

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India Mars missionThe other day I read in interesting article about a mission to Mars that you probably haven’t heard about and a few days later a friend of mine linked her blog to a Siemens seminar about manufacturing. An item in each of those links dovetailed into something that struck me.

The entire Mars mission is costing India the equivalent of $75 million dollars and a large part of this is because they have such a glut of incredibly intelligent young engineers that their starting salary is less than one-third of their counterparts in the United States. The team that designed the satellite has two people on it over the age of 31.

Meanwhile I read this quote from the Siemens article.

High-tech factories require a dependable supply of a well-trained, technically adept labor force. By one estimate, America will need over 120 million workers with advanced skills by 2020 – and may be on pace to prepare less than half of what’s required with adequate qualifications.

Not long ago I wrote a blog about how last year China unleashed seven million college graduates onto the world.

It’s my opinion that the Automation Age is coming and if you want a good job you need to have technical skills. Robots will be doing the vast majority of menial jobs in the future.

If the United States cannot provide businesses with a workforce that can do the job, businesses will look elsewhere. That’s the bottom line.

I’m happy to see this incredible wealth of intelligence arising in China and India. I don’t think this has to be a dire threat to the United States. As the world becomes smarter so too will our lives become better. But let’s not kid ourselves; we must continue to produce a highly qualified and technically advanced workforce. If we do not we risk being left behind.

We can’t be complacent. We can’t lie to ourselves and say, well, those Asian and Indian kids might get good grades but they can’t plan, design, and manufacturer a robotic mission to Mars. Trust me, they can.

No matter your political party try to refrain from attacking scientists even when they don’t agree with your political agenda. Read a science article now and again. Download an astronomy app so when you see a bright object in the sky you can identify it.

You might not be able to tell a youngster to become a scientist but you sure can inspire them.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Next Release: The Broken Throne

PacSun Shirts were Obscene so Mom bought them All

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PacSun t-shirtsThere’s a really interesting story making news in the little town of Orem, Utah. At the local University Mall they had a bunch shirts on display made by a company called PacSun.

A woman browsing through the mall with her son found pictures on the shirts to be obscene. The shirts that Judy Cox found offensive are from a campaign called Visual by Van Styles.

Cox started off by complaining to the store manager who explained that they would have to get approval from company management to remove the shirts from the display. Not satisfied with this answer Cox purchased all nineteen shirts.

No problem, right, her money. However, her plan is to return the shirts after 59 days thus meeting the store’s return policy. There’s my issue.

She has, in my opinion, committed larceny by false pretenses. The store will be unable to sell those shirts for 59 days and this represents a loss to them even if she returns them.

If you’re a lawyer, I’d really like to hear from you about the legality of making a purchase with the intent to return it.

I do think a community has the right to determine what is obscene and if an ordinance passed by the city prohibited shirts of women with bikinis from being displayed, that is their business. The right to sell a shirt with a particular image is not protected by the Constitution of the United States.

That should have been the route Cox took rather than her approach which is, to my way of thinking, theft. If she goes through with her plan of returning the shirts she should be tried and, if found guilty, put in jail. A crime is a crime.

My major complaint here is that one person should not be allowed to make such a determination for a community. We live in a Representative Republic. If Cox wanted to protect the children of her community from such images there are legal and reasonable methods to achieve that. She could have brought a motion to her City Council and if enough people agreed with her then such displays would be banned.

Those of you who will defend Cox please keep in mind that there is someone out there who finds something that you enjoy to be offensive.

Should a vegan be allowed to purchase every wool and leather item in the store and return in 59 days later?

Should a PETA member be allowed to purchase every fur coat and return it 59 days later?

Should a devout christian be able to purchase every copy of various Harry Potter novels and return them 59 days later?

We live in this fantastic country wherein the people vote and have a voice in their government. When you resort to criminal activity to enact your own brand of justice; take a moment to consider the kind of country you would live in if everyone felt the same way.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Next Release: The Broken Throne

Fellatio, Homosexual Couples, SodaStream, and the Super Bowl

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Fellatio InnuendoI wrote earlier last week that Fox Network refused to air an advertisement from a company that sells soda making equipment because it referenced rivals Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

They didn’t give any explanation as to why they refused to air the ad but the assumption is that they didn’t want to offend two of their largest sponsors; Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Certainly both of those companies mention each other in advertisement and significantly more negatively than the Soda Stream ad mentions them.

