Saturday, October 31, 2020
Friday, October 30, 2020
Hillary had it backwards
Remember when in her shock after the 2016 election Hillary Clinton attributed her loss of the woman vote to women following the leads of their husbands?
Yeah, that didn't go over well at all with the women who didn't vote for her. I remember one conservative woman coworker of mine who felt highly insulted that Hillary thought conservative women had no intelligence or initiative of her own and only did what their husbands told them to do. As if husbands were doing the telling.
It turns out the exact opposite happened in some cases. Take, for instance, Joel Rosenberg. He voted for President Donald Trump at the urging of his wife.
Thursday, October 29, 2020
Whoever pays has control
To paraphrase Ecclesiastes 4:4, everything man does is one man striving against another man. Not content to live their own lives, men seek to control others or wrestle off the control of others.
My second preference is to wrestle off the control of others; my first preference is to keep it off in the first place.
One of the most common forms of non-violent, non-coercive control is through money. It's one of the easiest ways to exchange value from one person to another. Anyone willing to part with their money can invariably bend the actions of the person willing to do something to receive it.
This is universally true. This is true of honorable transactions and dishonorable transactions. This is true of direct financial relationships and indirect financial relationships.
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
There is no escape
The final days before an election tend to increasingly dominate all of the public attention. Relatively few people are still involved in shaping the message at large (not counting everyone on social media), and everyone else plans to vote, contact a few friends and family, and await the results.
For some, that can feel like waiting out a hurricane. Assuming one still has electricity, its best and easiest to tune out the storm, about which one can only seek the Lord in prayer, and turn attention to other things. One of the best ways to do this is with a book, preferably one about another time.
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
What communism does
To say that “communism doesn’t work” is to pay it too high of a complement.
It implies that communism is a complete system. It is not.
Communism is a way of taking away personal motivation.
If you take away people's personal motivation to be productive, they have no reason to be productive.
Monday, October 26, 2020
The most pro-life U.S. President in history
President Trump is very competitive.
One has no difficulty identifying this streak in his dealings in the past, and the books he's written about them.
I found this tendency of his most striking when he acknowledged a record he could not beat. When President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush passed away in 2018, there was honor for their 73 years of marriage. President Trump recognized his own mortality limits his ability to break that record. His marriage begun in 2005 would have to last until 2078 to match that. He would have to live to 132, and that's not going to happen.
Not winning everything has not stopped him from aiming for things he can win. As President, Donald Trump has worked with advisors to maximize opportunities to put in place pro-life policy and judicial restraint more than any of his predecessors.
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Saturday, October 24, 2020
Friday, October 23, 2020
BidenCare
Americans still believe in freedom in the marketplace.
When leftists feel the need to use the language of “competition” to talk about their health care policies, you know they recognize a government takeover of health care is not palatable to the American people.
This is exactly what Joe Biden did last night when it comes to health care. Twice he used the word “competition” to talk about his health care policies.
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Imposters Among Us
One wonders if she realizes the implications for the optics of participating in a game in which at least one of the players is knowingly an imposter seeking to corrupt the mission of others.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
The Piranha Theory
Sometimes it's interesting how people remember things, or in some cases, don't quite fully remember things.
I heard someone ask about “The Piranha Theory” yesterday. That was a bit of a head-scratcher at first.
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Election reminders
Election Day is two weeks from today.
You don't get things by voting for them.
You get things by working for them.
You get rid of things by voting for people who will stand against them.
The whole point of having a law is for there to be a law against something.
If you want to be for something, you don't need a law to do that—at least not in a free country.
Monday, October 19, 2020
How to know when the Gospel is relevant
Where is there sin?
Where is it possible to sin?
Where is it possible to sin?
Is it possible to sin with money? with power? with relationships?
There, the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Gospel, is relevant.
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Sunday, October 18, 2020
The church's turn to deceit
In the 1970's, the Church in America had a sense of mission and purpose. We had the light of God's Word and we wanted to take it to the regions beyond and the uttermost parts of the earth where people lived in spiritual darkness and needed to know the Truth.
I was born to a couple that understood this and dedicated their lives to exactly this mission. Through their organization they were headed to the tribal regions of Venezuela and the Yanomamo people.
Fast-forward 50 years and the roles are reversing. Yanomamo people have come to know Jesus and the American church is turning to spiritual darkness, even while still claiming to be “Gospel-centered,” having the Bible as their “final authority,” and giving money to support mission work.
I was born to a couple that understood this and dedicated their lives to exactly this mission. Through their organization they were headed to the tribal regions of Venezuela and the Yanomamo people.
