My Sister is Brilliant

This is not a complaint, but an awesome thing. My sister is now blog famous. Here is her Ph.D. Job Market Paper:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~millermc/Job_Market_Paper.pdf

Her web-site:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~millermc/ (ps - she is at U.Mich. but she is a native Clevelander, so don't give Michigan the credit)

It is being discussed all over the web. She basically determines that if slaves had been given land they would have been better off through a lot of math and extensive research (namely comparison to slaves living on Indian reservations who did get land). The funny thing is that the paper has turned to a discussion on reparations and the paper's support for reparations in blog world. This is funny for primarily two reasons: (1)the paper does not discuss monetary reparation in any way but instead the initial grant of land and (2)my sister believes (this is not really in her paper, but was mentioned to me when I asked about how this affects the concept of reparations) it is likely that in today's society neither land nor money would do anything to improve the status of former slaves. Instead, inner city primary and secondary schools need to be improved to provide african-americans with a better educational base as education is todays land and mule. If only people read what the paper discussed.

Also, aren't you impressed by the level of intelligence in my family? If only the elder sibling hadn't taken all the brain power, I might have had a chance at awesomeness. Oh, well.

All these really important blogs are discussing it:

the one that started it:

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2007/12/would-it-have-h.html

the ones that followed:
http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/12/40_acres_and_a_mule.php

http://lefarkins.blogspot.com/2007/12/revolution-but-half-accomplished.html

http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/45543.html

http://greenespace.blogspot.com/http://www.strategicboard.com/index.php?s=%22Civil++War%22

http://www.prometheus6.org/node/19044

http://www.agoravox.com/article.php3?id_article=7324#commentaire356906 (this one is funny because it features a picture of shirley temple - my sister looks nothing like shirley temple).

PS - Schools you should really hire her at the New Orleans Economics job fair

Boycotting China Products

Usually I use my blog to yell at people for being stupid. Now this is very easy to do because there are a lot of stupid people out there. But this article is about what we as a country should do to be smart. I'm not saying we're being dumb (though when you look at it, we are) but just that we can be smarter.

It is very important that we shift manufacturing away from China and back to our own hemisphere. There are a lot of problems (beyond loss of jobs) with the push to manufacture things in China.

I decided I was going to boycott China products, because, you know, I didn't want to die or kill a family member due to lead paint exposure or poisonous toothpaste. I have learned this is very hard to do because almost everything is made in China.

I then ran an informal comparison test between the few non-Chinese products I could find and those made in China. I have found my made in the USA socks are much more durable than the ones made in China, and they haven't been recalled!! It is actualy amazing the higher quality I found in US socks compared to China socks. I have also found a similar better quality of US products in the few other products from the US I have found. Also, south americans seem to make better jeans than China. The lesson is that there is more than just cost involved in manufacturing location choice and companies and consumers should be aware of this (This is also very apparent in consumer help call banks - they are much better in the US than abroad. When you purchase a product with consumer assistance, ask where the cal bank is).

Anyway, if a company was smart they would start making things here in the US and not in China. Also, this would be a good time for Unions to negotiate to increase their work here in the US. This would mean giving up some benefits in exchange for guaranteed expansion.

Also, I truly believe that China's undervalued currency and our extreme trade inbalance with them is one of the factors weakening our dollar. Well, that and unchecked predatory lending and a bust in the real estate markets due to idiots buying on speculation and unnecessarily driving up housing costs.

So companies, this is what I propose. First, make things in Mexico. I did not say US, because, though this would be most beneficial, it make be too much of a jump for companies. If things are made in Mexico, less Mexicans woudl illegally migrate to the US because they would have jobs. Stuff would also be less likely to be recalled and be closer to the US to allow for better oversite.

All in all, we should just stop buying from China. It would be best for everyone. Even the Chinese. If we stopped buying their lead based products, the Chinese workers would no longer be exposed to lead. It would be good for us because it would increase the value of the dollar, weaken the political threat of China, increase the quality of goods produced, potentially increase the available jobs for those without higher education, and all in all restabilize trade relations internationally.

So the message of this post: DON'T BUY CHINA

Saudi Arabia

My new bad country is....Saudi Arabia.

