Thursday, April 10. 2014
Coase’s Tortoise - Federal bureaucracy gets in the way of complex ongoing relationships that serve civil society. Most people have heard of Coase's famous theorem, but don't really know it. A quote:
Normal human beings with adult temperaments understand that life is a complex, messy, imperfect business, and that sometimes we have to make accommodation for one another. It is for this reason that modern American English contains the phrase “Don’t make a federal case out of it.” I do not know Mr. Bundy, but, assuming that he is a decent sort, I think it is very likely the case that this story would have gone very differently if one of his neighbors had approached him one afternoon and said, “Say, Cliven, I’m worried that your cattle might step on my tortoises, which are very dear to me. What could we do about that?” Practically every suburbanite with a yard and neighbors with dogs has experienced a comparable situation, as has every urbanite with boisterous neighbors or neighbors who seem to become hard of hearing when their favorite television shows are on. (Ahem.) Our first instinct is not, as a rule, to make a federal case out of it.
If the Desert Tortoise (a fine critter, for sure, and one the Indians liked to cook for supper) survived the buffalo, why not the cattle?
Scientists Seek A Burp-less ‘Cow Of The Future’
 More Moms Stay Home With Their Children - A Pew study claims a decades-long trend has reversed.
Why the Gender Gap Won’t Go Away. Ever. Women prefer the mommy track.
THE WORLD'S LARGEST FLYING MACHINE
Remind me……never, never, never to appear at a function wearing the same dress as Kate Middleton.
Would Legalizing Prostitution Free Men’s Sexuality From Female Control?
Windows XP support officially ends today, still used by over 25 percent of PCs
A Sickness in the Soul - It is time to recognize that academia—including the University of North Carolina—has lost its moral compass.
Craven Cowards at Brandeis Cancel Ayaan Hirsi Ali Honor, Cave to Muslim Thugs’ Demands
Attacking Jews is fine, but attacking Muslims is not, apparently
Hirsi Ali responds. One quote:
“What was initially intended as an honor has now devolved into a moment of shaming. Yet the slur on my reputation is not the worst aspect of this episode. More deplorable is that an institution set up on the basis of religious freedom should today so deeply betray its own founding principles. The ‘spirit of free expression’ referred to in the Brandeis statement has been stifled here, as my critics have achieved their objective of preventing me from addressing the graduating Class of 2014. Neither Brandeis nor my critics knew or even inquired as to what I might say. They simply wanted me to be silenced. I regret that very much."
Jacobson notes: The silence of Western feminists is still deafening
Report: That new $1.6 billion loan-guaranteed solar farm is basically a “mega-trap” for flying wildlife
The Amorality of Overregulation
Guardian: Call climate change what it is: violence - Social unrest and famine, superstorms and droughts. Places, species and human beings – none will be spared.
NY Times: Global Warming Scare Tactics
The Obama Administration Lies About Hurricanes
The Democrats’ Fake Problems - Democrats, flopping on the economy and health care, try to create new issues.
The Democrats Have a Marriage Problem
Taranto: Krugman is complaining that conservatives have "monolithic . . . media organizations"--on the website of the New York Times.
U.S. Navy to test
futuristic, super-fast gun at sea in 2016
Avraham Krispin of Tel Aviv still remembers
how Turkey's prime minister used to walk around school with a copy of Hitler's
'Mein Kampf.'
Craven
Cowards at Brandeis Cancel Ayaan Hirsi Ali Honor, Cave to Muslim Thugs’
Demands - See more at:
http://pamelageller.com/2014/04/craven-cowards-brandeis-cancel-ayaan-hirsi-ali-honor-cave-muslim-thugs-demands.html/#sthash.pEZ9pI5a.dpuf
Wednesday, April 9. 2014
Nice pied a terre: 92nd floor of 432 Park Ave.
