So shall I

So shall I
Pay for liberty
Without the fee
Of me?

The sound of the ether
The punitive release
That happened to be stayed

Liberals and libertarians are unhappy with the bailouts but for different reasons. Liberals think that the government should have given the money instead to the homeowners on whom predatory lending took place, and if that couldn't happen, the alternative would be to step in and force the banks to take a loss by writing down the loan. This would have made the mortgage worth the same as what its collapsed price would be and would have set the stage for perhaps another speculation bubble, as unavoidable as dust. The banks, as a result, could have either collapsed, but it would have been fit for the government to nationalize them as needed, the way it did with auto industry.

Libertarians, however, think the banks should all have collapsed, because banks would then not be able to foreclose any house since they wouldn't exist anymore. At least, that's how I understand it.

Short-term profits, innovate or die, free market, they are all idiotic systems based on consumerism. The things that Apple are doing, like offering a recycling program, doing audit to ensure that workers have sanitary condition, eliminated toxic metals, are all things that it didn't have to do, and they are also things that don't benefit Apple's bottom line. Is there anything in the free market that suggest engaging in activities beneficial to society would make them more profitable? I say no because the free market doesn't care. It is an abstract, ideal system that has nothing to do with largely irrational people who buy Coke rather than Pepsi, and drink 64 oz of sugar water instead of plain water.

Purple Communications

Purple Communications seems like it should be a good company, but it has been difficult to contact anyone about its other services, like the IP-Relay and ClearCaptions. They don't have a Contact Form, and where an email is available, I don't get a reply. Looking at Hamilton CapTel, I was surprised to get a response within a day.

I wonder if the reason Purple had been having problems is still the fine from the FCC for fraud.

Parasites

Felis Catus

It looks like Perl enjoys looking outside the window in my room. She spent all day napping and now is watching outside. When I was in my room with the light on, which caused a reflection in the window making it hard for her to see outside, I feel like she sometimes look at me, or dashes between the room and out, as if to signal me that she wanted me to have my light off so that she can look outside.

I closed the curtain, and turned off the light and left her alone in the dark.

Mum was asking where Perl was. I told her in my room. She went there and back and told me that she didn’t find her.

I went to the room to look for her, and found her hiding behind the curtain. She was looking outside as usual, as if in deep contemplation.

She just pooped a half hour ago, and oddly, she didn't try to cover it up. It turned out there was another spot of urine on one side. I wonder if our cat is really that finicky, or it will turn out that the litter box is too small or something.

Tasks and Taxes

They are words I keep making with my tongues. The way the back of my throat hits to make the k sound is somehow unsatisfying.

Inflation

It is amazing how things have changed. Just 20 years ago, we could see a ballet in Oakland for just $15. A nutcracker would have a price of $30. Now, I am not even sure we can have that expectation. Not only would we not want to go to Oakland to see a ballet, but we also would have to pay $400 to get a good seat.

Reboot

Well, let's reboot this blog. I haven't posted much because I haven't felt like I had something worth saying, but you know what, bloviating has the same root word as blogging. So, I shall bloguiate.

I have tried other blogging platforms, Posterous, WordPress, Tumblr, etc. Yet the only one I still feel comfortable with is Blogger.com. Even with the changes that Google made, it feels easy, intuitive, and I don't need to get annoyed. I don't feel, like with Tumblr, that I need to make my contents special or photography-related. I don't feel, like with Posterous, that I need to have friends and families to post to. I don't feel, like with WordPress, that I have to remember to press "Enter" one time to get a new paragraph or that I have to deal with various buttons either confusing me or giving me choices that leave me paralyzed.

With WordPress, I get a button like Save as Draft that is more prominent than Publish, making me feel like I should somehow censor myself. In contrast, Blogger puts Publish in orange, and the rest in tasteful background gray.

I did, however, feel that Blogger was for a time getting complicated in trying to copy other platforms, offering features like labels and tagging (what's an obvious way to tell the difference?). I know the difference between labels, tags, categories, and folders, but I don't want to deal with them when I'm writing. I may geek out, but when I'm writing, I prefer not to be fiddling with the styles, organizations, and classifications.

Like I pointed out before on Abraham Williams' Google+, Google should be the Netflix of text. It should figure out how to parse the contents and offer suggested categories. I believe it already does so with the Internet, so why can't it do so with people posting on Google+ as well? Like Netflix's 5-star rating system, Google can use each individual's +1 to filter out what people aren't interested in.

Naturally, there is worry about privacy, but I think it could be implemented like advertising in emails.