My Fellow Americans,
I want to start off by acknowledging that I know many of you are absolutely apoplectic at the thought of a Trump presidency. I have watched traditional and social media these past weeks and since the election progressives in our country have reacted with depression, sadness, and even with violence when they discovered that about half of voting Americans want to chart a new political course. So let me begin by trying to reassure those of you who've reacted so strongly...those of you who are convinced that I'm racist, a narcissist, or that I can't be trusted with the nuclear codes... because of comments I made or because that's what the talking heads on TV have told you. Please know I have no intention of leading America to war or of oppressing anyone based on race, religion, sexuality or any other characteristic. I know the American people are dedicated to our democracy and I ask all of you who are concerned about my choice as president to give me a chance to be the best president this country has ever had. Do not let the politics of division continue to dominate the dialogue in this country. I trully believe as Martin Luther King did that our children must not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
For those of you who voted for me... many of you on the conservative side of the political spectrum, let me assure you that I intend to work hard to do what I promised you I'd do. I intend to remain strong on defense, on immigration, and on building our economy while fulfilling my promise to drain the swamp. Too many American people think that they have rights that the
constitution simply doesn't give them. I want America to be the best place to live on earth,
but we have to remember the constitution does not guarantee us the right to
food, housing, health care, transportation, or to anything else that
isn't earned through individual hard work. We need to provide safety nets in our society but for too long our safety nets have been mistaken for hammocks. I believe our country has swung too far toward socialism for too long. As Margaret Thatcher once said, the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money. Many progressives in this country don't agree with me on this. All I can say is that while I respect your opinion, I respectfully disagree. I will paraphrase President Obama who said 8 years ago you ultimately have to recognize that we won the election. This means we will pursue a policy consistent with conservative values. I believe it is my job to show through example how great we can be when we cast off jealousy of our fellow man and concentrate on our own industry and productivity. I will use the presidency to educate, to inform, to cajole. I need to convince our young people and so many others who almost gave us 8 more years of socialist policy that these policies have been tried over and over again and they have failed everywhere they've been tried. From Cuba to Russia, and from Venezuela to Brazil we know that although socialism is a nice theory, that it kills entrepreneurial spirit. It kills the determination of the individual to innovate and work hard. I will urge the American people to look hard at what socialist policies have done and to avoid them wherever possible.
My number one priority is to restore America's economic engine. To make America great again we need to address the reality that during the last 8 years the rich have gotten richer. During the Obama presidency the income gap between the richest 1% and the average American has widened dramatically. I believe it makes many of you angry to see government policies that somehow continue to benefit the 1% at the expense of the working class. The disagreement some of us may have is whether we can improve the lot of the working man through oppressive government intervention or whether it can be done through economic growth and capitalism. I believe many of you share this concern and I will work hard to show you that the intuitive way of taking from the rich to give to the poor is largely the wrong way to address this problem. I believe that excessive government regulation has badly hurt our economic recovery and that we can do better. I believe that while a government friendly to business growth WILL create more wealth among our entrepreneurs and businesses that it will also raise the standard of living of the average man. But there is another thing I need American's to understand. Independent of our politics in the next 10 years technology will continue to put pressure on the average working person's salary. Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and self driving cars are but a few of the technologies that will impact our work force. One small example is that currently up to 10% of our population are employed as professional drivers of some sort. Self driving cars and trucks may, in the relatively near future, dramatically impact these people. Let me be clear: this will happen whether there is a republican or democrat in the white house. Progress is inevitable and unstoppable. It is time politicians start thinking 10 years ahead and anticipate social problems rather than trying to catch up with what happened 10 years ago.
Part of our economic growth must be energy independence. It makes no sense to deliberately strangle the economy of this country when we have abundant resources. Our energy policy must include solar, wind, and other green technologies but only when they make economic sense. Let us not fool ourselves into using technologies that only make sense with government subsidies or that can't provide for all our energy needs. At the same time, let's make sure we are sensitive to the environment and that our cities don't have the air pollution or other environmental problems that the Chinese and other countries who don't have sufficient regulation of the environment have. I will be advocating that our energy policies include aggressive funding for development of fusion based nuclear power for the long term, as well as conventional fission nuclear power in the medium term. However our fission plans must include breeder reactors to dramatically reduce the volume of nuclear waste so we are not leaving environmental problems for our grand children to deal with. It may surprise you to hear me talk about fusion power. But the truth is almost every form of energy we have is nothing more than a form of stored fusion energy. What I mean is that everything from burning wood, to coal, to oil merely releases the chemical energy of our sun which is trapped in plant or animal matter and our sun is a giant fusion reactor. So in embracing energy for the future that is clean and completely carbon neutral it is critical that we embrace clean fusion power as soon as practical
Our economic growth must also include better education at all levels. Our schools must do a better job of training the next generation of workers. This includes increased funding for trade schools as well as updating curriculum at our universities to teach the next generation of job skills rather than the last generation. Accomplishing this does not mean throwing money at the status quo. Programs that develop new curriculum and a new generation of instructors must supplement our existing education programs
During the campaign I mentioned many problems associated with illegal immigration. I will work hard to curtail those who come to this country illegally. But let me be clear: Being opposed to illegal immigration does not mean I'm anti-immigration. In fact, I will propose a new program which will throw open our doors to immigrants with skill sets we need such as doctors, nurses, scientists, and engineers. These are people who immediately drive up the quality of our health care and scientific advancement. This new immigration program will make it clear to skilled professionals everywhere that America wants them and will all but rubber stamp qualified individuals to come to our country independent of race, sex, or religion. To paraphrase former presidential candidate Ross Perot, I want to create a giant sucking sound in which the best brains in the world come to America because this country is still the best place to live on the planet.