Well, beyond the obvious problems of their extreme supression of women and usual human rights abuses, they have just gone too far this time. If I was a protesting hippy, I would so be on a plane right now to protest. No, scratch that, as a female, I would protest at their US embassy. I'm not stupid, I'm not putting myself in the hands of the the Saudi Arabian justice system. They may give me 200 lashes for saying men shouldn't rape women. Apparently this is still a controversial issue over there.

I'll give the basic fact pattern: Saudi Arabian woman is gang raped and brings charges. Wonders of wonders rapists are actually sentenced. Oh, justice finally served, right? But wait, they sentence the rape victim to 6 months in prison and 200 lashes. You did not read that wrong the RAPE VICTIM was sentenced to 6 months in prison and 200 lashes. Oh, also, her lawyer has gotten in trouble and lost his license because he appealed her first case where she was sentenced to 90 lashes. Thay apparently decided to more than double her punishment for being a RAPE VICTIM.

to see article, go here: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/21/saudi.rape.victim/index.html

now many things in this world frustrate me, China products killing everyone, extremists killing people, the general allowance by society to allow the supression and abuse of women. The refusal of advanced society to tell middle eastern men (not all, just apparently the ones from saudi arabia and others like them) to grow up, get some balls, and control themselves. Exactly why are women unable to be in front of you in public? Are you so unadvanced you cannot control yourself? If you are, we maybe should put the whole lot of you in a zoo, because you aren't human yet.

But this takes the cake. How can anyone allow a rape victim to get lashed 200 times because apparently she put herself in the position to be raped. Under this theory, if say, the judge who sentenced her is walking across the street and i hit him with my car because i ran a red light, he should also be punished for putting himself in the street where he could get hit. Let's try his theory of justice. Someone hit him as he walks across the street and say he should be punished for putting himself there.

Computers

I have decided I need a new computer (Mainly because the piece of junk laptop I have is falling apart). Dell is out of the question because I cannot understand their customer service people (He may say is name is Ronny from North Dakota, but I am pretty sure he is Rani from New Delhi). I decided I would try to find a laptop not made in China as I did not want my laptop to give me lead poisoning or explode. No such luck. They are all now made in China. This means I will be forced to buy a piece of crap laptop that will not work and will probably kill me.

This whole Made in China thing has gotten out of hand. Companies have moved there and completely washed their hands of quality control while them pay their workers just enough money to not qualify as slave labor (most times - sometimes it is slave labor). Their profits go to executives and stockholders and their products kill Americans, but it is not their fault. Oh, no, choosing to manufacture your products in a 3rd world country with no government oversight should magically result in safe products. Crazy companies.

Anyway, here is my message to companies: I will pay more money for stuff made in America that will not kill me and will actually work. Just a heads up. In case you wanted to make responsible decisions in the future.

China AGAIN!!

Seriously, China is becoming a country of loons. The Chinese government has passed a law that essentially means that the Dalai Lama cannot reincarnate without the Chinese government's permission. I did not know a government could regulate someone's soul after they died.

The Chinese government is trying though, with the person chosen by the tibetan monks as the reincarnated Panchen Lama disappearing. I recommend we stop trading with China. This is ridiculous.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2194682.ece


Stuff from China is killing people and they are killing people because their "soul" didn't seek permission from the government to reincarnate.

Seriously, we are missing the actual threats. The countries we should worry about are China, Russia (claiming the north pole??), and Venezuala. Well, and the terrorists, but they really are less a country and more a whole bunch of crazies.

Ignoring the Vote!!!

So we are a country founded on the idea of voting. Every decision in our country boils down to a vote somewhere.

The House Democrats has decided to ignore this principal. They have erased from the record a vote they disagreed with. ERASED FROM THE RECORD!! This is very wrong folks, very wrong.

This is very worrisome. Quite honestly, it is a great threat to the workings of our government. I cannot thing of anything more worrisome than a majority party of congress removing from the record a vote they did not like.

This is something that must get out to the American people. It represents a fundamental breakdown in the representative democratic process. This is more of a threat than any impositions on the civil liberties of the citizens of this country. This is a party choosing to ignore the rules that govern them.

Now there is some dispute as to the final outcome of the vote and more investigation is needed to determine the full extent of what happened, but as of right now it looks like the Democrats in the House have decided to simply ignore a vote they did not like. Now, hopefully, once the smoke has cleared it will not be as horrible as it seems right now, but if it is, every democrat in the house involved in erasing the vote should be voted out (I do not care if you replace them with another democrat or a republican, they just need to leave).

some sites to look at on this issue:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0807/House_erupts_in_chaos.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dgkV6gerTY

what doesn't bother me

So, this post is not about something that bothers me, but something I think is great.

