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Phil Osborn's Articles » Page 6
June 27, 2010 by Phil Osborn
Some years back, Ralphs got busted big-time for systematic overcharges of its grocery customers.  As a legal consequence they had to offer all kinds of bonuses - free groceries, for example - for every overcharge that a customer caught on their receipt.  I had been checking my receipts for years by then and about half the time there would be an error of a few dollars.  I collected big-time when the penalty policies were implemented.  Now Ralphs, Food-4-Less and t...
June 24, 2010 by Phil Osborn
In the '90's I used to be a regular at E3 where I would report as Press for various computer magazines on the latest in "VideoPlace" technology, of which MicroSoft's Kinect now appears to be positioned to take the lead. "VideoPlace," generically, is any technology that allows the user to directly control a computer system via his video image. See Patent Title: Real Time Perception Of And Response To The Actions Of An Unencumbered Participant/user, Application Number: 06/850,770, Patent Fil...
May 10, 2010 by Phil Osborn
Ok, without getting into the real underlying reasons for this disaster, basically the offloading of externalities on the general public in the form of unsecured risk by corporations, let's just take a quick look at the possibilities and problems. Methane hydrate crystals, I believe they're called.  Zillions of tons of them on the sea floor, enough to power the entire world for probably 50 years with minimal pollution.  That's what is causing the real problem for BP.  Any attemp...
December 26, 2009 by Phil Osborn
Regarding the Resolution to Save Education in California: The following resolution was sent to members and other attendees of the local Orange County, Ca  Patrick Henry Democratic Club by the club organizer Mark Hull-Richtor:   http://phdc-oc.org/home.html   Whereas, the top students in California and elsewhere are eligible to attend the University of California , unlike private universities that allow students with much lower grade point aver...
December 19, 2009 by Phil Osborn
Police Brutality   Incidents I have witnessed re police abuse:   Preface: I'm 61 years old, and have been involved in one kind or another of radical politics since around 1966.   During the period from 1974 to 1981, I was arrested three times in conjunction with political activities and spent three nights in jail.   Well before those incidents, in the ‘60’s, while getting my physics degree, I used to use amphetamines to get thru finals, as I w...
April 8, 2009 by Phil Osborn
As Tax Day approaches yet again, the unwary taxpayer is faced with even more than the usual obstacles this year.  For one, the libraries, short on cash, cannot seem to stock more than the most basic forms.  The other forms are collated in binders with the hope that no one will simply rip them out or re-order them at random after copying - assuming that the copier is working on that day.  If it is, then good luck on the quality.  The libraries charge 15 cents per copy, tw...
April 1, 2009 by Phil Osborn
Just posted this at the www.RebirthofReason.com objectivist site in response to an article by noted economist and philosopher Tibor Machan regarding the recent executive bonus outrage: Tibor had ended his piece with "... I realized, to my dismay, that even in the West, even in America, too many people are green with envy and would rather work on bringing down their fellows than getting up there themselves. Shame on them all! "  Note that the article was more substantial and nuanced tha...
November 17, 2008 by Phil Osborn
STATE OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES PO BOX 997408 SACRAMENTO CA 95889-7408 From: xxxxxxxx (Me) xxxx E Edinger Ave., #x Santa Ana, CA 92705 November 17, 2008   RE: NOTICE OF INTENT TO SUSPEND – License Plate #xxxxx   Dear DMV:   You made an error.   More precisely, your employee at the Santa Ana DMV made an error – actually several of them, but I missed this one, due to my old age inability to easily read tiny p...
November 17, 2008 by Phil Osborn
STATE OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES PO BOX 997408 SACRAMENTO CA 95889-7408 From: xxxxxxxx (Me) xxxx E Edinger Ave., #x Santa Ana, CA 92705 November 17, 2008   RE: NOTICE OF INTENT TO SUSPEND – License Plate #xxxxx   Dear DMV:   You made an error.   More precisely, your employee at the Santa Ana DMV made an error – actually several of them, but I missed this one, due to my old age inability to easily read tiny p...
November 9, 2008 by Phil Osborn
Actually, Obama is not being radical enough: Here's the real solution, meeting the criteria of political possibility, practical economics and maximization of actual justice: Give every U.S. citizen $1million.   ...  ~$300trillion total  Just roll those presses. This bypasses the whole "credit-crunch" debancle and gets the cash into the market to get production demand rolling again.  It takes care of most of the mortgage problems.  It takes care of most...
September 28, 2008 by Phil Osborn
  Update 11/08/08 No problems today.  A new class of customer has moved in bigtime, however.  Whenever the economy tanks, we get an influx of "Okies" in the OC, which was apparent both in the sudden appearance of several decripit motorhomes in the back alleys and a dozen or more raw-boned, farm-bred looking customers at Carl's this morning. Last weekend, however, history repeated itself in the appearance of a gang-banger shooting up againg in the men's room.  I ...
March 29, 2008 by Phil Osborn
If you accept the Bush administration paradigm for "Homeland Security," then I suppose that my experience makes some sense, in which case you probably shouldn't read this, as you will only be even more confused.  Many more people die from preventable auto accidents, equally preventable diseases, and general crime than from terrorists, but we are apparently happy to keep pouring what at last estimate looks to be $3 trillion down a hole that doesn't really seem all that connected to stopping ...
March 17, 2008 by Phil Osborn
09/07/2016   I can't get this blog to unlock, so if you need to reach me or want to post something regarding the passing of either Kenn Gregg or his friend, Pamela, please use my philosborn2001@yahoo.com email and I'll add it in manually here if feasible. I recently received an email from Kenn's one-time lover, Pamela Maltzman, regarding her reexamination of this blog and thanking me for my effort. Pamela herself just passed away, which did not surprise me.  Pam'...
February 23, 2008 by Phil Osborn
Phil Osborn, February 27 th , 2008.   On Morals:* Overview and summary of “On Morals,” by Phil Osborn How often is it that we see someone performing some feat of heroism, risking life and limb to rescue someone in trouble and we respond with mixed feelings?  We feel a painful connection to the act and a pride in the actor, even though we know that net net he or she is taking an apparent loss.  We may embrace that person or their image in our...
February 7, 2008 by Phil Osborn
OK. Just for a moment, ignore the odds and assume that Ron Paul is prez. What could he actually DO ? Well, first off, the margin to get virtually any new legislation through would jump to 67%, in order to get past Paul's vetos. Only legislation that reduced illegitimate government (from a limited state libertarian point of view, not necessarily the same as my anarchist position) would make it without a two-thirds majority. So, every bill would probably come in as a trade-off, ...