However, Soda Stream is a small company that doesn’t spend millions of dollars on advertisement on many other shows; therefore Fox made their decision. Offending Soda Stream will not cost Fox potentially huge amounts of revenue. I explained in the first article why I thought Fox had the right to advertise what they wanted but that this forced alteration smacked of censorship and was certainly an example of the Crony Capitalism that is subverting the economic principles of our country.

That is not the focus of today’s blog. Today I want to talk about how it is apparently perfectly acceptable for an advertisement to state pretty openly that a man wants oral sex from the woman next to him. That it’s completely all right to have a homosexual couple in an advertisement. That a halftime show can be filled with sexually suggestive songs and dances (this year was largely bereft of such displays but I’m talking more generally). There can even be wardrobe malfunctions that are intentionally planned to expose a woman’s breast.

Personally I don’t have a problem with any of these things. I’m actually rather fond of women’s breasts. I’m not opposed to fellatio from an attractive woman, and I don’t have a problem with a homosexual couple. Let’s face reality; some people will have problems with all of these things. I have a problem with commercials where couples (gay or straight) are sticking tongues down each other’s throats. There are always going to be some things, that someone, somewhere, will find objectionable.

The question I want to explore is the remedy to this problem. The people who find these things objectionable now go to our government, namely the FCC, to try to get that agency to penalize those who create and display the content.

I don’t doubt that the FCC will see a litany of complaints this morning. To me this is the heart of the problem. We look to the government to redress grievances over which they should have no jurisdiction. You don’t like seeing a man ask a woman for oral sex and the woman apparently relishing the idea? Then organize a few friends and boycott the network or the product. It’s easy today with the internet to find like-minded people. If enough of you make a fuss, there will be changes.

If you don’t like seeing homosexual couples on your television during the Super Bowl but the majority of people have decided that it’s ok to show them? Well, don’t watch the Super Bowl.

If a friend makes a very sweet comment about breastfeeding her newborn son and that offends you, then tell your friend. If you think it’s sweet then Like the post. The internet is the age of the individual. It is a Libertarian’s dream world.

Take charge of your life and don’t look to the government to do it for you. If you empower the government to ban things, don’t be surprised when they ban something you like. Power to the people! Better yet, power to me!

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Next Release: The Broken Throne

Kansas and the Anti-Google Bill – Capitalism at its Finest

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Ban GoogleI’ve been railing against Crony Capitalism on this blog for about as long as I’ve been writing it. There are any number of instances where a business decides that the best way to get a bigger market share is to bribe legislatures to pass laws destroying their competition.

There’s an blatant case of this going on in Kansas although because the company that was being legislated out of business is a big boy, Google, the fight just got ugly.

Basically the large cable companies that “serve” the people of Kansas; Comcast, Cox, Eagle Communications, and Time Warner Cable, submitted, on their own, a bill to the Kansas State legislature. You can read all about the bill but it basically prevents any municipality in Kansas from providing broadband service to their customers or hiring anyone to do it.

The stated reason for the bill is that legislatures, bought by campaign funds from cable companies, don’t think it’s fair for tax dollars to be used in competition with private companies. It seems reasonable on the surface but try to remember how you get your water, electric, and gas. The real reason for the bill is that communities are starting to provide, on their own, wireless access to the internet. Kansas City partnered with Google to provide fiber-optic speed internet access to their community.

This bill hasn’t passed yet and the uproar has already forced the legislature to offer tweaks but the reality is that is the way business is done in the United States and it’s not good for consumers.

The cable companies have essentially had monopolies in their communities since their inception. Read this article from the Cato Institute. Basically cable providers pay municipalities huge sums of money so they can be the only source of television in an area. Yet somehow the legislation being proposed doesn’t outlaw this sweetheart deal.

Changing technology in the form of broadband internet is altering the game organically but cable companies fear they will lose their audience because people are unhappy with the service they get. The solution, of course, is to try to legislate away competition, not actually provide a service that people like.

I strongly suspect that this particular piece of legislation will fail and their will be general rejoicing. However, the reality is that this is the way business is done in the United States and it is destroying capitalism, destroying our faith in our country, destroying our faith in elected officials, destroying our trust of the judiciary, and contributing greatly to the trend of monetary inequality.

Liberals argue that big business is the source of this inequality while conservatives cite over-regulation. The real culprit is Crony Capitalism. When a business conspires with a government agency to eliminate competition through legislation rather than providing a better product the fallout is dangerous to us all.

True competition is the best wealth distributor. Crony Capitalism concentrates wealth in the hands not of the best business but with those businesses that know best how to bribe their legislatures into eliminating competition.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery fantasy with a Libertarian Ideology
Current Release: The Spear of the Hunt
Next Release: The Broken Throne