background image

Thursday, October 05, 2017

Freedom:Tragedy = "Initiated Force":Good

As soon as there is a tragedy there are instantly politicians claiming that their party's stances on {name your issue} would have prevented or lessened the tragedy.

Those politicians prey on fear and use it to remove your liberty.  They do it to convince you that we need them or we would live in utter chaos like the animals in the wild: kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, fight or die.

As if there was no order in the world before "government" came to be.  It is indeed amazing, how ordered and beautiful the world is now that we have governments is it not?  There is no tragedy, no chaos, no violence, right?  We do not fight secret wars and kill innocent people anywhere on the planet thanks to the people who assume they are in charge of our lives, our livelihood, and our future.

These benevolent people do not use force against peaceful people.   Not ever.  They do not risk brave lives to enforce meaningless "laws".  They never use "laws" to remove adversaries, competition, or boat rockers.  Correct?  Any of this ringing true?

Not to me either.  Why is that?  Don't people run for office to make a difference and help people?  Sure I believe most of them think they are doing just that.  The problem is they are going about solving the problem the wrong way.  You cannot bring justice into the world by threat of force.  To do so is to be just as guilty as any thug that attacks peaceful people.

True laws have to do with pursuing justice for a person or their property that was damaged or misused by another person.  Most of the laws on the books today have nothing to do with crimes that have an actual victim.

What prompted this quick message was an email I received from just one of thousands of politician's that are using a tragedy that happened just a couple days ago as a means to a political end and it is disgusting.


Tim Canova, 
Politicizing a tragedy is disrespectful and minimizes the loss of human life as if government somehow could have stopped it with more laws (lies) or more control over everyone. 
Send out an apology and re-think this awful stance.  Freedom is not what leads to tragedy.  There is evil in this world and it cannot be stopped by using force against peaceful people to somehow miraculously stop violent people. 
Marc
Politician's aren't the only people guilty - the "mass media" propaganda machine no doubt has been spewing forth their expert opinions on what could prevent the next major tragedy all while turning a blind eye to the true tragedies that "governments" create every day: mass murder on a global scale.

We all want to feel safe - but there is nothing less safe than give the State all the power it wants to keep us "safe", especially from ourselves.  Defend the borders?  Sure!   Keep us and the world safe - absolutely not!

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Pokemon Go...something not so Liberty focused for a few minutes

Niantic released a new update today chock full of "why did you do that?", especially just days before a major event...yet again answering absolutely no popular requests for the game!

Below is what I put in my "bug" report to the feedback shy company:

Sent a bug report and the following attachment:
1) Why don't you like feedback?
2) Why can I not see the stats of my pokemon that is on a gym?  Was it too little to make the "on a gym" indicator clickable?
3) Your Gym update was all about making gyms easier for low level players - so now people can heal them remotely?  This is NOT Ingress.


Niantic,
7/20/2017


I have been a customer of yours since Ingress came to Android.  I know at first you were a Google company and Google seems to want to avoid feedback like the plague.  However, avoiding feedback denies you the luxury of building community around your game and permitting people to provide non-focus-group feedback.  Wouldn't you rather hear directly from the players in the field than just a few people who've likely never played the game?  Please open a forum where fellow trainers and agents can come together and discuss all aspects of your games.


Ingress
Did you know that many people have left Ingress because of the open chat?  The sometimes ugly outbursts in that rather competitive game drove my wife and I away from it and we have thousands of hours logged there.  Additionally we found that the people on your own team were typically the larger barrier to accomplishing goals than the members of the opposing faction.  Big field ops and people throwing random links could ruin several hours of play spent prepping a local field.


Pokemon Go  
We enjoy this game greatly, but find several things to be frustrating:
1) The rarest pokemon love to spawn in gated communities (eg:Mareep).  Sure our nearby feature isn't perfect but it's obvious where the rare spawn is based on movement and sure enough it's typically inside a gated community slightly out of reach of standard range.  There should be a way to report a spawn as inside a restricted community or deep on private property so that it can be randomly relocated elsewhere.  One pokestop near our house is off limits at night because our county thinks parking lots near a preserve are unsafe after dark.  Typically the most interesting pokemon listed on the nearby for that pokestop are just out of reach behind the pokestop while the pidgey and the spinarak spawn no problem….the pikachu though?  Nope!  You want that you better be ready to talk with the Sheriff!


2) It's very interesting how the most avid players we've met don't have spawns on or near their property but down the street where noone plays pokemon there are several spawn points.