I can pretty much guarantee that this will not be bought by an American, but it will be snapped up fast by some Arab prince, Russian oligarch, South American crony capitalist, or some such international low-life. Nice commission for the realtor. I don't really like the layout (no gun room, no servants' quarters, slave quarters, or space for multiple wives/concubines), but the view sounds good.
Related, 50% Taxes When Alive, 50% Taxes When You Die
Consumers Win Big from Growth of Health Care Clinics
Organic Food Does Not Reduce Cancer Risk
4 Manly Lessons from the Minor Leagues
The Lost Sisterhood and the Case for Libertarian Novels - A best-selling writer explains the power of historical fiction.
The mathematical world - Some philosophers think mathematics exists in a mysterious other realm. They’re wrong. Look around: you can see it
We May Never Pass This Way Again. GM at a Crossroads.
Americans Spend More on Taxes Than Food, Clothing, and Housing Combined
Why Obama’s Presidency Has to Be All About Race Now
VDH: What is America's foreign strategy?
The '77 Cents on the Dollar' Myth About Women's Pay - Once education, marital status and occupations are considered, the 'gender wage gap' all but disappears.
Updated list of things caused by global warming
The game is up for climate change believers - Charles Moore reviews The Age of Global Warming by Rupert Darwall (Quartet)
Via Watts:
Isle of Light: A Look Back at the Boat People and the European Left
Chinese descendants of Jews return to
roots with seder - Kaifeng, a once thriving outpost of
Jewish trading families, to have first communal Passover meal in
generations
How do Muslims settle religious arguments with each other? The same way
they settle them with Jews and Christians. That is what we are seeing in
Syria.
Government as political entrepreneur: Thomas Piketty Is A Darwinian Shill:
One of the deadliest threats with which government has ever had to contend, over the entire pageant of human history, was the immense wealth and mass affluence generated by the industrial revolution. The usual metrics point to the exponential growth of goods and services from 1750 until 1914 if not 1929.
Exponential growth of what we call the private or the “real” sector of the economy—everything that is not government—means that government also has to grow exponentially in order even to be detectable. Moreover, one can ask: if exponential real-sector growth occurs over the long run, what possible need could civilization have for government?
Monday, April 7. 2014
If you're looking for a new outlet for the absurdity of Progressive Elitism, it's available now. Vox.com is up and the first article caught my eye because the headline was something I agree with 100%. How Politics Makes Us Stupid.
It's a fun read, if you're up for it. Because Ezra Klein spends quite a bit of time discussing how we willingly delude ourselves into wanting to win battles we can't win. The problem, of course, is that Ezra only spends time using examples of topics that are contentious and don't have clear-cut answers. Ezra deludes himself with politics, becoming increasingly stupid through the course of the article, without even noticing it, and using it to create a stance of moral superiority built upon...well, not much.
Strong start with the title. Pretty pathetic follow through. Ezra doesn't spend a moment questioning himself or his beliefs, or how he could have fallen victim to the accusations he lays against others. Furthermore, he doesn't take the time to analyze some critical philosophical points which are more meaningful than the numbers he claims support his view. Choice, to me, outweighs all the perceived (and I'd say non-existent, though I know the math says otherwise) benefits of forced behaviors. I should have the choice to get a vaccine. I should have the choice to own a gun. I should have the choice to own a Hummer. Even if Ezra feels the benefits of forcing me to believe what he believes, and behave as he behaves makes him feel better about society as a whole, I should still have that choic
It's not about the math he employs, it's about the choices I should be permitted to be able to make.
Sunday, April 6. 2014
Expulsion is the correct response to threats, not "conversation." Oppressed by the Ivy League - What Dartmouth's president should have told bullying students.
Friday, April 4. 2014
The CEO of Mozilla, Brendan Eich, was forced to step down over a personal belief. This is what our country is coming to. You can't have a belief if it is not in line with that which is approved by the shrieking masses.
