Twitter is an amazing example of exponential growth.

Twitter is an amazing example of exponential growth.

But there is exponential and there is exponential; T power of X can be the power of 2 or the power of 5 - makes a big difference.

The number of users was about 190 million in June 2010 and at that time there were about 65 million tweets a day. Today Twitter is adding about half a million new accounts per day.
But the other growth factors are the number of tweets per account which is growing. On March 11, 2011, 177 million tweets were sent. And with the increasing use of mobile devices to tweet and search why should this slow down?

But this is only part of the challenge. Because each twitter account is “following” more accounts. One can unilaterally follow another twitter, and a new twitter may only follow a few other accounts over time they may follow thousands of other accounts.

So this growth is happening at a much faster rate of growth than the rate of change for the decreasing cost of technology and the increasing speed of processing. So will it all blow up some day?

The Weinberger Doctrine

This doctrine was publicly disclosed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger on November 28, 1984 in a speech entitled "The Uses of Military Power" delivered before the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.


The Weinberger doctrine:
1) The United States should not commit forces to combat unless the vital national interests of the United States or its allies are involved.
2) U.S. troops should only be committed wholeheartedly and with the clear intention of winning. Otherwise, troops should not be committed.
3) U.S. combat troops should be committed only with clearly defined political and military objectives and with the capacity to accomplish those objectives.
4) The relationship between the objectives and the size and composition of the forces committed should be continually reassessed and adjusted if necessary.
5) U.S. troops should not be committed to battle without a "reasonable assurance" of the support of U.S. public opinion and Congress.
6) The commitment of U.S. troops should be considered only as a last resort.

But of course Obama had a better idea in Libya.

Seniors - make sure to set aside a few dollars for your kids!

When our seniors die (I am over 55 so I guess I qualify) we sometimes leave some money to our children and grandchildren. If you have no money but lot’s of debt then this debt is not passed on to your heirs. Your heirs get all the upside and no downside.

But alas that is not the way it works with the public debt we are leaving our children and grandchildren. According to Usdebtclock the total federal unfunded liabilities (debt, unfunded Social Security and Medicare promises) total $113 trillion dollars (and increases every day). For you in California, New York and other spendthrift states this does not count the unfunded liabilities of your states.

We now have approximately 65 million retirees. So I therefore urge every retiree in America to set aside $1.74 million ($113 trillion divided by 65 million retirees) to your heirs to specifically be used to pay off their share of the national IOUs. Do your part.

Union Thug Plan For America

This former union thug has a different agenda than most Americans. Here it for yourself:

“It seems to me that we’re in a moment where we need to figure out in a much more, through direct action, much more concrete way how we really are trying to disrupt an create uncertainty for capital, for how corporations operate. And it may sound like that’s a crazy thing that in a moment of weakness we could deal with it, but the thing about a boom and bust economy, it is actually incredibly fragile, because it’s not based on real way, well, it’s based on gambling and all of that. And so there are actually extraordinary things that we could do right now that would start to de, destabilize the folks that are in power and start to rebuild a movement.” Stephen Lerner Former SEIU Official (Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.)

I tend to discount conspiracies. But this whackos agenda is pretty clear.

Hugo Chavez On Capitalism

‎
"I have always said that it would not be strange that there had been civilization on Mars, but maybe capitalism arrived there, and finished off the planet." Hugo Chavez, 3/22/10

At least Hugo is candid about his views on capitalism. Why won't some of our leaders say what they really think about capitalism versus socialism.

Assassination versus war?

Wouldn't assassination be cheaper (in the lives of citizens of that country and the lives of our armed forces) than an all-out war?

Humanitarian Purposes

Is Libya only about "humanitarian" purposes? If so how about Bahrain, Syria, Iran, North Korea, China, Yemen, Viet Nam and Saudi Arabia?

Obama - Genius then; Idiot now!

"The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation." Senator Barack Obama (D) Illinois. Genius then - Idiot now.

Government Debt Levels around the World

One of the most frightening pieces I have read about government debt levels around the world. Makes one want to hunker down and get ready for financial tsunamis.

"Our Constitution is not a body of law to govern the people; it was formulated to govern the government, to make government the servant and not the master of the people." – William F. Jasper

If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand. – Milton Friedman

Arizona Governor VS: Phoenix Suns Owner

Just got this story from a friend.....

The owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team, Robert Sarver, opposes AZ's new immigration laws. Arizona 's Governor, Jan Brewer, released the following statement in response to Sarver's criticism of the new law:

"What if the owners of the Suns discovered that hordes of people were
sneaking into games without paying? What if they had a good idea who the
gate-crashers are, but the ushers and security personnel were not allowed to ask these folks to produce their ticket stubs, thus non-paying attendees couldn't be ejected. Furthermore, what if Suns' ownership was expected to provide those who sneaked in with complimentary eats and drink?
And what if, on those days when a gate-crasher became ill or injured, the Suns had to provide free medical care and shelter?"

- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer


Try going to any other country without ID.

Stop collecting race data

In California Non-Hispanic Whites only represented 40% of the population during the 2010 census. Hispanics are White under this arcane reporting system so we collect data on Hispanic-Whites and Non-Hispanic Whites. So my question: Is it now time to remove the term “minority” from our lexicon? California has no “majority”. Perhaps California could change the nomenclature to “preferred minorities” and “others”.

Or how about this for an idea. Why don’t we stop using tax dollars to collect this data. I for one do not really care what your race is.

I have previously asked how we fairly label everyone.

So I propose that we shut down all the race profiling, quotas, set-asides, government contract "programs", affirmative action programs. Let’s hire, promote,accept for college and give contracts to the ones that are most qualified. Let’s stop this institutional “racial, sexual and religious profiling” and treat all people based on their own individual merits.

But alas I admit that I am in the minority on this point.

Waiting for Superman

Just finished watching Waiting for Superman. The teachers’ unions hate the movie. But most importantly it is hard to imagine not supporting a voucher system where parents send their kids to the school of their choice and use a publicly financed voucher to pay most or all of the tuition.

Teachers’ unions are just part of the problem. And charter schools are not universally successful. But we do see that the best schools with excellent teachers can do wonders in getting results even for kids that are poor or initially behind their grade level.

What is clear to see is that big government institutions (large school districts and the US Department of Education) have produced lousy results. How can the private sector do any worse?

The Left hates this movie. But please watch it and make up your own mind.

Taxes on Gasoline

I am a Libertarian except in a few cases like taxes on gasoline. Many politicians are asking for a tax holiday so that folks back home will not be hurt so badly by the increase in the price of gasoline. But now is the time to do the opposite. Let's start with at least a $.50 a gallon (and I am OK with a tax per suggestions of friends of as much as $2.00per gallon) on gasoline.

We are importing two out of three barrels of oil into the US and this makes us too vulnerable to the kind of price shocks we are facing today. We are not only vulnerable to the kind of economic shocks we are about to feel but as a result we might even be sending our troops into harm’s way trying to stabilize these foreign oil sources.