Wednesday, December 29. 2010
Dyson uninvents the vacuum cleaner
Social Security: The Chilean Model
Sarah serves S'mores!
The Utter Futility of Reducing Carbon Emissions
Dalrymple: When Predators Don’t Prey - Another good word bites the dust.
The Death Panels are back.
Mead: Give The People What They Want. A snippet:
Twentieth century liberalism started with Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson; FDR rejiggered it somewhat for the New Deal. In the 1960s and beyond liberalism continued to build on the basic concept that a powerful federal government was the friend rather than the enemy of individual liberty, and that the truly liberal thing to do was to help that government grow and take on more missions. While I don’t want to throw out the baby with the bathwater, it does seem to me that this road has reached the point of diminishing returns.
On both the left and the right today there are many people who believe that the real ideological contest in America today is between liberalism 3.0 (the more individualistic, laissez-faire kind of liberalism that dominated 19th century thought) and the more state-oriented, collectively minded liberalism 4.0 of the 20th century. 3.0 liberals denounce 4.0 liberals as betrayers of the liberal legacy who’ve taken a philosophy grounded in individual freedom and limited government and turned it into a charter for Big Government. 4.0 liberals respond that 3.0 liberals are simple reactionaries who don’t understand how the complexities of modern life make the outmoded, simplistic pieties of liberalism 3.0 wholly inadequate to the problems we face today.
Tuesday, December 28. 2010
Attended an event recently where Buddy Guy was performing (along with some other NOLA folks I'll mention later). Sweet guy, heavenly-sweet music. He played this set, same band.
In the NY Post: Deep in the heart of taxes -Why I won't move to New York. He begins:
Like lots of media professionals (and fashion mavens, artists, musicians, et al.), I’ve penciled out the numbers for what it would mean to take a job in New York City. There’s barely enough room on the back of the envelope for subtracting the double-dose income tax hit from the city and state, and that’s before even adjusting for cost of living.
That’s one of the reasons I’m in Dallas. You know, Texas, the state that parlayed this year’s census data into four new House seats — pinching the two lost by the Empire State — because people actually want to live here.
Lots of Texas professionals love New York this way: fly in for $200 round trip, suck down the city’s beefy marrow of culture for a weekend and jet back to live cheap and pay no income tax. It’s all the pleasure and we keep our treasure.
You Can Have the Placebo Effect, Even If You Know It's a Placebo.
Placebos are strangely effective medicines. Thus it's no wonder that people feel better when they eat organic, or buy into nutritional schemes and health food store products. It's called "hope" and "self-deception" and all of that "mind-body" stuff.
Monday, December 27. 2010
At City Journal, Cities from Scratch - A new path for development. A quote:
During the twenty-first century, more urbanization will take place than during all of human history. Both the global population and the fraction of it living in cities will reach their peaks, as 3 billion to 5 billion people join the 3 billion who already call cities home. That staggering urban growth will be strongest in the developing world. If the existing cities there simply grow by accretion, many people will end up in dangerous slums.
From a BD daughter, re Christmas: "It's A Mall and the Night Visitors."
She likes Macy's in NYC at Christmastime. Who doesn't? (You know Amahl, right? I've seen it twice, which is enough.)
Brokaw: ‘We’ll See’ if Obama Can Learn on the Job — He Didn’t Have Hard Political Experience as a Gov Like Reagan Did.
A good comment on that piece: "If Palin were a Black Liberal they would think she was extremely qualified."
We've had only 15-18" thus far, I think, but the drifts are the real problem. It's been blowy and blustery, with gusts up to 60 knots. See NYT: “Bundle Up, It’s Global Warming”. Ya gotta laugh - unless it's intended as satire.
I'll try to get some links up when I can, but shoveling and getting things plowed comes first. In the meantime, catch up on our recent posts.
This is early this morning. I love it:
I took the pup for a walk in the snowy dark, strolling - no, trudging - down the middle of the roads, after my excursion to Dunkin. The old Explorer plowed thru the drifts, with some difficulty. This blacksmith's storefront looked pretty in the snow. He'll make custom stuff, and shoes for your horses too. Anything iron -
Dunkin, this morning. Their 2 am Donut delivery couldn't get through, but the nice Mezzican gals were there making coffee. Dunkin is one of those things in life that you can count on.
