Culture of Corruption: Amazon Review

Posted: July 29, 2009 by datechguy in amazon reviews, opinion/news
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My review of Michelle Malkin’s new book Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies is available at Amazon.com Here.

I pretty much liked the book but thought the epilogue really didn’t belong in it. I don’t think you can credibly link Chris Dodd’s corruption to President Obama’s except in the sense that both received quite a lot of financial support from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

I have to congratulate Michelle on the timing in particular, the book came out exactly as questions are coming up concerning this administration which I think drove the coverage of the book on the today show. The Today show interview will drive others.

Being a top 1000 reviewer at Amazon is pretty much like being a famous candlepin bowler, but if you give that weight then I say go buy it!

That’s gonna leave a bruse, but beware of Sullivan’s Syndrome

Posted: July 28, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Mary Katherine Ham’s post concouring with Andrew Sullivan (and myself) on the Birther issue has to be the most painful victory for a brit since the Battle of Bunker Hill.

I can’t do her post justice so go and read it in full but I hope you and Mary Katherine remember the obligatory warning concerning Bloggers Alzheimer’s (Sullivan’s Syndrome):

No current treatment is known for Sullivan’s syndrome but readers are advised to avoid prolonged exposure to the subject as the syndrome can spread to the point where the infected person can become the trigger for the syndrome in others.

So if you have to read the side links be careful.

Update: Charles’ Heh is almost as good as MKH’s, almost. Does Glenn Reynolds get a royalty every time a blogger says that?

Talk about a sucker’s bet

Posted: July 28, 2009 by datechguy in personal
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My oldest son turned 18 this month and is about to start his first year of college in Aug. He has a job, a car that is paid for and easily makes enough to cover insurance, however we decided that it was time to give him a chance to build a credit history. We decided to add him to our credit card. As he is going to college locally and living at home it won’t be a problem to keep an eye on what is charged.

Well less that 24 hours after his card arrived the offers started coming in for more:

And when you DO use the Card there are NO Interest Charges–that’s 0% APR—on ALL your purchases up to $250, so long as you check your Billing Statements each month and make at least the Minimum Payments Due by the Payment Due Dates, and keep the balance on your account below your credit limit.

Sounds pretty good especially when you figure no annual fees, but think about it…

It’s really easy to get a card over $250 for a total balance. That is a max of about $60 a week. Pretty easy to even briefly go over that and once you do….

…the base rate goes to 19.95% as a minimum with the rate being equal to the highest rate published in the Wall Street Journal within a 3 month period plus 10.5%. And if you are late on a payment then you add 20.99% to the rate with a minimum of 25.99%. (not counting fees).

If you are a real careful teenager then you might manage to do OK, but how many real careful teenagers are there. This is a suckers bet, and I’ll wager a ton of teens and their parents fall for it.

Old advice but good advice

Posted: July 28, 2009 by datechguy in local stuff
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You know I’m reading a very old Book: American History told by Contemporaries Volume 1 Era of Colonization 1492-1689 by historian Albert Bushnell Hart back in 1897. It’s a collection excepts and complete accounts by people who actually lived and experienced events.

Considering the economic situation these days I found this particular package on Suggestions of Granting Lands written in 1665 by a surveyor named Thomas Woodard. He was hired by the proprietors of the “Province of Carolina” and he offered certain interesting advice about making things profitable, he starts by quoting Sir Francis Bacon’s essay of Plantation:

“…The principall thing that hath been the destruction of most Plantations hath bin the hastee drawing of Profit in the first yeares.”

And it is my Opinion, (which I submitt to better Judgements) that it will for some time conduce more to your Lordshipe Profit to permit men to take up what tracts of Land they please at an easie rate, then to stint them to small proportions at a great rent.

In less that 3 days taxes on Meals, sales, liquor etc will be going up 25% here in the state of Massachusetts. We will in a modern advanced and easy society yet ironically even 350 years ago people understood that crushing taxes might make a short terms difference while destroying you long term, but low taxes and fees encourage prosperity with crushing taxes.

New Hampshire is going to do very well over this, but I wish the president and the Governor would take a hint from history.

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