Fast-forward 50 years and the roles are reversing. Yanomamo people have come to know Jesus and the American church is turning to spiritual darkness, even while still claiming to be “Gospel-centered,” having the Bible as their “final authority,” and giving money to support mission work.
Saturday, October 17, 2020
Friday, October 16, 2020
TNX
I didn't mean to double-post yesterday, and I want to go see if I can see if T-Mobile deems me eligible for TNX. Phone customer service told me this is new in the stores as of October 7.
If I encounter drama, maybe I'll live-blog the experience.
Update: The store staff did not deem me eligible. I only have tablets on my Sprint account and TNX is only for phone plans.
Thursday, October 15, 2020
Why Work for Religious Liberty
Yesterday, Daniel Darling highlighted a recent article of his about why we should work to legally protect religious liberty.
His four main points were:
1. Jesus addressed religious liberty.
2. Paul addressed religious liberty.
3. Paul asserted his rights as a Roman citizen.
4. Romans 13 Reminds Us That We Will Be Accountable for Our Voice in a Democracy.
His four main points were:
1. Jesus addressed religious liberty.
2. Paul addressed religious liberty.
3. Paul asserted his rights as a Roman citizen.
4. Romans 13 Reminds Us That We Will Be Accountable for Our Voice in a Democracy.
What happens with a 'right' to health care
Democrats are running election ads framing the choice on November 3, 2020, as “giving health care to everyone” or “taking health care away” from everyone. As if.
Health care is a service. It costs money. People providing it need to be paid. Health care is 1/6 of the American economy. It's not 100% of the economy.
The supply of health care providers—everyone practicing medicine—exceeds the possible demands on the health care system—everyone else.
No matter the policy or law in place, these limits are built-in. There's no way around the fact that the general population is larger than the health care provider population.
Paying for health care, like paying for anything else, helps match supply to demand.
If there's no financial friction to accessing health care, everyone would feel more free to access the health care system and that increased demand would exceed the capacity of available health care providers. Demand must be held down to levels that can be met by available supply. No one can provide unlimited health care to everyone. Prices change to make these adjust to ever-changing demands.
If Democrats want to “get money out of medicine” (to borrow a phrase), and ban people from paying for health care, then after having increased demand by reducing financial friction, they must then find other ways to artificially reduce demand. They're claiming to solve a problem they're creating.
Health care is a service. It costs money. People providing it need to be paid. Health care is 1/6 of the American economy. It's not 100% of the economy.
The supply of health care providers—everyone practicing medicine—exceeds the possible demands on the health care system—everyone else.
No matter the policy or law in place, these limits are built-in. There's no way around the fact that the general population is larger than the health care provider population.
Paying for health care, like paying for anything else, helps match supply to demand.
If there's no financial friction to accessing health care, everyone would feel more free to access the health care system and that increased demand would exceed the capacity of available health care providers. Demand must be held down to levels that can be met by available supply. No one can provide unlimited health care to everyone. Prices change to make these adjust to ever-changing demands.
If Democrats want to “get money out of medicine” (to borrow a phrase), and ban people from paying for health care, then after having increased demand by reducing financial friction, they must then find other ways to artificially reduce demand. They're claiming to solve a problem they're creating.
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Uncharted territory for Democrats
I wrote about this a couple weeks ago, but the story is now getting even better.
Republicans are not giving in to demands from Democrats to spend ourselves into oblivion with another round of trillions, plural, in spending.
This is uncharted territory for Democrats. They're used to getting their way, and they have no idea who to blame anymore now that they're not.
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Rights are not something for courts to 'announce'
SCOTUSblog reported on yesterday's first day of confirmation hearings on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.
There was a line that caught my attention and the form of it drew attention. Twice it read as:
“the constitutional right to [issue] announced in [Supreme Court case]”
If something is a right, then it should not take a Supreme Court case to make an appearance.
Monday, October 12, 2020
POTUS in Sanford
10 days ago President Trump was scheduled to speak in home town in Florida.
That plan was postponed by a coronavirus diagnosis.
Now, 10 days later, the President is able to resume holding campaign events.
Sunday, October 11, 2020
Saturday, October 10, 2020
Friday, October 9, 2020
The kind of jobs we don't want to create
Some people's jobs exist because other people don't do their job well.
The software world is no exception to this.
Thursday, October 8, 2020
How to make content mobile-friendly
If you want your main online content to be mobile-friendly, never use more than one column.
Two columns or more are for paper, not screens.
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Justice Thomas Questions
In hearing Supreme Court telephone oral arguments again this week, I'm reminded again of the newsworthiness of Justice Clarence Thomas asking questions. When this first happened in the spring, the legal world was alight with delight at his questions.
