LINK
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| http://www.newswise.com/articles/using-stem-cells-to-grow-new-hair |
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Stem Cell Research (HAIR) (New Age Medicine!)
Let's start out small. How about a cure for baldness!
LINK
LINK
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Why Advances In Science, Technology and Manufacturing Is Better Than Government
Prologue 1/27/2014
From time to time, we all have been involved in the heated ongoing debates regarding the size and type of government, and the so-called free market or private sector. You would be partially correct to note that indeed the government has been involved in seeding scientific and technological advances in many areas.
Advances in computer technology and indeed the personal computer and internet itself, can be traced back to DARPA where thousands of scientists were connected to one another over large distances on the ARPANET. However, it wasn't until decades later, after the technology was matured, before the wide use of computers and the internet became available to the greater world. There are still large portions of the world and millions of people who have not yet benefited from the technology. However, profitability and affordability continues to ensure that the delivery of this capability continues to increase at a rapid pace.
My biggest fear is that our government has become so corrupted by lobbyists that political agendas are getting in the way of progress. Our government has been coopted and is no longer serving its citizenship.
The far left complains about the widening income gap and the lack of health care for lower income workers. However, if one takes the time to do the research they will discover that human living conditions in the USA have advanced tremendously over the course of time, especially the past 50-100 years. Americans have amazingly long life expectancies and the average median income family would be considered rich when compared to the rest of the world's population. It's no wonder hordes are trying to get here illegally!
I recently became very interested in the subject of Singularity, which I am sure will be considered rather "nerdy" by some. Many of you who have not been around since the 50s have not had the opportunity to experience the exponential growth that we have enjoyed in science and technology. In fact, people who were born after 1990 cannot remember a time "without computers and the internet". The amazing truth is that mankind has experienced a major exponential growth in all areas that his life over the past 50-100 years. Life expectancy is at an all time high! We have transitioned from the encyclopedia to wikipedia, from the tube technology to advanced microchip technology. What new advancement will be coming down the road that will enhance and extend the lives of all mankind?
Please take some time to view Ray Kurzweil's videos on the exponential advancement of information technologies, and advancement in bio-medicine! He might look and sound a bit boring but what he has to say is - .... exciting. It is people like Ray who will drive technologies, both new and old, to improve the human condition.
The Software of Life!:
Ray Kurzweil Video on The Software of Life!
Exponentials and the Possibility of Immortality!
Ray Kurzweil Video on Exponentials & Possibility of Immortality
The bottom line? Do you believe that Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell or scientists like Ray Kurzweil will improve the lives of man? Easy, right?
However, it's not just good enough to come up with new and greater ideas and technologies. In order to achieve the benefits they need to be delivered to the people in the form of goods and services. It was rather easy for the government to create a basic internet for 10,000. The real challenge was for this technology to be bundled, manufactured and delivered to the consumer as an affordable product that companies could earn a profit from. And....the best and brightest rose to the top (Microsoft and Apple!). By the way, as I am currently writing AAPL stock just jumped over 5% after the close on 27 January based on revenues more than $7 BILLION than expected! I guess the AAPL iPhone 6 and 6+ is a winner!
Profitability and Affordability. Why are these two things so important? Why is profit even necessary? Why can't we all just work together, produce together and make sure that everyone has access to everything that they "need"? Unfortunately for those of you who are liberal progressive thinkers, there are universal constants that cannot simply be ignored because you think that they are silly. The Laws of Supply & Demand are pretty simple but liberals tend to want to ignore that these are constants. So, for those of you who need a visual:
Short Primer on Supply & Demand YOU TUBE
So basically, the price of any given product or service is universally and physically tied to (1) Supply and (2) Demand.
Let us first talk about "demand".
Demand is an economic principle that describes a consumer's desire and willingness to pay a price for a specified good or service. Given supply is held as a constant the price will vary based on demand. The greater the demand, the higher the price and vice versa. This is a universal economic principle that should not be lost on those of you who that believe that the price of health care services can controlled by mandating the demand be increased to 100% of all citizens. The cost of health care is going to sky rocket under the ACA for several reasons, the first being that the demand has been increased to 100% of the population. Remember, without a corresponding increase on the supply side, an increase in demand will drive prices HIGHER, and the only benefit to the ACA is that there will supposedly be a redistribution of ACA premium revenues to help those who cannot afford insurance premiums. Whether or not there will be enough funds in the exchanges to cover the multitudes of currently uninsured remains to be seen! What we do now for sure is that this greater demand is going to require a substantial increase on the supply side of the equation in order to make the ACA a viable law. There are not enough doctors and nurses in the system today, nor will there be in the near term to handle the increased mandated demand on the health industry. This is a known fact and will further exacerbate the situation. Whether or not our medical industry will survive this political beatdown remains to be seen.
Just think about these factors in terms of an auction. If there are 100 people at an auction and only 1 person makes a bid on an item (low demand) he is likely to get the item at a very low price. If, however, a bidding war ensues (more demand) then the final price of that item is going to be much higher than the original bid. The government has attempted in the past to place limits on the price of goods or services, however this tyrannical sort of intervention almost always leads to shortages of whatever it is people want. What I am trying to say here is that regardless of what type of system you are in, socialist, capitalist, whatever - the universal laws of supply and demand are going to be a factor. Whenever the government increases social services it does so by taking more out of the economic engine and redistributing it. This redistribution of private sector funds may place pressure on price, supply, or demand - or all three aspects of the equation.
In summary, we need smart, innovative and motivated individuals because they have proven to advance the living conditions of all mankind. If you take away the profit, or severely restrict the profit that these individuals and the companies can earn then they will either shut down or take their innovations elsewhere. So, the next time you want to complain about capitalism just take a look at the keyboard you are using because it might not even be there had it not been for the capitalist economic system that you live in.