It's worth noting his donation has been known about since 2008. It's also worth noting Eich penned a blog post about his donation and how it did not conflict with his position, that his role as CEO was to pursue Mozilla's goals regardless of whether employees agreed with his personal views or not.
This is not enough anymore. As this author notes, your views are meaningful and can play a role in what happens to you. Should they? If I disagree with much of what Donna Shalala supports, should I prevent my child from attending her university even if it's the best place for him to go?
I don't agree with most of Zuckerberg or Gates' political views. I still use their products. I fail to see what led to Eich's ouster. They hired him knowing his views, they may have expected a backlash, but felt they could deal with it. They should have.
I opposed gay marriage legislation, too. Admittedly, for wholly different reasons, since I think gay people have the right to be as miserable as the rest of us married folk. I opposed it because I just don't think government is the proper guarantor of contract, or grantor of right, of marriage. Were Martha and George Washington married? As far as I can tell they were, though not necessarily, because the US government didn't exist when they got married. In fact, government involvement in marriage was originally designed as an exclusionary tool, not an inclusive one. The earliest laws were designed to prevent miscegenation. The easiest way to avoid the discussion is to simply say government shouldn't have passed any laws preventing people who consent to marriage from entering that contract. Since I opposed gay marriage legislation, could I suffer the same fate as Eich? Quite possibly, in our intolerant society, I could, because I don't support laws giving special exceptions to existing laws, I just want to do away with those laws altogether.
Personal views are personal views, and as long as Eich was cognizant of his long-term goals as CEO, and didn't let his personal views impact his treatment or management of people within the organization, then he should have been kept on. Otherwise, his removal is an act of cowardice and shame.
Here.
Good riddance. I hate malls. I hate Disneyworld too, and lots of other tacky things. Virtual realities.
Thursday, April 3. 2014
 I agree with Bernstein: Breyer’s dangerous dissent in McCutcheon (the campaign finance case). Creepy and dangerous. A quote:
...leading Progressive defenses of freedom of expression, such as Zechariah Chafee’s, relied on utilitarian considerations and not on freedom of expression as a fundamental individual right. Progressives identified freedom of speech as a civil liberty to differentiate it from what Progressive understood to be the obsolete, individualist, natural-rights based liberties of the American past. While activist government was inimical to such rights as liberty of contract and property rights, it arguably buttressed a Progressive case for freedom of speech. According to Progressive advocates of constitutional protection for freedom of expression, the more active a role played by government, the more important it is to ensure that public policy is subject to vigorous and uninhibited debate. Such debate not only could bring important considerations to light, but also could serve as a check on those who would use public power for private gain, which in turn would lead to better public policy, which in turn would create a welcome demand for even more government.
Freedom is not utilitarian, and not meant to be. Freedom is, by nature, messy, difficult, and contentious. Furthermore, freedom is not meant to help government, or to help anything in particular other than the human spirit. If anything, freedom is meant to be against government power. Where is Breyer coming from?
America is not a government. America is a bunch of individual people. Who bankrolled Tom Paine's writings? The wealthy Tom Jefferson did, as I recall, out of his own fat pocketbook.
As Ace comments, the masks are now all coming off now.
Yes, the 1st Amendment lives to fight another day. Maybe New York was right to insist on the Bill of Rights. Should never have been necessary, though. The fascists and statists hate it.
More on the topic from Ann Althouse.
Every comment I have read or heard about this terrible incident is ignorant beyond belief.
In fact, all too ignorant and stupid for me to respond to. This time, I have neither the time nor the inclination. It's tragic, unavoidable. There is no perfect safety from either nature or from human nature, and any perfect safety would be a living death.
 A friend took that pic of a gamer at a gamer convention in Boston last week.
