Alan C.

I live in a faily affluent area, and recently stopped at a McDonald's which now has these self-order kiosks. They weren't there a few months ago. They still have people working point-of-sale registers, but there are fewer people. I don't know how much the kiosks cost, but I'd be surprised if they're more than $10K ea. We have touch-screen directories in our office building, and they only cost a few grand. The self-order kiosks are basically all-in-one computers with touch capacitance LCDs and simple point-of-sale software like one might see on an Internet store. With minimum wages increasing to $15 in some places over the next few years, you're likely to see kiosks like this appear in more places. They don't show up late to work. They don't call in sick. They don't have poor communication (eg. poor grammar, comprehension). There is no change to count because it's all electronic. They ameliorate he-said-she-said. They don't require benefits. They don't require special work accomodations. They don't sue for discrimination. They don't go on strike. Employers don't have to pay 7.5% Social Security tax. The ultimate effect of this will be that the least skilled individuals in society will be priced our of the market entirely because it will be illegal to hire them without incurring a loss.

U.S. tech companies expected to lose more than $35 billion due to NSA spying

Nearly Half of U.S. Can’t Afford Unexpected $400 Bill – Forgo Medical Treatment

Venezuela's currency isn't worth a penny

He gets it.

Left-liberalism is the philosophy of responsibility avoidance. Purging words in this manner is an attempt to erase any indication or reminder of failure. In psychology, it's known as leveling.

Tech Champion De Blasio Under Fire on Plan to Regulate Uber Apps

Teachers complain, chaos reigns as St. Paul schools spend millions on ‘white privilege’ training

Robin Williams' wife and children in court battle after they fail to agree on how much money she should be given from his will

I think that impulse control is also highly correlated with higher intelligence. One of the things that I notice about people who are not exceptionally bright, or who have very average intelligence, is that they are more indulgent, hedonistic, have higher time preference (preferring present consumption over future consumption), and shorter time horizons (lack of prudence and foresight). They will tend to make decisions based upon criterion such as whether or not it feels good or tastes good, rather than long-term costs and consequences.

Even if no force was involved, and the communistic society was entirely voluntary, it would still fail because of a lack of money and prices.

The Bolivar (Venezuela's currency) is in serious trouble. When people begin ditching a currency, the end is near. The same thing will eventually happen to the U.S. dollar when the rate of price increases becomes too onerous. Businesses quietly switch to dollar in socialist Venezuela Venezuela: No Rule of Law, Bad Money

It's an economic collapse precipitated by a dollar crisis. It's difficult to make precise predictions, but I think it will feel like a train wreck in slow motion. Rapid price increases will be the initial indication that something is imminent, followed by service distruptions. There are too few people being productive to support the overwhelming number of people on the receiving end of government largesse.

The victimhood industry is financially lucrative for people who have nothing to offer others, and it provides a convenient excuse for shirking personal responsibility.

I found the show to be very entertaining.

Yes, he's that mr1001nights. He was an object of ridicule in the Mises forums and has advocated violence and sabotage. People started referring to him as mr1001bolsheviks.

Following City, Chicago Public Schools Credit Rating Junked

Cost of Federal Regulation Reached $1.88 Trillion in 2014 With that kind of drag, it's hardly surprising that the economy is going nowhere fast.

7,231,000 Lost Jobs: Manufacturing Employment Down 37% From 1979 Peak So, what is everyone else doing if not manufacturing? While the manufacturing sector has been gutted, the service sector has grown rapidly. This is highly problematic because much of what the service sector does is wasteful and unproductive. An example of this is in the financial sector. As a consequence of the Fed's low interest rates, and legally mandated, lower lending standards, the number of companies dealing with mortgages and other kinds of lending have grown like weeds. None of these companies should exist, but they do because of the government's perverse incentives. If and when the dollar collapses, the result will be a massive dislocation and millions unemployed when these companies go bust. Other service-sector industries which have grown like weeds are health-care and education, the bulk of which consists of bureaucracy and paperwork. With advances in technology, and the fact that computers are accessible and affordable to just about anyone, education should be nearly free, and health-care should be dirt cheap.

Americans Not In The Labor Force Rise To Record 93,194,000 Record 56,167,000 Women Not in Labor Force; Women's Participation Rate Matches 27-Year Low

I definitely perceive the passage of time more rapidly as I've aged, whereas time passed more slowly when I was younger. I always thought it was because I was agitated and stressed when I was growing up. When you're traumatized, your senses become heightened.

Venezuela raises minimum wage 30 pct amid raging inflation

That video was very good. I watched some of his other videos. He has some good content on his channel. I'm going to sub next time I log into YT.

Venezuela to nationalize food distribution Fantastic. This f'ing loser is a former bus driver and trade union leader, so he's obviously qualified to centrally plan food distribution and economic policy for 33M people.

Larken Rose's wife