Sunday, December 26. 2010
1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?
2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Queens Disoriented Are
3. Amnesia --- I Don't Know if I'll be Home for Christmas
4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me
5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants and ...
6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Get Me
7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
8. Full Personality Disorder-- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll tell You Why
9. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ---Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells ...
10. Agoraphobia --- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day But Wouldn't Leave My House
11. Senile Dementia --- Walking in a Winter Wonderland Miles From My House in My Slippers and Robe
12. Oppositional Defiant Disorder --- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus So I Burned Down the House
13. Social Anxiety Disorder --- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas while I Sit Here and Hyperventilate.
 Sad but true, at Slate. We would be ten years behind, with the rent-seekers and the power-seekers in control of it all.
The intertunnels are a lesson in what a truly free market and a free world can do. Watch all governments try to f- it up for their own purposes.
But don't worry. They care deeply about the common good. I have never met Mr./Mrs. Common Good, but I'm sure he, she, or it, is a very fine human being and deserving of special government attention and care.
Government, and government's client and business allies, are "special interests."
Heck, all I really want is some good free porn anyway. The world is full of Lonelyhearts and sometimes I am one of them. So sue me.
We reportedly have a blizzard arriving today on the Snowball Express. That's fine with me, except that the Lad and his charming Mrs. are airport-stuck in Birmingham (with the Memphis Blues again?). Well, not really stuck - they are there with loving family.
Don't be surprised if we lose power, though. We usually do, with good strong storms. This one looks to be a winter Nor'easter. Think I'll feed the birds this morning.
Lovely winter post from The Englishman:
Mrs E awoke me at 2:30 to alert me to the ducks quacking outside the window. We lost one to Mr Fox a week ago when he crept across the ice to them. So it was on with Uncle Percy's overcoat over the dressing gown and out I went with the Marlin underlever to try and deliver some 357 Magnum 125 Grain Full Metal Jacket Flat Christmas Cheer to our visitor.
He scuttled off the through the fence too quickly and by the time I was over the road he had headed for the hills. But the moon was out, the snow was crisp and his tracks were trackable.
I failed to catch up with him but the armed stroll up onto the downs on such a night was worthwhile. Not a soul apart from me was stirring, miles across the valley street lights sparkled but otherwise I was only in the company of the friendly ghosts who have trod these ancient hills on thousands of winters in the past pitting their wits against the weather and wild animals.
Prager: Want To Raise a Good Person? Stop Nurturing Your Child's Self-Esteem
A cheerful humility is the best and most realistic attitude.
EPA moving unilaterally to limit greenhouse gases
An attempted end run around Congress
Hands-only CPR. You need to know this.
But a medical friend of mine saved a 90 year-old lady who had cardiac arrest on the sidewalk. She got a lawyer to sue him. She claimed her time had come, and that she should have been left alone. He was protected by Good Samaritan legal protections, but his legal costs to get to that point were considerable. You can be sued for not helping, too.
A new website to me: Jews for the preservation of firearms ownership
Green Lake, Austria. Cool vid
KUHNER: Radical Islam vs. Christianity - The cross is near extinction in the ancient lands of its origin
Environmental groups sue to block wind farm
I'm with them. Wind farms are a scam on the taxpayer - regardless of the bats. Did I say "bats"?
Voters elected Republicans to end Obamaism, not expand it
School food Nazis:
Evidently the message is that children’s bodies are a collective resource that needs to be managed by agents of the state for their own good and the good of society, regardless of what they or their parents think.
It’s not like schools have anything better to do.
I can understand parents' not wanting schools to feed their kids candy, but what's with the salt?
Basic instinct: Women take just three minutes to make up their mind about Mr Right
Driscoll: Where Unions Are, Americans Aren’t
Ice Age 6
We have been warning about this apocalypse for years.
Those who blame the U.S. for all the world’s ills
It would take serious shrinkology to understand why somebody would hate as free and noble a nation as the USA. Probably displacement from conflicts with Mom, right? It's always the Mom, right?