Much has been said of comments I made about temporarily restricting access to our country of immigrants of the Islam religion. While I want to make it clear that I recognize that there are 1.7 billion Muslims in the world and most of them are not terrorists, the fact remains that almost all terrorism in this world is performed by Muslims. Progressives give the Islamic religion a pass under the guise of multi-multiculturalism but the truth is there are ideas in the Muslim world that must be opposed. The very liberals who rail at religious conservatives who oppose abortion or gay marriage give Muslims who believe the very same thing a pass. The problem is that Islam, as codified in the Koran and the Hadith has a great many violent ideas that run contrary to what America stands for. As the great American thinker Sam Harris has said "Many religions have bad ideas, but Islam is the mother lode of bad ideas". Comments like these have led progressives to accuse Sam Harris (and me) of racism or Islamophobia. Islam and Sharia law has nothing to do with race, rather it is a religion and a political system that is directly at odds with democracy and the decency of modern society. So let me address head on this ugly accusation of Islamophobia. Islam means "to submit or surrender" and phobia is an irrational fear. Islamophobia thus means an irrational fear of Islam or an irrational fear of surrendering one's will to Allah. First of all, I don't think it is at all irrational to fear an ideology that is responsible for a vast majority of the world's terrorism. Secondly, to suggest that Americans should submit to the will of Allah is, on it's face, arrogant and in direct opposition to our values for freedom of (and from) religion. This is a religion that oppresses women, kills those who don't
believe as they do, and can't even stand the thought of someone drawing a
cartoon of their prophet on a piece of paper. Until their barbaric 6th
century ideas are quashed and their religion stops promoting violence,
we will oppose them. I'm happy to work with moderate Islamic leaders to clarify the meaning of the Koran and to work towards a worldwide understanding that Sharia law is not and will never be consistent with the American way of life. Further, Muslims who wish to position themselves as Americans or friends of America must state categorically that imposing Sharia law in this country or elsewhere is not their goal now or ever. Until they are willing to do this, I will continue to consider them a threat to America.
For those in the media who are already trying to discredit my ability to impartially run this country based on my business holdings I ask you to just knock it off. I did not run for this office for personal enrichment. Those of you who are trying to prove I did do not get it. The people who voted for me understand that my financial independence is what will allow me to ignore typical financial pressures of fund raising. I am not doing this for money. Quite the contrary, I've taken many business hits to do this for our country. Instead of trying to discredit my presidency before
it even begins I ask you to give me the benefit of the doubt, and let me show
you that I have American's best interests at heart.
I look forward to being the best president America has had in a long time. Thank you and good night.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Why do we admire the philosophy of people who wiped with leaves?
Today I was treated to a lecture consisting of a mix of good scientific nutrition and exercise advice mixed with a healthy dose of "wait for it": the philosophy of Yin and Yang as it applies to our health.
If I told you there was a culture who, after defecating wiped their rears with rags, sticks, and leaves, would you be inclined to think these people had deep scientific knowledge we don't possess? In other words, they hadn't invented toilet paper, yet we trust that their medical insights are somehow wiser than ours? They had no knowledge of antibiotics. They thought the earth was flat and earth was the center of the universe. They had no concept of what blood actually did, no knowledge of infection. This era was so primitive they had just invented the crossbow (4th century BC). Think about that: We are talking primitive man. What scientific and religious lessons do these ancient savages have for us?
The concepts of Yin and Yang and ancient Chinese medicine have roots in the religion of Taoism and in the philosophy of ancient Chinese thinkers. The principle is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, for example female-male, dark-light and old-young. The two opposites attract and complement each other and, as their symbol illustrates, each side has at its core an element of the other (represented by the small dots). While we may agree with these basic ideas, we need to ask what predictive value do they have? Does Yin and Yang allow us to predict how the world works? Will they tell us what medicine will cure a disease? What behavior we need to consider in order to be happy? Or is this philosophy applied in reverse to explain things we observe? If a philosophy or religion can't predicatively explain the world what value are they?
300 years before Christ lived the principal proponent of the theory of Yin and Yang was the cosmologist Zou Yan (or Tsou Yen) who believed that life went through five phases (wuxing) - fire, water, metal, wood, earth - which continuously interchanged according to the principle of yin and yang. When you visit China in the 21st century, ask about ancient Chinese medicine. While many Chinese believe in Yin and Yang, you will quickly be told that most Chinese people want western medicine when they are sick. Yet nutritionists, trainers, and various alternative practitioners in the United States continue to act as if Ancient Chinese Medicine (ACM) has some wisdom to impart modern man.
The next time someone starts telling you about "Yin and Yang" please stop them and ask "Do you really think the ancient religion of a people who wiped their ass with leaves provides us with valuable insight into the way the world or our bodies work?"
If I told you there was a culture who, after defecating wiped their rears with rags, sticks, and leaves, would you be inclined to think these people had deep scientific knowledge we don't possess? In other words, they hadn't invented toilet paper, yet we trust that their medical insights are somehow wiser than ours? They had no knowledge of antibiotics. They thought the earth was flat and earth was the center of the universe. They had no concept of what blood actually did, no knowledge of infection. This era was so primitive they had just invented the crossbow (4th century BC). Think about that: We are talking primitive man. What scientific and religious lessons do these ancient savages have for us?
