Archive for the ‘Excess and Algorithms’ Category

#AK47 Creator Caused Death, Faced it & Repented

Posted: January 15, 2014 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional, Excess and Algorithms, Stimulus Space Response
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by @anarchyroll
1/14/2014

Who is Mikhail Kalashnikov? He invented the AK 47? The most notorious gun the world by a mile with the magnum 357, M16, and M4 with grenade launcher bringing up the rear. Nothing comes with the realm as the AK 47, just ask any fan of the James Bond franchise.

Kalashnikov died last month at the age of 91, a very very very very wealthy man. He had that military contractor money, aka fat stacks to the sky. He had that, all the money in the world, kind of money. He has the go to military arms dealer during the height of the cold war. So why is this the first line in a letter her wrote to a priest “”The pain in my soul is unbearable.” ???

A man who wasn’t just rich but wealthy, a hero’s hero to his country. Pain in his soul?

Because facing death makes one look back on life more independently, because we separate from our ego as we enter or complete the final chapter of our physical lives. Kalashnikov always knew deep in his soul he was making money literally from murder, death, and destruction. He knew he made the world a worse place while making his fortune.

I personally think anyone who works on Wall Street, for an oil/gas company, for a utility company, fast food company, tobacco firm, or as a lobbyist should read his quotes and wonder if they will think they same of themselves when they eventually die. People who make money polluting the earth, gauging people for money for basic elements of survival, make people sick and/or unhealthy, and influence legislation at the expense of the many for the sake of the few. What will they think of themselves, their lives, legacies when they are inevitably on their death bed?

This isn’t just CEOs, this goes all the way down to the clerks. Whether religious or not, none of us escape death, and we need not worry about St. Peter we need only about the last time we look in the mirror. We are responsible for our legacies. All the money in the world cannot buy one’s way into heaven or piece of mind and spirit when we are about to die.

Kalashnikov’s quote made me think about beginning with the end in mind, a principle of Stephen Covey. It made me think about the quest to have a comfortable living and peace of mind. It made me think about tribal society and how we’re all in this together whether we want it to be that way or not.  It made me think hedge fund managers, shady investment bankers, private military contractors will eventually think and feel what Kalashnikov thought on his death bed. What does it make you think of?

#OWS Shines Light on Dark Debt Market

Posted: January 14, 2014 in Excess and Algorithms
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eanda logoby @anarchyroll
1/13/2014

Did you know what the secondary debt market was? I sure as hell didn’t. Now I do, thanks Occupy Wall Street and Strike Debt (an OWS offshoot).

Raising that question and answering it is precisely what the intention behind the action of buying and forgiving the debt, first $1 million, then $15 million. I hope this silences the movements critics (that aren’t members of the 1%). The debt they forgave was primarily medical debt, they said they will next be targeting student loan debt.

The movement is not as chic as it was a few years ago, and certainly doesn’t receive the news coverage it did during it’s initial run in Zuccotti Park, but that has been a blessing in disguise. Without national media attention and the inevitable ego boom that comes with it, they have been able to quietly do the work of the 99%.  Now the press only covers them when they make a big splash in the form of helping people, which is what any protest movement is supposed to be all about.

www.nointernetsalestax.over

Posted: December 27, 2013 in Excess and Algorithms
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eanda logoby @anarchyroll
December 26, 2013

Why no online sales tax? A 1992 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Quill Corp v. North Dakota where it was ruled a business needed a physical presence (ie office, store, etc) to collect sales tax as opposed to just a paying customer. How was this ruling maintained for two decades? The Direct Marketing Association‘s lobbying on behalf of online behemoths like Amazon and eBay. What could force sales taxes onto online purchases? The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013. Who? The bill was sponsored by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. When do you have to start paying taxes on your online purchases? You already do in 24 states. However, surprise surprise there is a loophole and congressional gridlock holding up progress.

States must simplify their sales tax laws in order to make the collection of taxes easy. Apparatus is being provided to states free of cost to help in the transitory process/period. However, a certain political party is objecting to a new tax of any kind being put on the books. I’ll give you one guess which one, hint hint, it’s not the Whigs. In October it appeared as though the machine and momentum were both rolling in the direction of sales tax collection on all internet purchases made in the United States. But never underestimate what congressional obstructionism has the power to not do.