3) The newest version 0.69.0 has to be the worst update in some time.  Do not get me wrong - it has a feature I was just saying I wish was in the game, but the rest are completely awful.
  • The major revamp to the gyms was all about making it easier for lower level players (of which I am not one) more likely to be able to take down a gym.  Personally I do not understand how having to fight 18 individual battles to remove 6 pokemon is easier than it was before the update, yet it is still a fun way to spend 20-30 minutes making other people wonder why you are standing there.
    • Granting people the ability to heal remotely goes against the entire concept of easier to take down.
    • It is obvious the idea behind fewer pokemon (resonators) that lose motivation (decay over time) needing berries (power cubes) to replenish is a nod to Ingress.  Of course the pokemon won't leave the gym because they have no motivation unlike a resonator poofing because it's out of energy.  Not sure why that would be?
    • How can a group of people possibly take off a pokemon while remote players can heal them?  Did you try playing that scenario?  While you exit the battle and try to re-fight the other team can easily heal the pokemon back to full leaving you starting the three battles against the one pokemon all over again.  How is that easier?
  • Why give us the ability to feed berries to full pokemon?  It seriously isn't that difficult to obtain the 1,000 berry badge.  I'm already more than halfway there and I only play an hour or two a week night and several hours on the weekend.  Did we really need an accidental berry sink so we can accidentally feed full pokemon?
  • Various bug fixes?  Why not specific bug fixes like:
    • Removing the awful memory leak caused by viewing gyms?  Side effects are random crashes and lock ups of the client?  Resolved only by restart the client.
    • Correcting the "Gym is under attack" message for players who helped take down a gym but then experienced an error like "Network Error".  Resolved only by leaving the area for five minutes and coming back to get them placed on the gym.
    • The ongoing bug of "No Internet" or "Network Error" when there is strong signal or wi-fi provided to the phone.
    • And my personal favorite - This is the only game I have ever played where after a while the client loses its session and the only way to resume playing is to exit and restart the game.  The built in "Retry login" does nothing.  Ingress doesn't have this issue - why does Pokemon Go?
  • What's improved about the searching?  Can we find text in beginning (yes as long as two or more characters), middle (nope) or end (nope) of a renamed pokemon?  Wildcards work? Nope!  How about the ability to search on a candy type and find all the pokemon in that family? Nope!
  • Icon about how a pokemon was caught?  Just why?  Why would that data be getting recorded to begin with?  How does knowing I caught 8 Pikachus with blue balls and one with an ultra and two with a red ball helpful to anyone?  What about all the pokemon I got rid of?  Just why?  Why not make a catch log about everything I used to try to get it?  Because it's dumb!  That's why!
  • Now for the one I actually thought would be nice.  How cool would it be to be able to click on the "On a gym" indicator and go to the gym instead of using the not so wonderfully placed gym mess on my badge/profile screen?  It would be great unless Niantic took away all the other functionality from my pokemon's information screen.

    Couldn't just make the icon clickable?
    onAgym.jpg


    Is Now:
    You have to be kidding!
    •  I mean why should I be able to see anything about the pokemon when it is on a gym?
      • CP?  nah - you have the collection screen for that!
      • Motivation?  Naw have to go to the gym icon for that!  
      • Its name?  Sure - you are permitted that, but you cannot change it!
      • Height and Weight?  Nope - but then those are goofy stats anyway!
      • How much candy you have?  Hah!   Nope - go catch another common Ampharos cause they are readily available!
      • Power up/Evolve?  Was disabled before anyway but because someone couldn't understand that it's better just to remove it off the screen.
      • Their moveset?  Nope!  That's a secret until it comes home!
    • This makes me not want to be on a gym.


It's obvious how much testing went into the new update:


Thursday, June 22, 2017

Federal & Medical - the two should never have met

This is my latest letter to Senator Marco Rubio.  I know, why bother?  For some strange reason I just feel compelled to speak out from time to time.

First Marco's response to my contact asking him to consider repealing the ACA instead of replacing it with more lawless nonsense.

On Mon, Jun 19, 2017 at 9:28 PM, Senator Marco Rubio wrote:
 
Dear Mr. Bessent,
Thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts regarding health care reform in America. Understanding your views helps me better represent Florida in the United States Senate, and I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
Our nation’s health care system is vast and complex, and decisions made by the federal government regarding the system affect all Americans. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called ObamaCare, was passed by Democrats in Congress and signed into law by President Obama in 2010. Instead of the wonderful results they promised, ObamaCare caused millions of people to lose their health insurance, premiums to skyrocket, and now many Americans are stuck with fewer choices and less access to care. 
Since ObamaCare’s launch, average monthly premiums have skyrocketed 105 percent nationwide and insurers continue to leave the market each year, resulting in some counties without a single insurer in the individual market for 2018. It’s clear that ObamaCare simply isn’t working. That’s why I am working to replace ObamaCare with a better system that puts patients first and does not rely on a taxpayer bailout of private insurance companies. In 2015, I detailed my ideas about what a better health care system should look like: provide families with refundable tax credits to help them purchase health insurance plans; empower consumers to choose plans based on their unique needs from anywhere in the country; and enable patients access the hospitals and doctors they want without government interference. We should create a patient-centered health care system that ensures those with pre-existing conditions can get affordable coverage.
In May 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act, which would repeal and replace ObamaCare and reform Medicaid to give States more flexibility. The Senate will work on its own bill, and I believe it must be better than the disaster that we have now with ObamaCare while still protecting the most vulnerable Americans. As the Senate deliberates this legislation, my priorities will be ensuring that Florida is treated fairly, that we incentivize innovation to improve health outcomes, and States are equipped with the necessary tools to encourage more healthy people to purchase a health insurance plan that fits their needs and budget. We must find commonsense solutions that better serve all Americans. 
It is an honor and a privilege to serve you as your United States Senator. I will keep your thoughts in mind as I consider these issues and continue working to ensure America remains a safe and prosperous nation.
Sincerely,
Marco Rubio 
United States Senator 