The Year of Stupid: Potsdam Climate Institute Now Says To Expect “Warmer Colder” Winters!
San Francisco May Vote on Circumcision Ban Next November.
Abortion OK, Briss not OK. Why Christians do brisses is beyond me. But a hand on my boy's dick? That is definitely the domain of a San Francisco government...
Speaking of brisses, more on Tutu and the Jews
Taxes and the Top Percentile Myth - A 2008 OECD study of leading economies found that 'taxation is most progressively distributed in the United States.' More so than Sweden or France.
Muslim moderation in Britain:
Around a third of young British Muslims favour killing in the name of Islam, according to a survey revealed by the WikiLeaks' publication of U.S. diplomatic cables.
A survey of 600 Muslim students at 30 universities throughout Britain found that 32 per cent of Muslim respondents believed killing in the name of religion is justified.
Just like the IRA...but not.
Do you think your taxes are too low? Make a contribution to the US Treasury.
Byron York: Smiling Dems will soon cry 'Washington is broken'
It's "broken" when they cannot do whatever they want.
Saturday, December 25. 2010
 AVI pointed out that we might be in error in passing on the theory of the relation of Christmas to Saturnalia: How December 25 Became Christmas.
It sounds like there is numerology involved.
Christmas breakfast was Cranberry pancakes and bacon. (Put those berries into the batter frozen, not thawed - same as you should with Blueberries. Otherwise, they disintegrate during cooking.) Lots of bacon and lots of pancakes, but no numerology.
Mrs. BD was nice enough to give me a trip as a present - one that was on the top of my bucket list. It will require a new camera. While I'd rather accumulate cool experiences than cool pix, pix are fun souvenirs - and cheaper than buying stuff.
And if you happen to be retarded and a victim of Alzheimer's, like me, the pics help you remember what you did and where you went.
In 2011, the Jew stands before corrupted international judges, the judges loyalties to eliminating the Jews revival of faith and nationhood, by its very being a reflection on pervasive oppression throughout the lands of the majority of judges and others who bow to their rulers. That mirror cannot be tolerated.
In 1948, a foreign army conquered Jerusalem and surrounding areas. Until 1967, the Jew could find no shelter there and was forbidden to visit his sacred sites. Many of the holy sites were destroyed or desecrated by the foreign army, and the international judges – distributors and recipients of thirty gallons of oil – turned away and said nothing. The residents of the conquered areas lived in poverty. Now, all faiths have access to their holy sites, and the Jew increased the residents standards of living. But, the international judges want to find the Jew guilty of defending that freedom of worship and benefits to existence, in favor of those who reject peace and cooperation. Many who share the Jews values hide or turn away; many of them are persecuted and slaughtered as they try to worship in some of the lands of those who reject peace. After two-millennia of reflection, will the story end better this time?
 Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)
2:1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2:2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
2:3 All went to their own towns to be registered.
2:4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.
2:5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.
2:6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.
2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
2:8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
2:9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
2:10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
2:11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
2:12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."
2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
2:14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"
2:15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."
2:16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
2:17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child;
2:18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.
2:19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Friday, December 24. 2010
Tonight with NYC finance genius and present-wrapping daughter, and the Judds' Christmas record on the record player. Yes, the record player. A fine, if old, Denon. I have tons of favorites still on vinyl, including around 40 operas and most of my favorite Christmas records, now unavailable on CD.
Candlelight service later - after cocktail hour.
 Just had to say that Rush is so kind and good and understanding with his Lib callers. He has a bigger heart than any angry or chronically-depressed Lib, and is full of encouragement for those who want to do things in life instead of sitting on their butts with excuses and complaints, on ye olde pity pot. He is positive and cheerful, the way proud, free Americans, with their heritage of amazing opportunity, ought to be.
He's on 770 on AM radio up here. He is a genius at handling hostile calls with grace, good humor, and even affection. He needs more of those callers. (Call me a fool, but I am wrapping and listening, like the ignorant clinger that I am, and preparing for cocktail hour. Christmas music then.)
A Merry Christmas to good old Rush! He keeps me amused and encouraged whenever I need it.
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