The concepts of Yin and Yang and ancient Chinese medicine have roots in the religion of Taoism and in the philosophy of ancient Chinese thinkers. The principle is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, for example female-male, dark-light and old-young. The two opposites attract and complement each other and, as their symbol illustrates, each side has at its core an element of the other (represented by the small dots). While we may agree with these basic ideas, we need to ask what predictive value do they have? Does Yin and Yang allow us to predict how the world works? Will they tell us what medicine will cure a disease? What behavior we need to consider in order to be happy? Or is this philosophy applied in reverse to explain things we observe? If a philosophy or religion can't predicatively explain the world what value are they?
300 years before Christ lived the principal proponent of the theory of Yin and Yang was the cosmologist Zou Yan (or Tsou Yen) who believed that life went through five phases (wuxing) - fire, water, metal, wood, earth - which continuously interchanged according to the principle of yin and yang. When you visit China in the 21st century, ask about ancient Chinese medicine. While many Chinese believe in Yin and Yang, you will quickly be told that most Chinese people want western medicine when they are sick. Yet nutritionists, trainers, and various alternative practitioners in the United States continue to act as if Ancient Chinese Medicine (ACM) has some wisdom to impart modern man.
The next time someone starts telling you about "Yin and Yang" please stop them and ask "Do you really think the ancient religion of a people who wiped their ass with leaves provides us with valuable insight into the way the world or our bodies work?"
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Nutrition bullshit
I want to provide a "skeptics view" of some opinions offered to me by a nutritionist today. Comments welcome
“The human body hasn’t evolved much
since back in caveman days 2000 years ago” Errrr caveman or
Neanderthals, lived about 20,000 years ago. Maybe a slip of the tongue on
her part but since Christ was said to have lived 2000 years ago it was a
particularly noticeable slip to me. And she is simply wrong about evolution.
There is ample evidence humans have evolved continuously and recently. Read the
book “A
troublesome inheritance” or checkout the Time magazine article documenting
that we continue to evolve. http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1931757,00.html
“paleo diet is good” because
it’s what we evolved to eat. Maybe that's wrong. No one knows for sure but see http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-paleo-diet-half-baked-how-hunter-gatherer-really-eat/
“Organic foods are good” Did
you ever wonder why Chinese drink hot tea? It’s because fertilizers used
are human and animal waste. Without being boiled, it’s basically a nice
big cup of E-coli. http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4019
Many of the e-coli outbreaks have been traced to organic foods. When
considering how many people have died from organic foods and e-coli in recent
years, it is possible to make a real argument that they are substantially LESS
healthy for you. Many other issues such as world hunger etc to consider.
Organic foods are, in fact, less “sustainable” planet wide.
“GMO foods are bad” Very
debatable but everyone has different opinions. At the very least the
science is still out but most scientists believe most GMOs are safe. Take
a look at this article on Golden Rice for example. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/sunday-review/golden-rice-lifesaver.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Other issues such as the unintended spread of GMOs to consider.
“Certain foods are Toxic” Sorry
but SUGAR doesn’t meet the definition. Are you saying no 100 year old
ever ate sugar? I guess we have to decide how fast a “toxin” is supposed
to kill you. definition of a toxin is ”a poisonous substance and especially one that
is produced by a living thing” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toxin
Medical definition: : a colloidal proteinaceous poisonous substance that is a specific
product of the metabolic activities of a living organism and is usually very
unstable, notably toxic when introduced into the tissues, and typically capable
of inducing antibody formation.
“Processed foods are bad” What
does “processing” mean? Cutting a tomato up is processing it. Cooking is
processing. http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4088
“Milk is bad and inflammatory” Many
people are lactose intolerant. But as documented in the book “Guns Germs and
Steel” herding societies developed lactose tolerance and rocketed past
non herding societies in anthropological development. “Within a span of 7,000
years, for instance, people adapted to eating dairy by developing lactose
tolerance. Usually, the gene encoding an enzyme named lactase—which breaks down
lactose sugars in milk—shuts down after infancy; when dairy became prevalent,
many people evolved a
mutation that kept the gene turned on throughout life.” I’m sorry,
but demonizing dairy shows incredible ignorance of anthropology and evolution.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-paleo-diet-half-baked-how-hunter-gatherer-really-eat/
“Red meat rots in the colon” No.
No it doesn’t http://www.gnolls.org/1444/does-meat-rot-in-your-colon-no-what-does-beans-grains-and-vegetables/
http://authoritynutrition.com/8-ridiculous-myths-about-meat-and-health/
“Red meat digests slower”. the
food that you eat for dinner tonight will be in the form of amino acids
(protein), triglycerides and cholesterol (fats) and carbohydrates (mostly glucose),
vita-mins, minerals, and water probably by tomorrow evening. Probably some, if
not most, of it will also have been absorbed into your body and used in some
way. www.kinginstitute.org/attachments/article/263/hnu-06-2008.pdf
http://paleohacks.com/meat/is-red-meat-hard-to-digest-10586
“Colon cleansing has benefits” Very
debatable. August 1 in the August issue of The Journal of Family Practice,
demonstrates that colon cleansing can cause side effects ranging from cramping
to renal failure and death. http://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/colon-cleansing-no-benefit-and-dangerous/
“The colon has sludge & things
stuck in it”. Not unless you’re very sick. Although doctors
prescribe colon cleansing as preparation for medical procedures such as
colonoscopy, most don’t recommend colon cleansing for detoxification. Their
reasoning is simple: Your digestive system and bowel naturally eliminate waste
material and bacteria — your body doesn’t need colon cleansing to do this.
