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Google Backs Netflix in Epic Battle With Comcast | Enterprise | WIRED: "“We give companies like Netflix and Akamai free access to space and power in our facilities, and they provide their own content servers,” Google Fiber director of engineering Jeffrey Burgan wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. “Since people usually only stream one video at a time, video traffic doesn’t bog down or change the way we manage our network in any meaningful way–so why not help enable it?”"
Thursday, May 22, 2014
How focusing on profit can help the poor - CSMonitor.com
How focusing on profit can help the poor - CSMonitor.com: "Without a sustainable business plan, efforts to help the poor can burn out. Although the profit margin on Essence of Life products is smaller than other products, Teichmann said it’s vital."
" “What we do is make enough money to continue the investment and get some return back so we can bring on people and make more products, expanding the portfolio [we can offer to farmers],” he continued. “The business model sustains itself, which is very important.” "
"Xylem cuts production costs by partnering with nonprofit organizations and government agencies to distribute the pumps – groups that know these rural communities well.
“We utilize their intimate understanding of conducting transactions and relationships in rural communities,” Teichmann said. “They become a part of our logistical channels to not only bring the product in, but to service the product as well.”
That service component is crucial, Teichmann said. If farmers can’t get repairs or replacement parts, even the most innovative and necessary product becomes useless."
"We see competitive products rusting in fields because there was no proactive service proposition, and they broke."
" “What we do is make enough money to continue the investment and get some return back so we can bring on people and make more products, expanding the portfolio [we can offer to farmers],” he continued. “The business model sustains itself, which is very important.” "
"Xylem cuts production costs by partnering with nonprofit organizations and government agencies to distribute the pumps – groups that know these rural communities well.
“We utilize their intimate understanding of conducting transactions and relationships in rural communities,” Teichmann said. “They become a part of our logistical channels to not only bring the product in, but to service the product as well.”
That service component is crucial, Teichmann said. If farmers can’t get repairs or replacement parts, even the most innovative and necessary product becomes useless."
"We see competitive products rusting in fields because there was no proactive service proposition, and they broke."
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
UCLA rejects $3M gift from Sterling for kidney research | Fox News
UCLA rejects $3M gift from Sterling for kidney research | Fox News: "UCLA said it is rejecting the $3 million donation received last month from the Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling after he was banned for life from the NBA over a racist audiotape."
Isn't it good to take money from a racist and you use to research disease?
Isn't it good to take money from a racist and you use to research disease?
Judge approves forfeiture of car, despite not guilty verdict - Campaign for Liberty
Judge approves forfeiture of car, despite not guilty verdict - Campaign for Liberty: "A Minnesota man who had his car seized in connection with an arrest for burglary will not get his car back despite being found not guilty."
"State’s Attorney Ron McBeth says there were no witnesses to the burglary and the case was highly circumstantial."
"State’s Attorney Ron McBeth says there were no witnesses to the burglary and the case was highly circumstantial."
Monday, April 28, 2014
Obama's Drone Wars Undermine American Values - Campaign for Liberty
Obama's Drone Wars Undermine American Values - Campaign for Liberty: "n 2012 President Obama approved “signature strikes” in Yemen, a criteria for attack that is not based on actual or suspected wrongdoing, but rather on a vague set of behaviors that are said to be shared by militants.
This means that the individuals killed in the most recent drone attacks were not necessarily terrorists or even terrorist suspects. They were not proven to have committed any crime, nor were they proven to have been members of al-Qaeda or any terrorist organization."
This means that the individuals killed in the most recent drone attacks were not necessarily terrorists or even terrorist suspects. They were not proven to have committed any crime, nor were they proven to have been members of al-Qaeda or any terrorist organization."
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Piketty Gets It Wrong | Cato Institute
Piketty Gets It Wrong | Cato Institute: "does it matter if some people become super-rich as long as we reduce poverty along the way? Which matters more, equality or prosperity?"
"In the end, there are two ways to address inequality. You can bring the top down, or you can lift the bottom up."
"In the end, there are two ways to address inequality. You can bring the top down, or you can lift the bottom up."
ACA Exchanges at Risk | Cato Institute
ACA Exchanges at Risk | Cato Institute: "Obamacare makes going uninsured an even safer bet. It increases premiums for healthy people and the penalty for not buying health insurance is largely toothless. So if you earn too much to qualify for subsidies or you take steps to avoid paying the penalty, going uninsured will save you even more money than before.
Obamacare even more dramatically reduces the downside of going uninsured. For example, suppose the day after you cancel your health insurance, you receive a serious diagnosis like diabetes, or cancer. Pre-Obamacare, you would not be able to buy coverage for that illness. Under Obamacare, however, insurers are required to cover you at the same premium they charged when you were healthy. You may have to wait until January for that coverage to take effect, but even so the downside risk of going uninsured is much smaller.
