Wes Kussmaul

Wes Kussmaul

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My Bank Run Stopper

My solution to the problem of bank runs, that is, sudden increases of withdrawals caused by fear that a bank will become insolvent, requires some changes in regulations – but let's assume that's doable. Here's my idea... When, according to pre-set standards, a bank declares itself to be in danger of

Decentralized Identity's Big Vulnerability

The most important question in the world’s information infrastructure was asked in 1978 by Pete Townshend, the co-lead-singer of The Who. The question: “Who are you?” This video shows how the reliability of identity claims in banking is rapidly eroding. Banks rely on identity claims being legitimate. Banks are

Decentralized Identity's Big Vulnerability

A number of schemes have been developed over the years for what I will call “collegial attestation.” Collegial attestation is where the claims of a member of a community are attested to by other members. Of particular interest these days is the claim of identity. Collegial attestation works well for

Elon Musk is today’s Paul Revere

Genius Reputation Cometh Before A Fall. Like Elon, Paul Revere could do anything. Before and after the Revolution, Paul Revere amazed Americans with his abilities as an artisan, metallurgist, engineer, dentist, spy, public policy wonk, social influencer, and, of course, human alert siren. Historians point out that while Revere wasn’

"Recoup" our influence with Saudi

Dear President Biden: I'm sure you don't need me to point out what Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman just did to you and our country. The prince has gratuitously decided to help Putin and hurt you just before the midterm elections by pushing up oil prices. If

integrity, packaging, honesty, deception, deceptive

Deceptive Packaging Hits A New Low

Every culture has what I will call its integrity cloud. It's just a general level of trustworthiness that one can expect in that culture.

We're Investing. So Where Are Our Securities?

In today’s Washington Post email newsletter... ...we have back-to-back notices of stories about two investments by us members of the American public: Wait, are these investments? Or… gifts? Are we taxpayers getting shares of Intel, AMD, Micron? Are we getting an interest in the intellectual property developed in our

Dan Olson Gets It 98% Right

Everyone who has any interest in their corner of the world’s information infrastructure – or for that matter the whole of the world’s information infrastructure – should watch Dan Olson’s masterful video Line Goes Up at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_xWvX1n9g. It’s subtitled “The Problem

Media Lies About Motives For Shootings

From the Associated Press, as reported in the Boston Globe: *** Motive is unclear in school attack as grief engulfs Texas town By ACACIA CORONADO and JIM VERTUNO The Associated Press, Updated May 26, 2022, 12:01 a.m. *** Actually the motive for many of these incidents is quite clear: a

My Take On 2000 Mules

First, I tend to agree with the conclusion that there is significant election fraud in the U.S. I have mentioned on Facebook that Diebold Systems’ voting machines have in the past been eminently subject to tampering, and it’s so easily done that even a [xchildx] stupid politician can

Power

I was once on a flight where other passengers included a mafia kingpin and two of his lieutenants. The three acted like noisy uncontrollable brats, as if they were a disorderly gang of juvenile delinquents in school, disrupting classrooms and intimidating teachers. They were clearly challenging the flight attendants to

EY, accounting, cpa, regulation, enron

Gary Buswell’s Prescription Is Wrong.

In his January 10, 2022 Fair Observer article “Auditing Firms’ Strong Performance Masks Unsolved Issues,” Gary Buswell notes in the subhead that “The Big Four have been fined £42 million in the UK in the past three years, a startling sum that underscores the need for regulation.” It’s not

Jordan Peterson, You Missed The Point.

In a short video clip of a June 22, 2018 interview, ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdvS2Re21Og) Jim Jeffries confronted Jordan Peterson with the question, “[Should we] make people bake a cake for a gay wedding?” Peterson: “Making them do it?” Jeffries: Yeah. Peterson: I don’t think that’

The Case Against Reparations

A few years ago I hired a couple of guys, Joe and Jerry, to move some office furniture and files from Watertown, Massachusetts to Dover, New Hampshire. Joe, the driver of their truck, was Black, while Jerry was White, or is it white. They followed my car. Shortly after crossing

It Does Get Easier

Eddie C. Brown, founder, chairman, chief executive and senior portfolio manager of Brown Capital writes in the Washington Post: I’m a black CEO. I’ve been discounted on Wall Street because of my skin color. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/08/im-black-ceo-ive-been-discounted-wall-street-because-my-skin-color/?arc404=true&utm_campaign=wp_

Marco Rubio, You Are Right. However...

"We need more welders and less philosophers" Marco Rubio We do need welders, but we need problem solvers even more. Someday perhaps Marco Rubio will get a chance to meet David Spiegelhalter, as I did when Professor Sir Spiegelhalter spoke at a salon hosted by my friend Manolis Kellis in

Bernard, Don't Blow It

I admire Bernard Arnault for his ability to keep a straight face and not burst out in a huge guffaw. According to Forbes https://www.forbes.com/profile/bernard-arnault/#f2791a766fa4 Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has a net worth is $94 billion. He’s the

If you're smart, it's your responsibility to become wealthy.

The company I founded in 1981 was sold to Rupert Murdoch’s News America Corporation in 1993. When that happened, at least two of our very smart developers were pleasantly blindsided when they found that the options they had accumulated were actually worth something. One of them found himself suddenly

My wife says my story is too dangerous to publish

When I told Maria about the plot of a short story I was writing, she urged me to drop the whole thing. She feels the idea behind it is too dangerous. It’s true, the story does put forth a dangerous idea. But sooner or later this idea will occur