“Twinkies are Toxic” Check out this article below which has this quote: "On a
twinkie diet Haub's "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and
his "good" cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced
the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent. " http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/
(also demonstrating my point you could live off them for 30 days)
“Gluten is bad and inflammatory” Debatable
except for Celiacs http://www.forbes.com/sites/rosspomeroy/2014/05/15/non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity-may-not-exist/
“Certain foods are
inflammatory” probably not (except for allergic reactions
obviously). http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/magic-diet-not-so-much/
“Eating clean tips”
Specific Review of the science behind her recommendations: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/should-you-be-eating-clean/
“You are what you eat” More
bullshit. For example doubling saturated fat in diet does NOT double it
in blood. You are NOT in fact what you eat. Your body converts
everything
Monday, October 13, 2014
Some Simple Math on Nevada's Margin tax
Suppose you are a small business owner that sells $1 Million per year worth of goods and services. That's the level that triggers Nevada's proposed "margin tax". $1 Million Sounds like a LOT doesn't it? Surely those "rich millionaires" can afford to pay their fair share of taxes? That's the thinking behind Nevada's proposed margin tax. But a business owner doing $1 Million in sales is NOT a millionaire! Let's dig a little deeper. In MBA school they teach you that a well run business should drop 10% of gross sales to the bottom line as profit. What does this mean? Well, in a business selling $1 Million it simply means after you pay your employees, rent, the cost of goods that you sell, and other expenses like insurance, auto etc if you're extremely well run your profit should be $100,000.
Wow - that still sounds like a good pay day! Those business owners sure are rich aren't they? But wait a minute. The real world isn't always as portrayed in business school. Lots of small businesses in Nevada are extremely low margin and competitive - such as grocery stores or the computer business I happen to be in. In the computer business many of us only drop 4% of our sales to the bottom line (yes really). Why? Partly because we have to compete with online retailers like Dell that discount computers. So the profit in a business like computer sales and repair that does $1 million in sales might typically be $40,000 per year. But don't forget - the federal government takes their share of that profit! For simplicity let's assume a 33% federal tax rate. The highest tax rate is now above 39% but 33% is fairly typical. So lets say this hypothetical business owner sends $13,200 to uncle Sam, leaving him with $26,800 for his family to live on.
Now along comes the Nevada Margin tax. There are 2 ways to calculate how much tax this business will owe but neither takes into account profit or how much federal tax a business owner has already paid. The simplest of the two proposed methods is just to take 2% of 70% of gross sales. 2% of 70% of $1 Million results in a tax of $14,000! That means this business owner will owe the state of Nevada MORE than his entire federal income tax bill, leaving his family a whopping $12,800 of his profits to live on. It's easy to tax the other guy and easy to say "our kids deserve better schools". But when you realize the unfairness in these numbers you understand this will literally cause businesses to leave the state or close up shop. By the way, the second method of calculating the margin tax results in a tax of "only" $10,000 using sample numbers and ratios from our business. In our case we will have no choice but to raise service rates and prices, resulting in lower sales. Hey, maybe we'll get lucky and drive our sales down to $999K resulting in zero margin tax. Make no mistake: business owners will be making this calculation.
The unfairness of the margin tax goes even further. Because it doesn't account for profitability, it effectively places a heavier tax burden on some businesses than others. For example a small doctor's office will pay far more dollars in tax than a used auto dealer or low margin equipment sales company. For many smaller service businesses it will take Nevada from one of the lowest tax states to one of the highest tax states. As they say in the movies: "that is going to leave a mark".
Do we really want a law that creates an incentive for business owners not to invest and work hard? There will be a significant profit motive to keep sales below $1 Million, resulting in lower growth, lost sales tax revenue for the state, and more business owners with fewer employees.
Nevada's margin tax is WORSE than an income tax because it doesn't attempt to account for or even calculate the profitability of a business. I HATE the idea of a state income tax but I'd take a state income tax over this disaster. As a side note, since Dell isn't a Nevada corporation, do you think they'll have to pay the Nevada margin tax? If not you've just handed Dell a huge price advantage over my 30 year old local Nevada based business.
Please vote "No" on question 3.
Wow - that still sounds like a good pay day! Those business owners sure are rich aren't they? But wait a minute. The real world isn't always as portrayed in business school. Lots of small businesses in Nevada are extremely low margin and competitive - such as grocery stores or the computer business I happen to be in. In the computer business many of us only drop 4% of our sales to the bottom line (yes really). Why? Partly because we have to compete with online retailers like Dell that discount computers. So the profit in a business like computer sales and repair that does $1 million in sales might typically be $40,000 per year. But don't forget - the federal government takes their share of that profit! For simplicity let's assume a 33% federal tax rate. The highest tax rate is now above 39% but 33% is fairly typical. So lets say this hypothetical business owner sends $13,200 to uncle Sam, leaving him with $26,800 for his family to live on.
Now along comes the Nevada Margin tax. There are 2 ways to calculate how much tax this business will owe but neither takes into account profit or how much federal tax a business owner has already paid. The simplest of the two proposed methods is just to take 2% of 70% of gross sales. 2% of 70% of $1 Million results in a tax of $14,000! That means this business owner will owe the state of Nevada MORE than his entire federal income tax bill, leaving his family a whopping $12,800 of his profits to live on. It's easy to tax the other guy and easy to say "our kids deserve better schools". But when you realize the unfairness in these numbers you understand this will literally cause businesses to leave the state or close up shop. By the way, the second method of calculating the margin tax results in a tax of "only" $10,000 using sample numbers and ratios from our business. In our case we will have no choice but to raise service rates and prices, resulting in lower sales. Hey, maybe we'll get lucky and drive our sales down to $999K resulting in zero margin tax. Make no mistake: business owners will be making this calculation.