Even if the bill were to pass tomorrow it is already too late for the thousands of brick and mortar stores that shut down and the millions of people who lost their jobs due to being unable to compete in a game rigged against them by a law that protects e retailers created before they existed. There is hope for the future. Small businesses that are better able to adapt to and engage with technology will find that a new era where the internet is a friend and a tool as opposed to a competitor will equal opportunity and prosperity. Now if only they could get small business loans…

TWTR’s Stock Value Shows Its Purpose

Posted: November 9, 2013 in Excess and Algorithms
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eanda logoby @anarchyroll
11/8/13

Twitter went public this week, successfully, take that Facebook! Sure the second day saw a slide of 5.8% but that is barely a drop in the bucket after going up by 73% in its first day of trading.  The lesson is clear, have Patrick Stewart ring the bell during your company’s IPO offering , it’s good luck.

But in all seriousness, TWTR (it’s stock list name) has shown staying and growing power as a company during its first two days as a publicly traded company.  Their IPO isn’t as similar to Facebook as one might think. Facebook had more market value/capital, revenues, and profits than Twitter going into its IPO.  Twitter is still yet to make a profit, which was not the case with Facebook.  So why is its stock performing so well it its infancy?

“We believe that the majority of the world’s 2.4 billion Internet users have great potential to find something or someone on Twitter that they are interested in,” he said. “Because of its critical mass, it should enjoy a competitive advantage for the foreseeable future.” Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities, an investment firm that set the price of Twitter’s stock at $37 per share.

When I saw that quote my eyes popped, because in much simpler language with a more direct tone, that is usually how I pitch Twitter to my friends.  Pick a subject, topic, taste, hobby, or basically any kind of noun and you can find almost an infinite amount of information about it on Twitter.  The example I usually use is music; every musician in every band of every genre of 6every level of popularity along with their record label, fan club, and industry magazines all have the professional and/or personal Twitter accounts.

Understanding the business model of a product that you believe in then buying at a low price and selling at a high price is the corner stone of Warren Buffet’s model of investing. So if you “get” Twitter and have money to invest, buy now. Twitter is not going anywhere, it is as relevant a product as there is in the world.

Twitter’s slice of the social media pie is that it allows you to be anonymous and doesn’t chain you to your immediate friends and family.  Twitter can be used as an ego centric, gossip creating, social status machine like Facebook.  Unlike Facebook however, Twitter can be a legit breaking news source like the Bin Laden killing. It can connect revolutionaries who want to topple a dictator like in Libya.  Twitter can provide actual news and actual information that can have wide reaching effects on the world, not just on one’s social circle.

And that slice of the social media pie is directly correctly to its stock market value, invest accordingly.

Low Tax Rate = Collapsing Bridges

Posted: November 8, 2013 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional, Excess and Algorithms
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eanda logoajclogo1by @anarchyroll
11/7/2013

At some point during the 1970s the tax code in the United States of America was deliberately turned in a complex labyrinth of small typed font, subsections, exemptions, and  industry speak double talk.  It is not a coincidence that from 1970 until now, the infrastructure of the United States has been in consistent decline.  Parallel to this urban decay that all of us have seen that driving through any major metropolitan city has been a rise of gated communities and McMansions, again not a coincidence.

“Between 1946 and 1970, very prosperous years, the highest tax rate for the top earners was never below 70%—even under Dwight Eisenhower, whom no one called a socialist. We have so much deferred maintenance on roads and bridges and tunnels and ports. Money does not have to be raised, and the rich have never been as rich.” Robert Reich in the 10/7/13 issue of TIME magazine.

This is part of what the Occupy Wall Street movement is referring to with their 99% slogan.  The income/wealth of the top 1% is more than the rest of the 99% possess in combined.  There is no one reason why this is the case, however the fact that marginal tax rate for top earners is 39.6% leads one down a rabbit hole of simple math. If the top wage earners in America are playing 30% less in taxes, then what things can’t local, state, and federal government(s) able to do with that missing tax revenue?

Build bridges, pave roads, renovate schools, not have to privatize stuff because of massive budget short falls. Do you know any old people who talk about the good ole days? They’re referring to the years between WWII ending and Vietnam taking a turn for the worse. During that time part of what made things so good was everything felt new, fresh, safe, etc…a direct contributor to that was that local, state, and federal government(s) had money to pay for anything and everything. Police, post offices, highways, homeless shelters, etc, etc, etc, et f’n c…

Ask yourself, why can’t the rich pay more in taxes? Why haven’t they? Why would the rich rather pay lobbyists and politicians money to keep taxes low, rather than just use that money to pay more in taxes?

Innocent bystanders in public places will keep dying due to collapsing infrastructure until they do.  What do you think the breaking point body count is? I have my guesses, but this isn’t a long form piece.

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