In response to Russia's "claiming of the North Pole" (what is wrong with Russia? this a blog for another time), Canada's foreign minister Peter McKay said:"Look, this isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and plant flags and say, 'We're claiming this territory.'"

This is great and hilarious!! What will be Russia's response?

China again

so this is why I am opposed to the Kyoto Treaty:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118470650996069354-buQPf_FL_nKirvopk__GzCmNOq8_20070818.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
an exert:
"One tainted export from China can't be avoided in North America -- air.
An outpouring of dust layered with man-made sulfates, smog, industrial fumes, carbon grit and nitrates is crossing the Pacific Ocean on prevailing winds from booming Asian economies in plumes so vast they alter the climate. These rivers of polluted air can be wider than the Amazon and deeper than the Grand Canyon.
"There are times when it covers the entire Pacific Ocean basin like a ribbon bent back and forth," said atmospheric physicist V. Ramanathan at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif....
Asia is the world's largest source of aerosols, man-made and natural. Every spring and summer, storms whip up silt from the Gobi desert of Mongolia and the hardpan of the Taklamakan desert of western China, where, for centuries, dust has shaped a way of life. From the dunes of Dunhuang, where vendors hawk gauze face masks alongside braided leather camel whips, to the oasis of Kashgar at the feet of the Tian Shan Mountains 1,500 miles to the west, there is no escaping it."

I have nothing against reducing pollution. I think it is a very good idea, but it is useless unless we require countries like China and India to adhere to the same standards as the U.S. and Europe. Right now polluted air is crossing the Pacific Ocean causing damage to the U.S.'s west coast, but no one, not a single environmentalist, who rails against society because people drive cars or throw away a coffee cup or pop can, is up in arms about the continual pollution pouring out of China.

Whether global warming is truly a disaster looming on the hoirzon or not, plumes of pollution filled with chemical circling the globe, raining down on people, is a very real health concern and should be addressed. Quite honestly, more important to me is reducing pollution to lower cancer rates, asthma rates, etc. is an immediate compelling reason to work to reduce pollutants entering the atmosphere. Why don't we focus on that?

On a side note, do you know that those energy efficient light bulbs out right now contain mercury? That's right, next time you go buy a bulb, think what is worse: using a little more electricity or putting more mercury into our environment? Again, why does no one talk about this?

What is with religious leaders lately?

From Breitbart.com:
Chief Israeli rabbi denounces career women
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070712094626.4iqz1tr5&show_article=1
So the jist of it: This chief rabbi in israel has decided children are hurt, particularly their education, if their mothers are career women. women can work (after all, "Women in Orthodox Jewish families often work, as the men devote themselves to study") but can't have "careers."

Here's what I think - that is stupid. Somehow having a mother work full time in a job that is not rewarding and not allow her to work to achieve and advance is better than children seeing their mother work full time and achieve success? Um, no, that is retarded. My mother is a career woman. Seeing her work inspired me to work hard and strive for success. All three of us kids have had great success academically and are responsible and helpful individuals. Granted, my dad shared the parenting duties, by why shouldn't he have? Dads are parents, too.
All in all, this rabbi is stupid.

The Pope

I am just going to quote what I read in a cnn.com article.
"The Vatican on Tuesday said Christian denominations outside the Roman Catholic Church were not full churches of Jesus Christ.
"A 16-page document, prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict used to head, described Christian Orthodox churches as true churches, but suffering from a "wound" since they do not recognize the primacy of the Pope.
"But the document said the 'wound is still more profound' in the Protestant denominations -- a view likely to further complicate relations with Protestants.
"'Despite the fact that this teaching has created no little distress ... it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'Church' could possibly be attributed to them,' it said."

OK, I could comment on this more, but I think it speaks for itself. I knew there was a reason I am a Lutheran. Everyone convert to protestantism right now, before the Pope becomes crazier.



(For the full article go here: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/07/10/pope.churches.reut/index.html).