The unfairness of the margin tax goes even further. Because it doesn't account for profitability, it effectively places a heavier tax burden on some businesses than others. For example a small doctor's office will pay far more dollars in tax than a used auto dealer or low margin equipment sales company. For many smaller service businesses it will take Nevada from one of the lowest tax states to one of the highest tax states. As they say in the movies: "that is going to leave a mark".
Do we really want a law that creates an incentive for business owners not to invest and work hard? There will be a significant profit motive to keep sales below $1 Million, resulting in lower growth, lost sales tax revenue for the state, and more business owners with fewer employees.
Nevada's margin tax is WORSE than an income tax because it doesn't attempt to account for or even calculate the profitability of a business. I HATE the idea of a state income tax but I'd take a state income tax over this disaster. As a side note, since Dell isn't a Nevada corporation, do you think they'll have to pay the Nevada margin tax? If not you've just handed Dell a huge price advantage over my 30 year old local Nevada based business.
Please vote "No" on question 3.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Why I have no Problem with "Plug and Play" camps at Burning Man
I'll start out by saying the camp I stayed in this year was NOT a plug and play (PNP) or turnkey camp. Like many Burning man camps we had some folks who rented RVs and had even some that had those RVs delivered onto the Playa and picked up later. But everyone in our camp was committed to doing the work themselves, helped with meals, brought and gave away booze, and volunteered for our open bar welcoming everyone on the playa into our lounge.
If you've ever attended Burning Man you know that there are all kinds of derogatory terms for people who don't participate in the "correct way". It's one thing to be called a "sparkle pony" [people who don't help out around camp and spend all their time primping (usually young women)]. But a sparkle pony doesn't elicit nearly the venom among hardcore burners as a PNP (Plug and Play) AKA Turnkey camp.
A Turnkey camp is one which provides many of the basics needed on the playa. This means RVs, transportation, meals, bikes, and in some cases even costumes or pretty girls. Organizers of such camps (sherpas) are reviled for making a profit or working for tickets and money. Attendees of the camps are reviled for being "tourists" and not participating or giving back. Turnkey camps also have a reputation of being exclusive, which violates one of the 10 principals of burning man (radical inclusion). This may be because some of the PNP campers have some level of celebrity or notoriety, but the general perception is they have a closed camp because they are simply rich or snobbish. A PNP camp isn't necessarily an exclusive or closed camp, but that's sometimes true. A closed camp is one in which RV's are parked in a box formation, creating a private central plaza and discouraging others from just walking in. Since these camps are often placed on the outer rim of the city (far away from the busy esplanade where all the action is) I've wondered why anyone cares. What if those RV spots were simply empty? Why does the very existence of a few fancy RVs piss burners off so much? There are plenty of other camps to visit, plenty of art to see. Those RVs way on the outskirts of the action aren't hurting anyone. I think the hidden reason these camps are hated is simply class envy. It bothers the average human to work hard and receive less than the next guy.
You see, going to burning man is HARD. It is doubly hard for fly-in or international participants because finding businesses willing to rent cars or RVs to go out onto the dusty Playa is challenging. Camping at Burning man is dirty, gritty and a lot of work. You must bring your own food, water, booze and everything else you need to survive (radical self reliance) and commit to haul the garbage back out. It is the hardest "vacation" you will ever take. In addition, participation is a key principal - which means everyone who comes should give back in some way. That could be small gifts, running a bar, volunteering for the organization or in thousands of other ways. Everywhere else in the world people welcome "tourists" with open arms. But at Burning Man a "tourist" who comes just to check out the scene and watch the craziness is considered undesirable. Commercial enterprise is not allowed (with few rare exceptions such as coffee, ice, sewage, fuel etc). This principal goes so far that many people tape off logos on the side of their U-haul trailers so there are no commercial logos displayed.
In a way, the prejudice against plug and play camps is a prejudice against international and fly-in travelers. If you're flying in from Germany the logistics of getting an RV, transportation to the black rock desert, buying bikes, food, water and then cleaning the mess up afterwards are daunting. Not to mention expensive. So when Oregon, Washington, California, and Nevada residents look down their nose at people who organize professional camps what they have to remember is that WE have the advantage of being able to take our own vehicles to burning man by driving. People further away simply don't have that option. Looked at from this perspective, we see that burners angry at plug and plays are actually being exclusionary themselves. They are favoring a LACK of diversity both geographically and economically. The truth is wealthy people simply piss burners off because most of them aren't wealthy. Radical exclusion of the rich is hardly in the burning man spirit.
Facebook is ablaze with angry burners who resent these "tourists". How DARE they come when they don't put the year round work to create art or theme camps? This anger baffles me because I happen to know these camps donate a lot of money to art on the playa. In fact many of them pay above par for their tickets. That money flows into the Burning Man Art donation program and into other things that make the festival grow. I know this because my camp donated over $20,000 above the cost of our tickets this year to art (in addition to the free chill space, food, and booze we gave away). The true "plug and plays" donated far more. Yesterday a guy suggested that all PNP camps be located at 7:30 and P street (the outer ring is L street - there is currently no P street). My response is simply that the turnkey camps are already placed between K and L and already treated as second class citizens. You want to create non-existent streets to put them even farther out? You want to further enable class warfare? That's not radical inclusion and it's mean spirited. Here's an idea: Place them further in as long as they agree to be open.
One role for BMORG would be to assign a "playa coach" to each placement team. When the playa coach visit camps and encounters a "velvet rope" they sit down with the camp leads and have an educational conversation with them, explaining things. In the same way they are being exclusionary towards burners BMORG might have to be exclusionary toward THEM next year. A gentle reminder should be all it takes.
