傻冒儿 Stupid Hat aka ShaMao'er

The True Conquest of Mexico

I have just finished reading the 2 volume True History of the Conquest of Mexico by Diaz Del Castillo.  The book was written in 1568 by Del Castillo who was one of Cortes' officers throughout the campaigns in Mexico in 1518-1521.  Although the book is often frustrating in its lack of detailed descriptions of the sites, sounds, and people Del Castillo was encountering (and fighting), the brief glimpses of color he does provide throughout his story are just incredible.  An eyewitness account by one of only a handful of men (one of less than about 500 who lived) who saw the amazing city of Tenochtitlan, Mexico City, built in the center of a lake. 

Something You Have Never Seen Before

The story of the conquest itself is just unbelievable;  the audacity of these few Spanish amazing.  Although I had heard the story before of the flight from Mexico City and the subsequent return, siege, and conquest to read it told by a participant is just great.   Highly recommended to any who are interested in such things.

Mass mailings

I am 'fortunate' to have an acquaintance who is in the habit of forwarding me right wing populist email mass mailings.   In what may become an ongoing series on the ShaMao, here is a nice sample of what is being mailed out there.   This one was sent to about 50 people in the same sending that I received it in. 

One would really hope we had moved on past such thinking....no.  Not in any way surprising but still manages to surprise me.

Accounts Receivable Tax 
Building Permit Tax 
CDL License Tax 
Cigarette Tax 
Corporate Income Tax 
Dog License Tax 
Federal Income Tax 
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) 
Fishing License Tax 
Food License Tax 
Fuel Permit Tax 
Gasoline Tax 
Hunting License Tax 
Inheritance Tax 
Inventory Tax 
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax) 
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) 
Liquor Tax 
Luxury Tax 
Marriage License Tax 
Medicare Tax 
Property Tax 
Real Estate Tax 
Service charge taxes 
Social Security Tax 
Road Usage Tax (Truckers) 
Sales Taxes 
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax 
State Income Tax 
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) 
Telephone Federal Excise Tax 
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax 
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax 
Telephone State and Local Tax 
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax 
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax 
Watercraft Registration Tax 
Well Permit Tax 
Workers Compensation Tax 

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt.. 
We had the largest middle class in the world... 
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. 

What happened?
Can you spell "politicians!" Can you spell "generational welfare?" Can you spell "illegal immmigrants?" Can you spell "creeping socialism?"

And I still have to 
press '1' 
for English. 

I hope this goes around the 
USA 
at least 100 times 

What the hell happened?????

If you've gotten the impression that I'm angry, well, your very perceptive! 

Due diligence

Shamao is notoriously bad at remembering names.  While he is often tempted to pass this off as the inevitable result of fairly massive experimentation with psychotropic substances as a youth; the truth is probably more that he simply doesn't care enough to remember most people. 

Enter Charles Krauthammer...

I have now received several comments (both on the blog and off) berating me for ever endorsing or even posting (see post "Bonus boredom" an article by the man.  I was a bit surprised because although I have undoubtedly read his work before, I had no idea who he was really.   Truthfully, even though I spend probably 75% of any given work day reading articles from all over the internet, I never really pay any attention to the name of the author.   

So... since there seems to be such vehemence against the guy I figured I had better do some due diligence.  I have now read the past 5 Krauthammer posts on the Washington Post archive to see just what the fuss is about.    Based on those posts, I think I have some grasp on his ideological bent and critical thinking and I will have to agree with the critics that I don't really like or agree with most of what he has to say. 

That said... I still think his title "Bonfire of the Trivialities" was great.

Bonus boredom

Couldn't agree more (and I wish I had come up with that title).   Bonfire of the Trivialities

Little mice

"You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police. Yet in their hearts there is unspoken - unspeakable! - fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts! Words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home, all the more powerful because they are forbidden. These terrify them. A little mouse - a little tiny mouse! -of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic."

-- Winston Churchill

And so it begins

Frequent readers will know of ShaMao's preoccupation with advances in genetic technologies.  I believe the ability to alter (I considered both the words 'improve' and 'manipulate') the human genome will lead to the greatest social, economic, and political changes in all of human history.  And... it will all happen over the next 50 years or so.

All current (and historical) political systems, economic systems, and social behaviors are predicated upon human nature as it is and has been since our last major evolutionary step tens of thousands of years ago.  Of course different cultures have and do influence norms and behaviors but studies are finding enough commonalities in thought patterns across cultures to argue for the presence of an overall common "human nature". 

As this BBC news story illustrates, Designer Baby Row over US Clinic ,  the times they are a changin.  Cosmetics is just the very tip of the enormous iceberg.   However, just imagine the social effects of the higher economic classes being born with guaranteed beauty while the poorer classes remain in the "natural" bell curve.  Now expand that into alterations in interiors as well as exteriors.  Genetic indicators of what is commonly understood as high intelligence have already been identified.  So have indicators for such "human" traits as sympathy, religiousity, altruism, patriotism, etc.  The implications are truly astounding. 

The BBC article documents the very beginnings of an arms race that will define the future of this planet. 

Yet more silliness...

In a tiresomely recurrent theme on the ShaMao...  Here's an interesting and just shocking (yeah..) piece from Businessweek    Is China's Market Rise a Sucker's Rally?

A few quotes before you all restart your du bo  on the Shanghai exchange.

    Rather than an expression of confidence in China's economy, analysts say, the Shanghai stock market rally is an unintended consequence of government attempts to rev up gross domestic product by pumping in money. Lending by China's banks (most of which are state-controlled) grew 20% in January alone, and though no hard figures are available, market watchers generally believe investors are using a good chunk of the money to buy shares through corporate trading accounts. "The market's recent outperformance and a surge in new account openings have fueled concerns that new bank loans are finding their way into the stock market," Jing Ulrich, managing director and chairman of China Equities at JPMorgan Chase (JPM), said in an e-mail.

So basically that means that the managers of these companies (mostly state owned no doubt) that are receiving stimulus loans from the Chinese government are using the money to gamble on the stock market rather than invest in their businesses. 

What makes the current situation potentially more dangerous is that companies now making stock purchases are using bank credit, so if the market heads south, they'll will be unable to repay the loans