Who determines how much profit a company can make?

Apparently, people who think that they know more than the rest of us.

Socialists, all of them. They think that they can decide how much profit is too much.
Soon, they’ll be telling you how much salary you can make. And these things will be decided by a board of people accountable to no one. People that they decide should make those decisions.

And, lets not forget that, likely, you own bits and pieces of those companies they are going to limit the profits on….if not directly through your portfolio, then through your 401K and other retirement investments.

Look: I’d like to see gas prices drop, and I’d like to return to the days when I could fill up my tank for less than a Franklin. I’d like to return to the days of muscle cars. I’d like to go back to when $5.00 could let me cruise the strip for all night with my friends.

But to limit the profit that these companies make, to pass legislation where a select group of unelected “experts” decides what is enough profit for any single corporation is madness. It places too much power in the hands of people who have no right to determine the earnings of a company. It leads to a very steep and slippery slope, wherein each of us must ask politely for a decent return on our investment, be it time, labor, or dollars. Who will be next? Farmers? Stores? Factories? Why should anyone invest in anything if there is no incentive to do so? When there is no reward?

The actual amount of profit that the oil companies, the shippers, distributors, and retail outlets (individuals, all) makes on a gallon of gas is less than the taxes that the feds and the state steal from charge you. The rate of return is minuscule per gallon.

In another time, Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and his co conspirators would have been branded “red” and hounded out of the government. Or horsewhipped for admitting that he even thought about such legislation.

How do even let these people into government?

Y’know, sometimes people are stupid. Sometimes they are led/influenced by stupid people. Like the news media.

We have had, here in the greater Chicago metro area, a fairly mild winter so far. For most of November and nearly all of December, we were above freezing and had very little precipitation fall as snow.

The past few days have been somewhat cold, reaching (gasp!) single digit temps. (really unusual for JANU!ARY). Today, warmer air is flowing up from the south, leading to a predicted 8″ of snow possible for some parts of the are in the next 24 hours.

People are panicking. People are cancelling travel plans. Some schools are closing, with cold and snow as the reason.

Over 8″ of snow.
In a 24 hour period.
In the midwest.
In January.

Jesus
What weak sisters we have living here.

Santorum did win the Iowa caucus.

But the GOP really only cares about their chosen boy, Mittens.

Santorum isn’t the chosen one. They lied. You don’t think that this had an effect going into New Hampshire?

Romney is getting the support of the GOP national folks. And he’s gonna lose to Obama.

Betcha

Did you even bother to call and explain why SOPA/PIPA, etc is a bad idea? Did you read anything that was posted on the 18th??

Or did you just go forward with your life?

Watch this video, might help. Take 4 minutes to learn.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

(h/t walls of the city)

It is important. These bills can be used to (and likely will be) shut down blogs which are not approved by your government. Or any larger group who wishes to claim any copytight infringement. No notice, no chance to take down any material which might be an issue.  Just shut the website down.
Guess who gets to make that choice? The government. Do you think that is a good idea?

Many of us, some big, some small, chose to use today as a protest. As a day to (hopefully) educate and motivate the rest of you to take some action by cutting off the “free ice cream”

Or not.

I was impressed by Wikipedia somewhat less by Google, not so much by Drudge and Instapundit.
I guess income trumps taking a stand. Even though taking a stand might well save your income.

Midwest Chick and I spend a fair bit of time shopping this weekend. some high end stores, some low end stores, and most somewhere in between.

While I am all for saving a buck or two, I noticed something:

Wal-Mart and Menards had much less well behaved customers. Same with the cheaper grocery stores.

The stores that were one step higher in price had a much better class of people shopping there. By better class, I mean behavior wise. Same town, same demographic (or so it appeared), but a much higher level of social interaction quality. 

Quite simply, they behaved better. More like people and less like animals.

It may well be worth it for me to pay the slightly higher prices and shop where the lowest common denominator doesn’t.

It’ll be good for my blood pressure

When it comes to the NRC and low doses of radiation.

They are even checking imported tissue holders.

They caution us to be careful sitting near them, as we might get the equivalent of 2 x-rays a day…

Yet there is no check on the scanners that they use in airports at all. Nor on the dosages the TSA personnel get while working.

Interesting, ain’t it?

While I think that the day commemorating his birthday (MLK day) should be on his birthday, not a movable one so that federal and state workers get a 3 day weekend **, the think I want to talk about is this:

What would MLK say about the state of the black culture and the black population today?

What would he think of the fact that more than half of the black population is living off of government handouts?

Of the fact that more than half of the children raised today have no father figure?

What would he think and say about the “Black” leaders today, and what their policies have done to blacks in the US?

Would he think that the black leaders today have destroyed his “dream“? (you can watch it HERE if you wish)

His message was good then. And it is good now. I was raised to believe in what he preached in that speech.

I think he’d be disgusted by what has become of our society in general, and the black society in particular.

**(I mean, seriously, is the reason for the holiday to commemorate the birth of a hero, or who did something impressive…. or to create another day when federal and state “workers” don’t even have to pretend to work in order to collect a paycheck?) 

Car crashes, vehicular assault, and ramming others off the road. Movies are one thing, real life something else.

Those scenes are done under very specific conditions, with professionals piloting (generally) modified cars/trucks.

As these homeboys found out Saturday night.

Laws of physics and all that. But I guess you have to go to high school to learn that those laws cannot be broken….not spend your time selling drugs on a street corner.

Darwin is always watching and waiting. He was there when these boys learned things last night.

Via SCC.

So the young man is learning how to live in the wilderness…mentored by the old coot:

“What do I do if I meet a grizzly bear in the woods?” The tenderfoot asks

“Stand your ground. If you run, you’ll only die tired and bleeding….Stand tall and look him in the eye.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”  The young man persists

“Throw shit in his face as he charges”

“where am I gonna get shit?” the young man wonders

“It’ll be there when you need it, son”