Angry Burners hear me. All of us are only able to attend burning man because we have jobs. Burning man is an opulent self-indulgent party in the desert. Yes, YOU spent your chilly February night after work welding an art car. While you did that a busy google exec stayed up fretting about company profitability and the decisions he made created millions in wealth leading to employment for thousands. Some of those thousands built the art out there.While YOU attended a preburn build party a German business man worked a 14 hour day to finance his next venture and employ 400 people. While YOU packed your Subaru the weekend before the burn Anne Hathaway shot film until 3AM...so she paid someone to pack her costumes for her. These folks and the people who help them are making a contribution to both our society and to burning man that is just as valid as yours. Their contribution to art on the playa probably exceeds yours.
A tale of two burners: A young burner hitchhikes to Gerlach and holds a sign along the side of the road saying "Need a miracle" and when finally a generous sole gives him a ticket he hitches into BM with a backpack and a tent. He spends the rest of the week walking around mooching meals and drinks and gawking at art. There are a LOT of such individuals. We've all seen them. Yet no one is angry at this lonely tent camper, even when he passes out in the dust in their chill space because he's a friendly hippie type that greets everyone with a hug and a vacuous grin and never spends too long in one place. And if this young burner happens to be an attractive female? OMG she encounters little animosity anywhere! Now imagine a second burner: a successful business exec from Europe who rents an RV in a PNP for $10K. He is automatically labeled a tourist dickhead. Even if he volunteers for stints in the camps open bar or makes cheese sandwiches or makes donations to art. Doesn't matter.
Stop hating on the turnkey camps. It takes all of us to make Burning Man a success. They are not ruining Burning Man! They are helping and breeding new generations of aficionados. Next year some of those wealthy tourists you hate so much will be the ones funding and building the camp next to you. Do you know what a zoo it is when people find out where Mark Zuckerberg or Anne Hathaway are camped? Talk about mess up yer burn. Having your bike stolen is nothing compared to having thousands of people strolling through camp gawking at you. The mere rumor of celebrity causes buzz. Pretend those diesel pushers out on K street are not even there and ask yourself why you really care?
If you've ever attended Burning Man you know that there are all kinds of derogatory terms for people who don't participate in the "correct way". It's one thing to be called a "sparkle pony" [people who don't help out around camp and spend all their time primping (usually young women)]. But a sparkle pony doesn't elicit nearly the venom among hardcore burners as a PNP (Plug and Play) AKA Turnkey camp.
A Turnkey camp is one which provides many of the basics needed on the playa. This means RVs, transportation, meals, bikes, and in some cases even costumes or pretty girls. Organizers of such camps (sherpas) are reviled for making a profit or working for tickets and money. Attendees of the camps are reviled for being "tourists" and not participating or giving back. Turnkey camps also have a reputation of being exclusive, which violates one of the 10 principals of burning man (radical inclusion). This may be because some of the PNP campers have some level of celebrity or notoriety, but the general perception is they have a closed camp because they are simply rich or snobbish. A PNP camp isn't necessarily an exclusive or closed camp, but that's sometimes true. A closed camp is one in which RV's are parked in a box formation, creating a private central plaza and discouraging others from just walking in. Since these camps are often placed on the outer rim of the city (far away from the busy esplanade where all the action is) I've wondered why anyone cares. What if those RV spots were simply empty? Why does the very existence of a few fancy RVs piss burners off so much? There are plenty of other camps to visit, plenty of art to see. Those RVs way on the outskirts of the action aren't hurting anyone. I think the hidden reason these camps are hated is simply class envy. It bothers the average human to work hard and receive less than the next guy.
You see, going to burning man is HARD. It is doubly hard for fly-in or international participants because finding businesses willing to rent cars or RVs to go out onto the dusty Playa is challenging. Camping at Burning man is dirty, gritty and a lot of work. You must bring your own food, water, booze and everything else you need to survive (radical self reliance) and commit to haul the garbage back out. It is the hardest "vacation" you will ever take. In addition, participation is a key principal - which means everyone who comes should give back in some way. That could be small gifts, running a bar, volunteering for the organization or in thousands of other ways. Everywhere else in the world people welcome "tourists" with open arms. But at Burning Man a "tourist" who comes just to check out the scene and watch the craziness is considered undesirable. Commercial enterprise is not allowed (with few rare exceptions such as coffee, ice, sewage, fuel etc). This principal goes so far that many people tape off logos on the side of their U-haul trailers so there are no commercial logos displayed.
In a way, the prejudice against plug and play camps is a prejudice against international and fly-in travelers. If you're flying in from Germany the logistics of getting an RV, transportation to the black rock desert, buying bikes, food, water and then cleaning the mess up afterwards are daunting. Not to mention expensive. So when Oregon, Washington, California, and Nevada residents look down their nose at people who organize professional camps what they have to remember is that WE have the advantage of being able to take our own vehicles to burning man by driving. People further away simply don't have that option. Looked at from this perspective, we see that burners angry at plug and plays are actually being exclusionary themselves. They are favoring a LACK of diversity both geographically and economically. The truth is wealthy people simply piss burners off because most of them aren't wealthy. Radical exclusion of the rich is hardly in the burning man spirit.
