Costs of our War on Drugs

There are numerous economic and social impacts of the criminalization of drugs. Prohibition increases crime (theft, violence, corruption) and drug price and increases potency.  In many developing countries the production of drugs offers a way to escape poverty.  Milton Friedman estimated that over 10,000 deaths a year in the US were caused by the criminalization of drugs, and if drugs were to be made legal innocent victims such as those shot down in drive by shootings, would cease or decrease.  The economic inefficiency and ineffectiveness of such government intervention in preventing drug trade has been generally acknowledged since at least 1981.  The War on Drugs of the United States, that provoked legislation within several other Western governments, has also garnered criticism for these reasons.

Mandatory Stuff

In a purported effort to save victims money, Florida made Mediation Mandatory for Dissolution of Marriage about the end of 2009.

On May 18, 2010, my lawyer signed a TEMPORARY AND PARTIAL PROPERTY/ASSET SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.

It was my clear understanding that we did not agree on anything during the Mandatory Mediation session.

The signed agreement said that I would pay the three mortgages on the marital home from my employers 401K.  In addition, I will also pay the homeowners insurance and taxes from the same 401K.

"They agree that this will occur until the court rules on this issue."

"Any tax consequences which result from the withdrawals will be shared equitably by the parties.  The Court shave have the authority to give credits to either side in the equitable distribution scheme for these payments."

A year later the account was exhausted and the court had not ruled on the issue.

Be advised that Judge Charles J. Roberts of Florida is not a good Financial Manager/Advisor.

"The Road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions."

The Petitioner in my case still has not complied with Florida's Mandatory Disclosure List.

 

Control of the Desktop

My battle with the system to control my desktop continues.  I have learned that Google controls "devices".

My daughter ensures that I have a spectrum of devices:  Nixplay Frame and fitbit Flex.

The Open System Interconnection Reference Model had 7 levels.  IBM added an 8th level for User at both ends.

I'm at a library using the Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet.  Chrome still wants to be my default browser.

It may be that that is what I want for this device.  It is not what I want for my real HP Laptop computer.

My Battle with Google

I now have two HP computer devices. I have McAfee on both. The other device had McAfee provided by AOL. I purchased a disk for this device. Online McAfee thinks that the two accounts are identical.



This device has Credentials Manager on it. The other device had/has HP's simple password manager. I do not want my passwords stored "in the cloud" so want my Laptop and Notebook devices to rely on me for passwords.



This device did not work well for scanning in the fingerprints for me. The other device is very agreeable with me on the fingerprint reader.



I don't know what Credentials Manager is. Guess, I need to get the answer to that before I lose control of my email accounts.



I have a Motorola DROID MAXX that I purchased about a year ago to replace my Motorola RAZOR
.

For personal and financial security reasons, I don't want the World to have access to my Location.

If I try to use my DROID for anything other than a cell phone, I was confronted with "accepting" Google's "terms of use".



I did not want to do that until I could print a copy of the agreement to my OneNote notebook. It has been a challenge, but I have now printed a copy of the "terms of use" to the Notebook on my other device.

My Battle with the Internet

I lost control of my desktop when my children gave me a Cisco hub which I could use to connect my Kindle which they gave me to the internet.  My apartment has an Ethernet port which connects me to the Internet.  Connecting everything in my apartment via “Wi-Fi” is “convenient”.

My youngest daughter and her husband probably used my computer to setup the hub.  When I got control of my computer my son-in-law had done something with my computer that got Godzilla thinking AOL was my homepage.  I don’t like Godzilla (aka FireFox by Mozilla).  I have been a user of AOL mail since the Creation.

My oldest daughter is a things person.  She things a persons activity should be monitored by a Fitbit Flex.

She thinks that photographs should be displayed in a Frame.

Fair and Equitable

Divorce laws in the United States of America are now no-fault in all the states.  New York went "no-fault" in 2010.

The states are divided into two groups:

Community Property states (e.g., California)

Fair and Equitable states (e.g., Florida)

Community Property states treat almost all assets and debts obtained during the marriage as marital property (belonging to the “marital community”) regardless of which spouse is the formal owner. Assets and debts acquired prior to the marriage or after separation are characterized as separate property. In community property states, marital community assets and debts are typically divided equally upon divorce and separate property is awarded to the original owner.

"Fair and Equitable Treatment" is such an important concept that there should be an International Standard defining it.  There is Fair and Equitable Treatment.

Florida courts should not be allowed to be less "Fair and Equitable" in their Treatment of no-fault spouses than an International Investor.

Where You Stand Should Depend on Where You Sit

I learned about Miles' Law by reading one of the articles in a series of humorous articles written by a professor at Northwestern University in the Operations Research literature.

Rufus E. Miles was a career employee of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).

As a youngster growing up in the Missouri Ozarks, I thought that principles were something that you stand on and were not subject to "Situational Ethics".

In our hierarchical governmental structure, where you stand does depend on where you sit.  During an in-depth discussion with a recently departed friend, I realized that it should depend on where you sit.

My guiding principles include making the playing field as level (fair) as possible and then playing to win.

I also like the Judge Learned Hand quote that goes something like "Every citizen is obligated to pay the minimum tax for which they are legally liable."  I have a different perspective on that after a few years of experience working with A. Lonn Henrichsen.  He believed and still believes that "the system" would be here long after the current problem was solved.

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

The one thing that is clear.  It is not obviously wrong to take Federal Government handouts unless you plan to do something sinful with them.

The Road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions.

Be especially suspicious of people who claim (and believe) they are trying to help you.