So today what bothers me is China. After the whole kill America's pets through food tainted with melamine thing, followed by the whole let's kill children with poisoned toothpast thing, and the let's kill South Americans with cough medicine thing, and let's not forget the whole lets give kids toys made of lead paint thing, you'd think American companies would say - "Hey, we are going to stop using Chinese products and will look to other places to supply the ingredients for our products." But, instead, none of this occurred. Companies continue to blissfully use China products saying it is not their fault if it kills people. At this point, I am going to say they have enough warning as to the poor quality of stuff coming out of China, that to use this stuff in making their products practically constitutes negligence.
The only thing that has happened is that China executed the guy in charge of regulating the safety of products for taking bribes which lead to people dying from a bad vaccine (not sure if I approve or disprove yet - my conscience hasn't decided).
I'm going to by honest here folks. We need to seriously encourage companies to stop getting anything from China. We also need to require that products, especially food products, label where all the elements/ ingredients of their products come from. If I knew an ingredient in my toothpaste came from China, you can bet I wouldn't be buying that toothpaste again.

On T-mobile Again

So I was doing a little investigating on the phones T-mobile used in its trials for Hotspot@home in Seattle. The conclusion: the phones used in the trials were much better than the phones now offered.
I do not think that is how it is supposed to work. Shouldn't phones get better over time? The phones used in seattle were the Nokia 6136 (a phone with much higher screen quality - both external and internal - than the Nokia 6086) and Samsung T709 (a slider phone), both much higher quality phones than are currently available.
So this again raises the question - what was T-mobile thinking?
Also, does anyone know of any rumors on when T-mobile will release more phones for their hotspot@home plan?

Stupid Product Planners

Sometimes I wonder what the IQ is of the people who are in charge of choosing a company's product line.

For example, my sister wanted to by a Ford hybrid SUV, but was unable to locate one anywhere near her home. Ford does not even sell a hybrid car and they seem to be overflowing in SUVs. Did anyone analyze the increases in the cost of gas or the wants of the America people? Seriously, who ever determines product at Ford needs to be fired. It makes sense that Ford is losing money - it is run by idiots.

Or, what really bothered me today, T-mobile. Over the last few months, the phone reception at my apt. has gotten horrible. Now I have to give T-mobile customer service props in that they have tried to help me to the fullest of their ability. One very helpful customer service rep suggested I look at the new hotspot @ home that just came out. Ah, I thought, T-mobile has had a brilliant idea. I am impressed. So I called, sorted out the details, was told the two phones that work on wifi are supposed to be great, looked on-line saw they seemed to be ok, and shipped my phone back (By the way, if you can get reception Nokia 6133 is an awesome phone, just amazing for its price). After shipping off the phone, I stopped at the T-mobile store, handily located near the UPS store. I wanted to see the phone I was about to get.

Let's pause here. Remember that punky phone you had circa 2000? The one you couldn't wait to unload once the better phones became affordable. You got it free with your plan. You sorta hated it, but accepted it because it was free. Tiny interior screen, no colored exterior screen (only a little blue screen that says the name of the caller), poor quality screen, etc. You get the drift.

That is the new t-mobile hotspot@home phone. That's right. They launch this awesome, futuristic system that allows your phone to hook onto a wi-fi network if you can't get a signal, targeted at the 18-30 crowd and they give you a phone you are embarrassed to own. (If you don't believe me, look for yourself - Nokia 6086 and Samsung t409)

So now I sit, temporarily using my old phone (it's a Razr, so not a horrible phone, just has bad reception, etc.) because I shipped my awesome, amazing screen quality, glad I had it, wish I could get reception in my apartment so I didn't have to get rid of it phone, so I could get the hotspot @ home phone and find out I was lied to. No awesome phone is waiting for me. (Now, phones exist that are awesome and can be used for T-mobile hotspot @ home, they were originally supposed to introduce the Nokia 6136 - much more in line with the modern phone - they somehow forgot this plan, however). The phones for the system are an embarrassment to T-mobile. I understand wanting to target the moneysaving younger crowd (of which I am one - living on gov't loans in law school - poorer than in college), but give at least one good phone for the plan. Here I am, willing to pay for a good phone, and have nothing to buy.

I officially give the T-mobile folks in charge of product purchasing the dunce hat. Way to ruin an awesome idea with subpar phones. Seriously, you want me to pay you $50 for a phone I wouldn't have paid for 7 years ago? Let's think about this for a minute. T-mobile purchasers, still can't figure it out? Yeah, that may be the problem.