Facebook is ablaze with angry burners who resent these "tourists". How DARE they come when they don't put the year round work to create art or theme camps? This anger baffles me because I happen to know these camps donate a lot of money to art on the playa. In fact many of them pay above par for their tickets. That money flows into the Burning Man Art donation program and into other things that make the festival grow. I know this because my camp donated over $20,000 above the cost of our tickets this year to art (in addition to the free chill space, food, and booze we gave away). The true "plug and plays" donated far more. Yesterday a guy suggested that all PNP camps be located at 7:30 and P street (the outer ring is L street - there is currently no P street). My response is simply that the turnkey camps are already placed between K and L and already treated as second class citizens. You want to create non-existent streets to put them even farther out? You want to further enable class warfare? That's not radical inclusion and it's mean spirited. Here's an idea: Place them further in as long as they agree to be open.
One role for BMORG would be to assign a "playa coach" to each placement team. When the playa coach visit camps and encounters a "velvet rope" they sit down with the camp leads and have an educational conversation with them, explaining things. In the same way they are being exclusionary towards burners BMORG might have to be exclusionary toward THEM next year. A gentle reminder should be all it takes.
Angry Burners hear me. All of us are only able to attend burning man because we have jobs. Burning man is an opulent self-indulgent party in the desert. Yes, YOU spent your chilly February night after work welding an art car. While you did that a busy google exec stayed up fretting about company profitability and the decisions he made created millions in wealth leading to employment for thousands. Some of those thousands built the art out there.While YOU attended a preburn build party a German business man worked a 14 hour day to finance his next venture and employ 400 people. While YOU packed your Subaru the weekend before the burn Anne Hathaway shot film until 3AM...so she paid someone to pack her costumes for her. These folks and the people who help them are making a contribution to both our society and to burning man that is just as valid as yours. Their contribution to art on the playa probably exceeds yours.
A tale of two burners: A young burner hitchhikes to Gerlach and holds a sign along the side of the road saying "Need a miracle" and when finally a generous sole gives him a ticket he hitches into BM with a backpack and a tent. He spends the rest of the week walking around mooching meals and drinks and gawking at art. There are a LOT of such individuals. We've all seen them. Yet no one is angry at this lonely tent camper, even when he passes out in the dust in their chill space because he's a friendly hippie type that greets everyone with a hug and a vacuous grin and never spends too long in one place. And if this young burner happens to be an attractive female? OMG she encounters little animosity anywhere! Now imagine a second burner: a successful business exec from Europe who rents an RV in a PNP for $10K. He is automatically labeled a tourist dickhead. Even if he volunteers for stints in the camps open bar or makes cheese sandwiches or makes donations to art. Doesn't matter.
Stop hating on the turnkey camps. It takes all of us to make Burning Man a success. They are not ruining Burning Man! They are helping and breeding new generations of aficionados. Next year some of those wealthy tourists you hate so much will be the ones funding and building the camp next to you. Do you know what a zoo it is when people find out where Mark Zuckerberg or Anne Hathaway are camped? Talk about mess up yer burn. Having your bike stolen is nothing compared to having thousands of people strolling through camp gawking at you. The mere rumor of celebrity causes buzz. Pretend those diesel pushers out on K street are not even there and ask yourself why you really care?
Voting and early voting in Washoe County
OK here are the 3 simple steps (4 including voting)
1) You
must register to vote by October 14th (next Tuesday) if you aren’t
already registered. You can register quickly online (it will tell
you if you’re already registered)
https://nvsos.gov/sosvoterservices/Registration/step1.aspx
After you enter your information, it will warn you if you’re already registered
and allow you to update your data. I was able to change my mailing
address to the office so I can receive ballot booklet here.
2) Review
your sample ballot. you can go to http://www.washoecounty.us/voters
and type in your last name and birthday as shown here to get your sample ballot
3) The
“election” is on November 4th. But I
would recommend not waiting. It is much better than waiting until Vote day –
lots of flexibility. “early voting”.
Early voting is easy in Nevada, and is available to every voter. Voters can
vote at any location in their respective county where early voting is
offered. Why not pick a time and place below and put it on your
calendar so you remember to do it?
Early voting offers the following benefits:
·
Makes voting more accessible to more citizens;
·
Increases voter participation rates;
·
Allows more accurate and efficient ballot counts;
·
Reduces administrative costs to the taxpayer; and
·
Creates a more informed and thoughtful electorate.
2014 Early Voting Dates The General Election: November 4,
2014 Early voting is from October 18, 2014 through
October 31, 2014 graphic of the Document below is also
here: http://nvsos.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=3493
Candidates to vote for: http://www.washoecounty.us/voters/14GENCandidates.html.
Step 4
Please consider voting No on question 3
From: Jim Paschall
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 9:28 AM
To: Darren McBride
Subject: RE: Question 3 the Margin Tax Vote. Here is one view of a very important vote a business owner I know shared with me.
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 9:28 AM
To: Darren McBride
Subject: RE: Question 3 the Margin Tax Vote. Here is one view of a very important vote a business owner I know shared with me.
If you would be willing to instruct me on how to vote against
this, me and the guys will vote against this.
I don’t normally share political
things. But this margin tax initiative is very bad. I have one
friend/business owner who plans to move his business if it passes. After
studying it I think it has the potential to significantly impact lots of low
margin businesses (such as grocery stores), and of course, Sierra Computer
Group and Highly Reliable Systems. Taxing business Gross margin is much
worse than an “income tax” because it’s not tied to profit. We owe the
tax whether we make profit or not and in a low margin business like ours it
could force us to raise product prices (meaning even more customers will just
buy from Dell and CDW as opposed to Sierra Computer Group). But the real
killer is labor. For each hour of $100 computer service we bill, we
currently make about $4 in profit (after paying the tech, overhead, insurance
etc). If the 2% margin tax passes I’m concerned the government would take
$2 of this. This tax has already been tried in Texas (it’s called Franchise tax there and is
implemented at about 1%. Nevada is proposing double that to 2%. In
Texas there have been very poor results. The Margin Tax would raise Nevada’s taxes on businesses to
among the highest in the country. If you have a different
viewpoint, feel free to write it up and I’ll send it out as a
counterpoint. Thanks! Darren
Educating
our children is an extremely important part of society. Nevada is, year
over year, one of the bottom dwellers in the country for funding
education. This surely is not a highlight about living in this great
state. Question #3 on next months ballot, "The Education
Initiative" tries to increase funding of our education system by imparting
a tax on all business that have revenues of over one million dollars.
