Monday morning links

"Venezuela Runs Out of Beer"

Polar beer seems to be to Venezuelans what Corona is to Mexicans: a perfectly good, inexpensive, working stiff's beer, a terrific thirst-quencher when served ice cold on a hot day.

I would have thought any disruption in Polar supplies would really mean the end for the Chavistas but then, I also thought Venezuelans would soon tire of their Bolivarian revolution with Hugo gone and the lackluster Maduro at the helm.

(Ridiculous and posturing though he was, Chavez at least had a certain popular allure, not unlike that of Fidel Castro with Cubans.)

#2 JJM on 2016-05-02 09:08 (Reply)

QUOTE:

Piketty’s Crumbs - Inequality economists know the price of everything but understand the value of nothing ... “The poorer half of the population are as poor today as they were in the past, with barely 5 percent of total wealth in 2010, just as in 1910. Basically, all the middle class managed to get its hands on was a few crumbs.”

It shouldn't be necessary to erect a strawman to make an argument. Piketty is explicitly referring to share of wealth.

#3 Zachriel on 2016-05-02 09:23 (Reply)

It is clear to me that you did nothing but read the very first paragraph. Here is a straw-man for you: how much money would you need to give up all refrigeration for an entire year? Now calculate that into your share of wealth. I think you will find that refrigeration, that you use every single day, is not crumbs. That is only one of the examples given in the article. Try reading the entire article.

#3.1 B Hammer on 2016-05-02 10:11 (Reply)

B Hammer: It is clear to me that you did nothing but read the very first paragraph.

We read the entire article — twice, and it's clear that the author either didn't read Piketty, choosing instead to rely on a quote-mine making the rounds; or simply chose to ignore the content of Piketty's actual argument in lieu of a strawman.

From the same chapter: "Make no mistake: the growth of a true 'patrimonial (or properties) middle class' was the principal structural transformation of the distribution of wealth in the developed countries in the twentieth century."

#3.1.1 Zachriel on 2016-05-02 10:22 (Reply)

It makes no difference how many times YOU read it. As has been mentioned before, we can explain things for you, but we can't understand them for you.

#3.1.1.1 mike m on 2016-05-02 21:29 (Reply)

QUOTE:

Wall Street Journal readers may recall a piece published in May of 2013 called “In Defense of Carbon Dioxide,” by William Happer, one of Princeton’s top-flight physicists, and Harrison Schmitt, a geologist, a former Republican senator from New Mexico, and an Apollo astronaut who walked on the moon.

A bit late with that "prediction". Atmospheric CO2 causing an increase in plant growth has been established for decades. See Kimball, Carbon dioxide and agricultural yield: An assemblage and analysis of 430 prior observations, Agronomy Journal 1983.

Why did you think a large team of environmental scientists trained NASA's satellite spectroradiometer on Earth's vegetation? A lucky guess?

#4 Zachriel on 2016-05-02 09:40 (Reply)

Why, then, is CO2 still a BIG bugaboo?

#4.1 Sam L. on 2016-05-02 21:26 (Reply)

Sam L: Why, then, is CO2 still a BIG bugaboo?

Because unrestricted CO2 emissions will cause significant and possibly dangerous global warming.

#4.1.1 Zachriel on 2016-05-03 09:00 (Reply)

QUOTE:

Why the Left Hates Jews

Note that both Ken Livingstone and Naz Shah were suspended from the Labor Party. Shah apologized.

QUOTE:

But then, neither are the so-called Palestinians, who are Arabs. Arabs famously come from Arabia, but they are located all over the world.

While the Palestinians are cultural Arabs, genetic evidence shows that they are indigenous to Palestine, and closely related to the Jewish people through paternal lines.

Middle Eastern Y-Chromosomes

QUOTE:

No one is throwing a fit about Timor-Leste or Serbia.

Huh? Both regions were beset by sectarian violence until recently.

#5 Zachriel on 2016-05-02 10:38 (Reply)

This is very cool:

From the article:

Archaeologists believe they have found the scuttled remains of the Endeavour in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project made the discovery, saying the ship was scuttled in the harbour by British forces in the lead up to the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778.

The Endeavour was discovered alongside 13 other ships in a massive archaeological investigation that combined high-tech mapping of the seabed with analysis of historical shipping documents found in London.

The wreck of the Endeavour was found in Newport Harbour in Rhode Island. It is thought the wreck was sunk there in an attempt to block the harbour before the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3568740/Captain-Cook-s-HMS-Endeavour-United-States.html#ixzz47THouAwi

#6 feeblemind on 2016-05-02 10:39 (Reply)

Trump did his primary campaign on the cheap and is winning. I don't think he is behind at all in getting ready for the general. This is a completely different election. Comparing 2016 to 2012 or 2008 just won't work.

#7 MissT on 2016-05-02 11:59 (Reply)

Why Are Highly Educated Americans Getting More Liberal?

They aren't getting more liberal, they are getting more Leftist/Progressive. But it is just a social affectation. When the taxes get to high for them or the illegal immigrants start buying in their neighborhood, their Progressive facade doesn't stop them from promoting exclusionary and no-distributionary policies.

Look at how they work gentrification to force out the poor and minorities. Look at the zoning that prices out those not of their "class".

And of course, look at the racial and sex discrimination rampant in the non-profit and government organizations they run.

#8 JK Brown on 2016-05-02 14:30 (Reply)

Landmarking Is Turning New York City Into a Life-Sized Historical Diorama - The city recently landmarked a giant Pepsi-Cola sign because of its "prominent siting."

Why are Progressives so opposed to progress?

#9 JK Brown on 2016-05-02 14:35 (Reply)

One-third of graduate degrees are in education. That is a low-threshold, low-rigor field that overwhelmingly works for governments. You will notice that the article implies these are the most intelligent people and many of the commenters likewise assume that even though that is not what was measured.

Plenty of reasonable and even conservative teachers go for those graduate degrees in order to learn more, or at least earn more. Which is laudable. But on average, the politics follow the buttered side of the bread.

#10 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2016-05-02 21:29 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Monday, May 2. 2016

Monday morning links