Father Hires Escort Who Turns Out to Be Someone He Knows Far Too Well
Introducing The Jesus-Free Speech Zone
Crucify him
Vogue Gives Up - Kim Kardashian on the cover of the April issue is the latest sign of the magazine’s decline
Backlash Grows As US Universities Cancel or Postpone 'Honor Diaries' Film
Air Force removes Bible from POW-MIA display
Official Policy: Male Federal Workers Can Use Women's Restrooms, Locker Rooms
That is sick and uncivilized
Koch: I'm Fighting to Restore a Free Society - Instead of welcoming free debate, collectivists engage in character assassination.
The Kochs are needed to counterbalance Soros. If you want to do character assassination, Soros is a Jewish Nazi collaborator, a market manipulator, and a convicted felon. How's that for starters?
Official
Policy: Male Federal Workers Can Use Women's Restrooms, Locker Rooms -
See more at:
http://cnsnews.com/commentary/terence-p-jeffrey/official-policy-male-federal-workers-can-use-womens-restrooms-locker#sthash.FjcOgjgH.dpuf Koch: I'm Fighting to Restore a Free Society - Instead of welcoming free debate, collectivists engage in character assassination. The Kochs are needed to counterbalance Soros Rich Suburbs Can’t Save Democrats This November
The Gray Lady Falls For the Malthus Trap
What the IPCC left out: the benefits of global warming
It's the wrong narrative
Tuesday, April 1. 2014
Why Parents Need to Let Their Children Fail
Who's been getting rich in the US? It's not the 1%, it's not even the 0.1% - it's the 0.01%
Do we all really hate and envy those star athletes, pop stars, movie stars, TV stars, inventors, successful entrepreneurs, and captains of industry? I sometimes envy their talents, skills, and money, but I sure don't hate them.
My family is driving me crazy, and I am growing to hate them
4 reasons RadioShack is massively failing
Black culture and the culture of poverty are not the same thing.
I agree with that. (I also believe that not all poverty is via 'culture of poverty.' There are a thousand sorts of poverty, including genteel poverty.) Dr. X summarizes that debate:
Is racism fundamentally causing the problems that afflict large swathes of urban black America or does an independently self-sustaining culture itself account for the afflictions? I think many people all too readily take one position or the other, feeling certain about it. I don't see things as quite that tidy. Jonathan Chait and Ta-Nehisi Coates have been hashing this out in a series of posts. Begin here with Coates, then a reaction from Chait, response from Coates, then Chait answers.
Here comes the sun - The price of a product is a function of the demand for it — or should be.
The United States passed its first sugar tariff in 1789, before Rhode Island got around to ratifying the Constitution. We’ve had some major public-policy changes over the years — abolishing slavery, women’s suffrage, direct election of senators, gay marriage here and there — but the sugar tariff stays and stays, the economic version of drug-resistant syphilis. It is a matter of pure political power: The sugar producers believe that the price that Americans are willing to pay for sugar is not the right price — which is to say, it’s a lower price than the one they would prefer — and so we pay more thanks to the cowardice of Congress and the predictable victory of the producers’ concentrated benefits over the consumers’ dispersed costs. As Willi Schlamm said, the problem with capitalism is capitalists, a motto that should be engraved in marble above the entrance to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The French Implosion - Tax-and-spend politics has driven Paris to the brink
Congress Should Phase Out the Mortgage Interest Deduction
I agree that it is unfair and market-distorting - just like 1000 other government "favors." My view is that I want the Feds to have less money, less power, and less control.
In Westbury, Long Island, you can't rent out a room
Meet the Famous British Liberals Who Support Government Control of the Media
USDA to Grandparents: Read Government Bedtime Stories to Encourage Healthy Eating
The Feds don't want Granny baking cookies and pies anymore
Israel-Palestine — enough already!
Monday, March 31. 2014
This is not from The Onion - it's Common Core math. What the heck is this teacher doing?
Sunday, March 30. 2014
Obama Admin Looks To Regulate Cow Flatulence As Part of Its Climate Change Agenda…
What about the Elk and the Bison and all the other ungulates? What about Manatee farts, which are very high in greenhouse gasses?
