Author: iamking

In business, point systems are sometimes used as a way to obscure the actual dollar value of products, services, or rewards. This is common in loyalty programs, incentives, and even some pricing schemes. Here’s a breakdown of why and how it happens:

1. Loyalty and Rewards Programs

• Companies assign “points” instead of showing actual money values.
• Example: “Earn 1,000 points and redeem for a gift card.”
• The dollar value per point is often unclear, making the reward feel larger than it might actually be.
• This can increase perceived value and encourage more spending.

2. Internal Incentives

• Businesses may give employees points for performance instead of cash bonuses.
• Points can later be exchanged for goods or perks.
• This allows the company to control costs and make the reward feel more “exclusive” without committing to actual cash.

3. Pricing & Bundling

• Sometimes products or services are sold in “point packages.”
• For example, a gym might sell 500 points that can be used for classes, personal training, or merchandise.
• The point value per item is intentionally ambiguous, making it harder for customers to do a direct dollar comparison.

4. Psychological Advantage

• Using points instead of dollars can make people spend more freely, because the brain doesn’t equate points directly to money.
• This is why airline miles, hotel points, and credit card rewards are so effective.

In short, the point system creates a layer of abstraction. It makes costs and values less transparent, which can influence behavior in ways that a straightforward dollar price might not.

If you want, I can explain how to calculate the “hidden” dollar value of points in these systems, which is a useful skill to see through this abstraction. Do you want me to?

The sitting position you’re describing — knees bent, shins and tops of the feet flat on the ground, with your weight resting on your ankles/heels — is most commonly called “seiza” in Japanese.

• Seiza (正座) literally means “proper sitting” in Japanese culture, and it’s a traditional formal way of sitting.
• In yoga, a very similar position is called Vajrasana (the “thunderbolt pose”).

So in general terms:

• In Japanese context → Seiza
• In yoga context → Vajrasana
• In plain English → “kneeling and sitting back on your heels”

Title	Year	Focus/Description	Recommended For
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money	1936	Revolutionized macroeconomics; explains recessions and government intervention	Economics students, policymakers
A Treatise on Money	1930	Technical analysis of money, interest, and credit; precursor to The General Theory	Advanced readers in economics
The Economic Consequences of the Peace	1919	Critique of the Treaty of Versailles; predicted economic hardship and political fallout in Germany	General readers, historians, political economists
Essays in Persuasion	1931	Essays on public policy, inflation, unemployment, and the Great Depression	General readers, policy enthusiasts
A Tract on Monetary Reform	1923	Discusses inflation, deflation, and price stability post-WWI	Economists, central bankers
Essays in Biography	1933	Biographical essays on major intellectual figures (Marx, Marshall, etc.)	Literary readers, intellectual historians

Toussaint Louverture (1743–1803) was a key leader of the Haitian Revolution, which resulted in the first successful slave rebellion and led to the establishment of Haiti as the first independent Black republic in 1804. Born into slavery on the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), Toussaint gained his freedom and eventually became a skilled military leader and a shrewd political strategist.

Early Life and Rise to Leadership:

• Birth and Enslavement: Toussaint was born on a plantation in Saint-Domingue and was relatively privileged compared to other enslaved people. He learned to read and write, and his intelligence and leadership abilities were recognized early on.
• Manumission: He gained his freedom in his thirties and began managing a small farm with enslaved workers, showing his capacity for leadership and administration.
• Start of the Revolution: In 1791, a massive slave revolt broke out in Saint-Domingue. Though Toussaint initially stayed out of the early stages of the rebellion, he soon joined the ranks and quickly became one of the most prominent leaders.

Amadeo Pietro Giannini (Italian pronunciation: [amaˈdɛːo ˈpjɛːtro dʒanˈniːni]), also known as Amadeo Peter Giannini or A. P. Giannini (May 6, 1870 – June 3, 1949) was an American banker who founded the Bank of Italy, which eventually became Bank of America. Giannini is credited as the inventor of many modern banking practices. Most notably, Giannini was one of the first bankers to offer banking services to middle-class Americans, mainly Italian immigrants, rather than only the upper class. He also pioneered the holding company structure and established one of the first modern trans-national institutions.^[1]

Philosophical theory that individuals are born without innate knowledge

Tabula rasa is the idea of individuals being born empty of any built-in mental content, so that all knowledge comes from later perceptions or sensory experiences. Proponents typically form the extreme “nurture” side of the nature versus nurture debate, arguing that humans are born without any “natural” psychological traits and that all aspects of one’s personality, social and emotional behaviour, knowledge, or sapience are afterwards imprinted by one’s environment onto the mind as one would onto a wax tablet. This idea is the central view posited in the theory of knowledge known as empiricism. Empiricists disagree with the doctrines of innatism or rationalism, which hold that the mind is born already in possession of certain knowledge or rational capacity.

verb

1. praise highly in speech or writing

Example: he was eulogized as a rock star

noun

1. something that is needed or wanted

Example: integrity was a desideratum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996 by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code. The act was the first significant overhaul of United States telecommunications law in more than sixty years, amending the Communications Act of 1934, and represented a major change in that law, because it was the first time that the Internet was added to American regulation of broadcasting and telephony.^[1]

The primary goal of the law was to “let anyone enter any communications business – to let any communications business compete in any market against any other.”^[2] Thus, the statute is often described as an attempt to deregulate the American broadcasting and telecommunications markets due to technological convergence.^[3]

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has been praised for incentivizing the expansion of networks and the offering of new services across the United States,^[4] though it is often criticized for enabling market concentration in the media and telecommunications industries.^[5][6]