In
my opinion, this is a very irresponsible way of gaining the necessary funds to
better our education system. We need more money for education, that is a
given, but we can do it in a much better way that can help rather then hinder
our state. Below I have copied a list of 10 reasons why this is very bad
for our state.
Obviously
all of you guys can make your own mind up on which way to vote and this is in
no way trying to sway you in one way or another, I am just trying to show some
of the facts and possible unintended consequences such a tax would have on both
our state and our economy.
Top Ten
Reasons the
Margin Tax will hurt Reno-Sparks’ Economy
1. Jobs Will Be Lost as
Corporate Tax Rate Jumps: Jobs would be lost in the Truckee Meadows as
businesses attempted to keep their doors open. Other jobs would be lost when
businesses closed up shop altogether. Economic development efforts would be
hurt and some companies would find it more advantageous to stay put or locate
to other states. That’s because Question 3’s tax rate would be an average of
14-15%, nearly double California’s corporate income tax rate.
2. Job Attraction and
Retention More Difficult: Many prospects have delayed their decision to come
here until after the election and several existing companies have made clear
their intent to either relocate out of the state or do their planned expansions
at another location if the tax passes.
3. No Guarantee It Will
Go To Education: While proponents claim that these new dollars will go to
education, there is nothing in the initiative to keep the Legislature from
re-allocating existing funding to other programs. The initiative in essence
gives the Legislators a blank check. There is no guarantee that one
“additional” dime would go to the education needs of Washoe County students.
4. No Real Accountability:
There is no plan or accountability for how this almost $1 billion in new
revenue would be spent. While proponents claim that these new dollars would go
to education, they are never clear on the specifics. Will these dollars go to
the classroom? Or to more administrators? Or to more outside lawyers hired by
the School Board? No one knows, because there is no plan.
5. Will Not Support WCSD
Infrastructure Needs: There is no guarantee that one cent of this massive tax
increase would go toward the capital needs of the Washoe County School
District. State dollars are not currently used for the maintenance needs of our
older school buildings, for the technology and security upgrades that are
desperately needed, nor to eliminate the need for the modular buildings that
are filling up our elementary school playgrounds. Local tax dollars fund these
needs and the Margin Tax would not help at all.
6. Increase Costs For
Everyone: Every Washoe County resident would see increased grocery, utility,
and healthcare bills. No business is immune to this devastating tax and those
every day costs would be passed on to consumers.
7. Some Industries Are
Hit Harder than Others: At least one industry will be eliminated by the tax,
the secure trust business. Experts in this industry have stated that this
change will drive the entire industry to South Dakota. The loss of these
investors will have a ripple effect on our entrepreneurial community as many of
those business owners are also angel investors.
8. Retail and Restaurants
Also Hit Hard: Reno is in the midst of a rebirth, fueled by locally-owned
retail shops, bars, and restaurants in vibrant districts such as Midtown,
Fourth Street, and Wells Avenue. The retail and restaurant industry would be
harmed the most by the Margin Tax, as they operate on very thin margins.
9. Destroys
Entrepreneurial Momentum: Most entrepreneurs lose money in their first several
years of operation, yet they will still be on the hook for thousands of dollars
in taxes if their revenue exceeds $1M annually.
10. The Tax Is Confusing and Will Likely
Require Costly Litigation: Instead of spending money on new goods, equipment,
and salaries, our local businesses would be spending money on high-priced
lawyers or CPAs to help them through the maze of confusion that is the
initiative language. Those same businesses would also be paying for the state
to hire lawyers to fend off the lawsuits that they filed!
Friday, April 4, 2014
How to create an Outlook Rule using "unsubscribe" to eliminate newsletters from your inbox
Spam is a hassle. Newsletters are largely spam in my opinion. I generally didn't opt in (as they claim), at least not intentionally. Although some of them have good content, I want to look at it on my schedule, not theirs. Most marketers of newsletters are ethical and put an "unsubscribe" link of some short at the bottom of their email. This is your opportunity to use that one little word to create a rule in Outlook to move those annoying newsletters to a special folder. In my case, I create folders with an underscore at the front so they are all at the top and alphabetized as I want them.
Here's how to do it in Outlook 2010. Other versions are similar. First find Rules and select create a rule.
Below you will see the rule I created, which triggers off the word unsubscribe and moves all this unwanted newsletter to a folder called _newsletter. You do have to monitor this folder, as I've found it's common for workmates and friends to forward you newsletters that say "check this out". So you miss things if you don't look, but at least you'll clean up your main inbox!
Here's how to do it in Outlook 2010. Other versions are similar. First find Rules and select create a rule.
Below you will see the rule I created, which triggers off the word unsubscribe and moves all this unwanted newsletter to a folder called _newsletter. You do have to monitor this folder, as I've found it's common for workmates and friends to forward you newsletters that say "check this out". So you miss things if you don't look, but at least you'll clean up your main inbox!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)