Below is my response. I attempted to email it to him, but apparently character count (2000) is more important than sharing a full thought (5433 ).



Marco,
The only bill that will be better is the one that completely removes the federal government from interfering with the medical profession what-so-ever.  The states or the local municipalities should decide what is required to "practice medicine."  Then we can have at least 50 and possibly thousands of "political labs" where the best and most cost effective solutions can be fostered, grown, and shared.  There should be absolutely NO DECISIONS made by the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT regarding "the medical profession."   Technically doctors and hospitals operating within a State are not subject to the misuse of the Section 8 "Interstate commerce clause."  But, I get it - the federal government "has to do something"; who cares about Liberty?  I mean we are the land of the free so government regulation is necessary to keep us safe, right?  Without the most "intelligent" people in the nation making rules and keeping the rest of us safe in virtual and physical cages how could we possibly survive?  After all consensus science has only promoted the health and welfare of the people, correct? 
But freedom aside, what should really be done to "fix" the medical system?
1) REMOVE THE REASON LAWYERS LOVE MALPRACTICE: Doctors should be contracting privately with their clients without state coercion and the court system should dismiss lawsuits where gross negligence is not proven and eliminate punitive awards.  Really don't appreciate my money going to award people millions for mistakes or more appropriately the doctor's inability to actually be God.
2) DEREGULATE RECORDS: The farce of privacy that is known as HIPAA should be actually called hypocritical.  Oh, sure it sounds great on the surface, but it has more to do with providing government an excuse to access our digital records than it prevents unnecessary access.  Of course that lovely code comes from a federal department that shouldn't even exist.
3) REMOVE REQUIRED INSURANCE: Insurance is a complete sham.  Required insurance is slavery, especially insurance to cover the fact that one is alive.  Insurance should never have been about covering day to day medical expenses.  Auto insurance doesn't cover oil and tire changes, volunteer repaints, or engine rebuilds... and yet there is a very small percentage of American's who do not drive a car.  Who doesn't own a computer and why are they so cheap?  We have phone insurance that is a tiny amount per month covering $400+ dollar phones that are dropped regularly but what it doesn't cover is why it is so inexpensive...well that and it doesn't have an empire of force behind it requiring everyone to get it.
4) DEREGULATE THE ENTIRE MEDICAL SYSTEM: In reality the only thing that has ever forced medical expenses to rise is government interference.  The "we must do something" mentality has brought us to utter devastation of what was once the world's greatest example of a medical system.  Most people pay more in copay than they used to pay for the entire office visit while paying nearly $20K a year between their employer and direct premium for insurance.  This isn't reasonable and it is 100% due to government interference.   Government interference started the war on affordable medicine and ever since then it has never become more affordable.  Insurance destroyed the required relationship between the doctor and patient to decide the fee together and as a result the price fixing behind the scenes is damaging.  Deregulation is how you give people incentives.  Throwing money with strings at researchers isn't how you figure out better solutions; it is how you control outcomes.
5) GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS USE THE SAME SYSTEM: While we are near the subject I would only be impressed if congress voted to permanently eliminate their own unconstitutional "compensation" which includes all benefits that are unlike anything the average citizen would receive especially the nonsense of retirement.  The position of elected leadership in government was never to be considered a job.  It is supposed to be a temporary position with compensation for expenses incurred, not a living.  Your only sworn duty is to ensure the rights and safety of the people are enforced.  Everything else being legislated is unconstitutional and has nothing to do with the role of government.
News flash: if the current US government simply closed up shop and never re-opened the people and the land would continue on and I see no reason to believe it would not be much better off.  Please work on removing it from our daily lives - it was never intended to be this oppressive or this involved with individuals.  Government does not help and was never intended to. It was intended to raise a military from our existing militias when an imminent threat existed, provide LIMITED copyrights, maintain a Navy, regulate and borrow (oh and pay back) money , ensure people can communicate (post office), and open or restrict commerce between (not within) the states and between the US and foreign nations (but I'm being redundant).  The problem with the commerce clause as originally penned is regulating capitalism leads to corruption.  Capitalism should be left unchecked until the rights of an individual have been infringed upon and then defensive force should be brought only upon the infringing party and not upon a field as a whole.
I could go on, but I'm sure you aren't reading this anyway.
Respectfully,
Marc Bessent