On the one hand I found it less noteworthy for a few reasons. I once heard an interview with Justice Thomas wherein he was asked about his propensity not to ask questions, and he had a simple explanation: He liked to hear what people had to say. I think that's true. I get the impression that to him it’s not really that big of a deal.
The change in format from an open session in the courtroom to a telephone teleconference has had significant effects on oral arguments including who asks questions and when. Having a designated time to ask questions in order of seniority changes the dynamic. Justice Thomas is now first, and he indeed uses his time for questions to ask questions.
On the one hand I found it less noteworthy for a few reasons. I once heard an interview with Justice Thomas wherein he was asked about his propensity not to ask questions, and he had a simple explanation: He liked to hear what people had to say. I think that's true. I get the impression that to him it’s not really that big of a deal.
The change in format from an open session in the courtroom to a telephone teleconference has had significant effects on oral arguments including who asks questions and when. Having a designated time to ask questions in order of seniority changes the dynamic. Justice Thomas is now first, and he indeed uses his time for questions to ask questions.
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Why do companies make it hard for customers to increase the value of their services?
I've never understood why software companies make it hard for users to suggest features.
Software is nothing but language. The bar for competition is generally quite low. Some things like internal Web sites, intranets, etc. get less usage so competition is reduced, but still.
It's a rare user that takes the time to (a) think about the software and how it could be better, and (b) actually bothers to put those ideas into words and suggestions and actually send them to the company.
Software, by its nature, is going to be used in unexpected ways, and no developer or company can predict all those ways, nor the pain points or inefficiencies users will notice along the way. Therefore, to have people voluntarily offer ways for them to increase the value of their product is something that should be highly valued.
Software is nothing but language. The bar for competition is generally quite low. Some things like internal Web sites, intranets, etc. get less usage so competition is reduced, but still.
It's a rare user that takes the time to (a) think about the software and how it could be better, and (b) actually bothers to put those ideas into words and suggestions and actually send them to the company.
Software, by its nature, is going to be used in unexpected ways, and no developer or company can predict all those ways, nor the pain points or inefficiencies users will notice along the way. Therefore, to have people voluntarily offer ways for them to increase the value of their product is something that should be highly valued.
Monday, October 5, 2020
First October Monday
Supreme Court oral arguments began for the new term today.
Would that I had time to listen to them and study each case.
Google v. Oracle is on Wednesday.
Questions:
• Does copyright protection extend to a software interface?
• What counts as fair use of code?
A fascinating backdrop to that question is the open embrace by Microsoft of open source code.
Would that I had time to listen to them and study each case.
Google v. Oracle is on Wednesday.
Questions:
• Does copyright protection extend to a software interface?
• What counts as fair use of code?
A fascinating backdrop to that question is the open embrace by Microsoft of open source code.
Sunday, October 4, 2020
Saturday, October 3, 2020
Friday, October 2, 2020
Better to be overlooked
I've been reading Proverbs recently, and this week I came across 12:9:
I've been an avid user of technology all my life. Among my very first words were those about light switches, and my tools have gotten more advanced since then.
I frequently rearrange my work space to fit my needs, and lately that has meant having a dashboard of several screens to be able to keep track of people and material. It's like my own little throne surrounded by silicon servants.
It is better to be overlooked and have a servant than to be pretentious and have nothing to eat.While the “have a servant” part raises a lot of questions for us today, especially in 2020, there's another way to understand this.
I've been an avid user of technology all my life. Among my very first words were those about light switches, and my tools have gotten more advanced since then.
I frequently rearrange my work space to fit my needs, and lately that has meant having a dashboard of several screens to be able to keep track of people and material. It's like my own little throne surrounded by silicon servants.
Thursday, October 1, 2020
What happens when Republicans take a stand
Republicans good ideas about restraining government spending, and they also have difficulty enforcing them under pressure.
The Congressional response to the coronavirus has presented Republicans with an easier than usual opportunity to stand by principles of restraint. After passing a $2 trillion spending bill, Republicans have been more than ready to let that spending have its full effects first before proceeding further.
Both House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer both expected Republicans to cave on spending and consent to trillions more in spending. They pretended to suffer cuts to their demands by shortening how long they would demand spending.
The Congressional response to the coronavirus has presented Republicans with an easier than usual opportunity to stand by principles of restraint. After passing a $2 trillion spending bill, Republicans have been more than ready to let that spending have its full effects first before proceeding further.
Both House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer both expected Republicans to cave on spending and consent to trillions more in spending. They pretended to suffer cuts to their demands by shortening how long they would demand spending.
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