From time to time, we all have been involved in the heated ongoing debates regarding the size and type of government, and the so-called free market or private sector. You would be partially correct to note that indeed the government has been involved in seeding scientific and technological advances in many areas.
Advances in computer technology and indeed the personal computer and internet itself, can be traced back to DARPA where thousands of scientists were connected to one another over large distances on the ARPANET. However, it wasn't until decades later, after the technology was matured, before the wide use of computers and the internet became available to the greater world. There are still large portions of the world and millions of people who have not yet benefited from the technology. However, profitability and affordability continues to ensure that the delivery of this capability continues to increase at a rapid pace.
My biggest fear is that our government has become so corrupted by lobbyists that political agendas are getting in the way of progress. Our government has been coopted and is no longer serving its citizenship.
The far left complains about the widening income gap and the lack of health care for lower income workers. However, if one takes the time to do the research they will discover that human living conditions in the USA have advanced tremendously over the course of time, especially the past 50-100 years. Americans have amazingly long life expectancies and the average median income family would be considered rich when compared to the rest of the world's population. It's no wonder hordes are trying to get here illegally!
I recently became very interested in the subject of Singularity, which I am sure will be considered rather "nerdy" by some. Many of you who have not been around since the 50s have not had the opportunity to experience the exponential growth that we have enjoyed in science and technology. In fact, people who were born after 1990 cannot remember a time "without computers and the internet". The amazing truth is that mankind has experienced a major exponential growth in all areas that his life over the past 50-100 years. Life expectancy is at an all time high! We have transitioned from the encyclopedia to wikipedia, from the tube technology to advanced microchip technology. What new advancement will be coming down the road that will enhance and extend the lives of all mankind?
Please take some time to view Ray Kurzweil's videos on the exponential advancement of information technologies, and advancement in bio-medicine! He might look and sound a bit boring but what he has to say is - .... exciting. It is people like Ray who will drive technologies, both new and old, to improve the human condition.
The Software of Life!:
Ray Kurzweil Video on The Software of Life!
Exponentials and the Possibility of Immortality!
Ray Kurzweil Video on Exponentials & Possibility of Immortality
The bottom line? Do you believe that Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell or scientists like Ray Kurzweil will improve the lives of man? Easy, right?
However, it's not just good enough to come up with new and greater ideas and technologies. In order to achieve the benefits they need to be delivered to the people in the form of goods and services. It was rather easy for the government to create a basic internet for 10,000. The real challenge was for this technology to be bundled, manufactured and delivered to the consumer as an affordable product that companies could earn a profit from. And....the best and brightest rose to the top (Microsoft and Apple!). By the way, as I am currently writing AAPL stock just jumped over 5% after the close on 27 January based on revenues more than $7 BILLION than expected! I guess the AAPL iPhone 6 and 6+ is a winner!
Profitability and Affordability. Why are these two things so important? Why is profit even necessary? Why can't we all just work together, produce together and make sure that everyone has access to everything that they "need"? Unfortunately for those of you who are liberal progressive thinkers, there are universal constants that cannot simply be ignored because you think that they are silly. The Laws of Supply & Demand are pretty simple but liberals tend to want to ignore that these are constants. So, for those of you who need a visual:
Short Primer on Supply & Demand YOU TUBE
So basically, the price of any given product or service is universally and physically tied to (1) Supply and (2) Demand.
Let us first talk about "demand".
Demand is an economic principle that describes a consumer's desire and willingness to pay a price for a specified good or service. Given supply is held as a constant the price will vary based on demand. The greater the demand, the higher the price and vice versa. This is a universal economic principle that should not be lost on those of you who that believe that the price of health care services can controlled by mandating the demand be increased to 100% of all citizens. The cost of health care is going to sky rocket under the ACA for several reasons, the first being that the demand has been increased to 100% of the population. Remember, without a corresponding increase on the supply side, an increase in demand will drive prices HIGHER, and the only benefit to the ACA is that there will supposedly be a redistribution of ACA premium revenues to help those who cannot afford insurance premiums. Whether or not there will be enough funds in the exchanges to cover the multitudes of currently uninsured remains to be seen! What we do now for sure is that this greater demand is going to require a substantial increase on the supply side of the equation in order to make the ACA a viable law. There are not enough doctors and nurses in the system today, nor will there be in the near term to handle the increased mandated demand on the health industry. This is a known fact and will further exacerbate the situation. Whether or not our medical industry will survive this political beatdown remains to be seen.
Just think about these factors in terms of an auction. If there are 100 people at an auction and only 1 person makes a bid on an item (low demand) he is likely to get the item at a very low price. If, however, a bidding war ensues (more demand) then the final price of that item is going to be much higher than the original bid. The government has attempted in the past to place limits on the price of goods or services, however this tyrannical sort of intervention almost always leads to shortages of whatever it is people want. What I am trying to say here is that regardless of what type of system you are in, socialist, capitalist, whatever - the universal laws of supply and demand are going to be a factor. Whenever the government increases social services it does so by taking more out of the economic engine and redistributing it. This redistribution of private sector funds may place pressure on price, supply, or demand - or all three aspects of the equation.
In summary, we need smart, innovative and motivated individuals because they have proven to advance the living conditions of all mankind. If you take away the profit, or severely restrict the profit that these individuals and the companies can earn then they will either shut down or take their innovations elsewhere. So, the next time you want to complain about capitalism just take a look at the keyboard you are using because it might not even be there had it not been for the capitalist economic system that you live in.
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