And in many cases, you can get coverage before January."
Obamacare even more dramatically reduces the downside of going uninsured. For example, suppose the day after you cancel your health insurance, you receive a serious diagnosis like diabetes, or cancer. Pre-Obamacare, you would not be able to buy coverage for that illness. Under Obamacare, however, insurers are required to cover you at the same premium they charged when you were healthy. You may have to wait until January for that coverage to take effect, but even so the downside risk of going uninsured is much smaller.
And in many cases, you can get coverage before January."
Our Oligarchs Can Thank James Madison - Ryan McMaken - Mises Daily
Our Oligarchs Can Thank James Madison - Ryan McMaken - Mises Daily: "In the essay, Madison’s position is that large expansive republics are superior to small limited republics because they balance a variety of “factions” (by which he meant interest groups and voting blocs) against each other and prevent any single group from unduly influencing the government. In a small republic, Madison argued, small factions are able to easily take control of the state’s resources or the state itself. Included among these factions is any large voting bloc with similar interests. The majority and its alleged penchant for the oppression of the minority can be controlled by cancelling out the interests of local majorities at the national level with majorities from other states, thus leading to a balanced population in which no particular faction can gain an upper hand.
Madison’s purpose was to demonstrate that if the American states were allowed to remain largely independent, as they indeed were in 1787, they would degenerate into despotism, but if the states were all consolidated into one federal system, the different factions within the many states would be balanced out and no group or alliance could ever take control of the new government."
Madison’s purpose was to demonstrate that if the American states were allowed to remain largely independent, as they indeed were in 1787, they would degenerate into despotism, but if the states were all consolidated into one federal system, the different factions within the many states would be balanced out and no group or alliance could ever take control of the new government."
Saving the Asylum System | Cato Institute
Saving the Asylum System | Cato Institute: "Making such a claim starts a long legal process that allows many unauthorized immigrants claiming asylum to work legally in the United States for years on a de facto work permit. This is an effective loophole that is growing in popularity but reformers must be careful not to close off this vital humanitarian safety valve.
From independence to the 20th century, America was the world’s safe haven for religious refugees. But in 1921 the federal government imposed the nation’s first immigration quotas, removing the last hope for many millions of people seeking to flee dictatorship, war, and genocide. Those restrictions led to the U.S. government shamefully turning away ships full of German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany."
"the asylum loophole is an unintended consequence of severe restrictions that make it exceedingly difficult for lower-skilled immigrants to enter the country legally. The asylum loophole problem could be resolved by creating a low-skilled guest worker visa program to channel would-be unauthorized immigrants into the legal system — removing the incentive for some of them to make dubious asylum claims."
"Individuals apprehended by the Border Patrol who then seek asylum status could be paroled, electronically monitored, and levied a large fine to be paid within one year. Raising the cost for illegally entering incentivizes honest asylum seekers to go through ports of entry.
Legal behavior should be rewarded. Asylum seekers who apply through a port of entry should also receive their work permit within a brief period of parole, ideally a week, instead of the current 180 days."
"Under today’s asylum rules, the pilgrims would probably not pass the first stage of interviews because they were relatively unmolested in the Netherlands. Any proposed reform to the asylum system that would deny our ancestors the right to settle here should be rejected."
From independence to the 20th century, America was the world’s safe haven for religious refugees. But in 1921 the federal government imposed the nation’s first immigration quotas, removing the last hope for many millions of people seeking to flee dictatorship, war, and genocide. Those restrictions led to the U.S. government shamefully turning away ships full of German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany."
"the asylum loophole is an unintended consequence of severe restrictions that make it exceedingly difficult for lower-skilled immigrants to enter the country legally. The asylum loophole problem could be resolved by creating a low-skilled guest worker visa program to channel would-be unauthorized immigrants into the legal system — removing the incentive for some of them to make dubious asylum claims."
"Individuals apprehended by the Border Patrol who then seek asylum status could be paroled, electronically monitored, and levied a large fine to be paid within one year. Raising the cost for illegally entering incentivizes honest asylum seekers to go through ports of entry.
Legal behavior should be rewarded. Asylum seekers who apply through a port of entry should also receive their work permit within a brief period of parole, ideally a week, instead of the current 180 days."
"Under today’s asylum rules, the pilgrims would probably not pass the first stage of interviews because they were relatively unmolested in the Netherlands. Any proposed reform to the asylum system that would deny our ancestors the right to settle here should be rejected."
Florida elementary school stops serving Mountain Dew to students before standardized tests | Fox News
Florida elementary school stops serving Mountain Dew to students before standardized tests | Fox News: "A central Florida elementary school has stopped a long-standing practice of serving students Mountain Dew before standardized tests."
"it was part of an effort to get kids excited about the FCAT"
"it was part of an effort to get kids excited about the FCAT"
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