 The incredible truth about time.
Most physicists believe that it is an illusion, but some still debate the subject.
(Pic is this fancy Audemars Piguet. Timex is the official watch of Maggie's Farm, not AP.)
Saturday, March 29. 2014
I plan to turn on every piece of electric I have. Make some banana/strawberry daiguiris with the blender, too. Electricity is the greatest invention ever, and it deserves one hour of celebration and gratitude.
 Thanks to our pal at Never Yet Melted for mailing me that book. That was my Mom's life, or an aspect of it.
What one needs to know about female orgasm.
Females like orgasms.
The New York Sun is back.
The moving moment a deaf woman is overcome by emotion as she HEARS for the first time after having her cochlear implants switched on
How did she understand speech?
Can Boys Be ‘Coerced’ Into Sex?
Depends on how you define "coerced"
U.S. Autism Estimate Rises 30% in Two Years
California Bullet Train Tallies Yet Another Failure
New IPCC report will back off on alarmism
Feds Blew $700,000 on Global Warming Junk Science Musical
The Collapsing Soufflé of Climate Change
Matt Ridley:
"Even with its too-high, too-fast assumptions, the recently leaked draft of the IPCC impacts report makes clear that when it comes to the effect on human welfare, "for most economic sectors, the impact of climate change will be small relative to the impacts of other drivers," such as economic growth and technology, for the rest of this century. If temperatures change by about 1C degrees between now and 2090, as Mr. Lewis calculates, then the effects will be even smaller.
Indeed, a small amount of warming spread over a long period will, most experts think, bring net improvements to human welfare. Studies such as by the IPCC author and economist Professor Richard Tol of Sussex University in Britain show that global warming has probably done so already. People can adapt to such change—which essentially means capture the benefits but minimize the harm. Satellites have recorded a roughly 14% increase in greenery on the planet over the past 30 years, in all types of ecosystems, partly as a result of man-made CO2 emissions, which enable plants to grow faster and use less water."
Religious tide turns against 'Noah'
Feminist Unleashes Anti-Christian Hatred
Is College A Waste Of Time And Money?
Should The Post run a correction to the Koch oil sands story?i
Charming image below from University of Michigan Exhibit Celebrates Abortion as ‘Life-Sustaining Act’
Nobody who loves abortion was aborted. Thanks, Mom, for not aborting me.
Sultan: The Shape of a Post-American World
The more tolerant society becomes, the more desperate the race and gender hustlers become.
Another outrageous UN appointment
Via a money manager friend:
Fasten Your Seat Belts – Yet Again? – Fabled money manager, Jeremy Grantham did a recent, rather sharp-edge interview with Fortune. He was very critical of Fed policies, claiming they were ineffective and/or counterproductive. At the end, he seems to be looking for an imminent roller coaster ride in the stock market.
Here's a bit:
Okay, but then I guess that means you think stocks are going higher? I thought I had read your prediction that the market would disappoint investors.
We do think the market is going to go higher because the Fed hasn't ended its game, and it won't stop playing until we are in old-fashioned bubble territory and it bursts, which usually happens at two standard deviations from the market's mean. That would take us to 2,350 on the S&P 500, or roughly 25% from where we are now.
So are you putting your client's money into the market?
No. You asked me where the market is headed from here. But to invest our clients' money on the basis of speculation being driven by the Fed's misguided policies doesn't seem like the best thing to do with our clients' money. We invest our clients' money based on our seven-year prediction. And over the next seven years, we think the market will have negative returns. The next bust will be unlike any other, because the Fed and other centrals banks around the world have taken on all this leverage that was out there and put it on their balance sheets. We have never had this before. Assets are overpriced generally. They will be cheap again. That's how we will pay for this. It's going to be very painful for investors.
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Nomination For The Biggest Single Fraud On The American Consumer: Vitamins
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