Oil Speculation - The New Boogeyman

Dr. Boudreaux nails it, as usual.

Cafe Hayek: Oily Speculations: "Most obviously, Mr. Greenberger repeatedly objected to persons investing in oil futures 'passively' - as he said, 'with no interest in actively controlling these assets, just hoping to make a buck when their prices rise.' Ummm.... Does Mr. Greenberger own stocks only in companies that he actively manages? If not, why is it okay for him passively (and speculatively!) to buy, say, a few dozen shares of Microsoft 'hoping to make a buck when their prices rise' but not okay for other persons to speculate in oil for the very same reason?"

Cafe Hayek: A Win-Win: "Not only will these brilliant public servants earn personal fortunes in the oil market, they'll also, in the process, mute the allegedly excessive price fluctuations (because, for example, selling oil short when its price is rising adds supply to the market today, thus relieving the pressures pushing today's price upward). And because Mr. Obama & Co. would use their own resources, we the public will be better assured that their actions aren't driven by opportunistic politics."

Friday Grab Bag

Architecture. (pic via Contemporist)
The Albatross Avenue House by Bayden Goddard Design
Amazing modern swimming pool house
1960s-designed East Lane house in Bawdsey, Suffolk
10 Contemporary Homes of the Future

Style.
Alden - AAAC Wingtip Balmoral: Leather Soul Hawaii
How to Tie an Eastland Knot
Leffot Blog - Church’s MTO

Watches.
Vintage Patek Philippe Master Clock System
Underlined Rolex Submariner with Explorer Dial
New Model: Paul Picot Technograph Discotime

Fountain Pens / Writing.
Notebook Addict of the Week: Okami

Computers.
Facing Watson, IBM's 'Jeopardy!' computer
IEEE Spectrum: A Radical New Router
Dawn of the Personal Computer: From Altair to the IBM PC (more)

Finance.
The best credit card for you - Money Magazine
If you have credit card debt, do not get caught when interest rates rise!
When finances intersect with family ties
Calculate Exactly How Long You'll Be in Debt

Animals.
Turtles crawl on runway, delay flights at JFK
“Cute Coma” induced by ALL PAWS FLAILING!

Misc.
BBC NEWS - Roll over Roget

Healthcare: Stossel and the "Public Option"

The argument that a socialized option is needed to foster competition is ludicrous. The various companies already compete with each other.

John Stossel: Insurance Is No Answer: "Insurance, whether private or a government Ponzi scheme like Medicare, means third parties pay the bills. When someone else pays, costs always go up. Imagine if you had grocery insurance. You wouldn't care how much food cost. Why shop around? If someone else were paying 80 percent, you'd buy the most expensive cuts of meat. Prices would skyrocket."

The Public Option Two-Step - WSJ.com: "The reason left-flank Democrats are so adamant about a public option is because they know it is an opening wedge for the government to dominate U.S. health care. That's also why the health-care industry, business groups, some moderates and most Republicans are opposed. Team Obama likes the policies of the first group but wants the political support of the second. And they're trying to solve this Newtonian problem -- irresistible forces, immovable objects -- by becoming less and less candid about the changes they really favor. Mr. Emanuel echoes his boss and says a government health plan is needed to keep the private sector 'honest,' but then why don't we also need a state-run oil company, or nationalized grocery store chain? (Or auto maker? Never mind.) The real goal is to create a program backstopped by taxpayers that can exert political leverage over the market."

Ugly, Rapacious Politics

A few gems.

Billions in aid go to areas that backed Obama in '08 - USATODAY.com: "WASHINGTON — Billions of dollars in federal aid delivered directly to the local level to help revive the economy have gone overwhelmingly to places that supported President Obama in last year's presidential election."

In health bill, billions for parks, paths - The Boston Globe: "WASHINGTON - Sweeping healthcare legislation working its way through Congress is more than an effort to provide insurance to millions of Americans without coverage. Tucked within is a provision that could provide billions of dollars for walking paths, streetlights, jungle gyms, and even farmers’ markets."

Your Handout to Agri-Business - John Stossel's Take: "I’ve reported on the government’s boneheaded farm subsidy programs that cost taxpayers $25 billion per year, and import taxes that cost consumers another $12 billion in higher supermarket costs. The average American household pays $320 per year for these policies, but voters rarely complain, because the costs are well hidden."

Hoyer-linked firm wins $18M Recovery.gov contract - Washington Examiner: "ABC reports this morning that the Maryland firm Smartronix has won what seems like an enormous $18 million contract to re-design the Recovery.gov website. Approximately $9.5 million would be spent by January in order to make 'Recovery 2.0' out of the site that is supposed to track the spending of federal stimulus funds in detail. Smartronix, a medium-sized Maryland-based firm (over 500 employees) founded in 1995, boasts a large number of government clients, mostly military. The company appears to have just one important political connection: according to FEC records, Smartronix president, Mohammed Javaid, vice president Alan Parris, and partner John Parris have together given $19,000 to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D) since 1999. There is no record of a Smartronix employee contributing to any other federal politician."

USDA to oversee school snack food: Senate ag chair - Reuters: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department would be given the power to regulate all food sold in schools -- including vending machine snacks -- when Congress renews child nutrition programs, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee said on Tuesday."

Republicans for Big Government - John Stossel's Take: "At least one recent Congressional waste of time and money comes 'courtesy of the GOP. You know, the party in favor of “smaller” and “less intrusive” government. Specifically, the congressional look-see into college football has been led by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) and Rep. Joe Barton (R., Texas). They have not been shy about the menace they see. Mr. Hatch calls the BCS 'un-American.' Mr. Barton likens it to 'communism.' The Texas Republican has even introduced legislation that would forbid the BCS from holding a 'national championship game ...'"

Thursday Grab Bag

Architecture. (pic via DesignCrave)
Love It Or Leaf It: Tree-centric Santiago Home
Cascade House / Paul Raff Studio
Silberfisch Modern Houseboat - SwipeLife
Award-winning, Spacious $2.8 Million Manhattan Triplex

Watches.
Romain Jerome: New website
If its good enough for Philippe Dufour, its good enough for me
Girard-Perregaux Monte-Carlo 1973 Flyback Chronograph

Urwerk.
First pictures of the Urwerk UR-CC1

Fountain Pens / Writing.
Orvis Leather-Bound Atlas and Guides


Google Chrome, the OS.
Google Chrome: Redefining The Operating System
Google Targets Microsoft's Turf - WSJ.com
Chrome OS: But Will it Run Photoshop?
Five Questions About Google Chrome OS - PC World
Eleven Questions About Google’s Chrome OS

Computers.
IBM OS/360 to Windows 3.1: Software that Changed Computing Forever

Cars.
Driven: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
The World's Fastest Remote-Control Car
2010 Prius proves its fuel economy credentials
Bike-Car - the ultimate hybrid motoring experience
Hydrogen Vehicle Travels 568 Kilometers on 1 Liter of Fuel

Style.
Mens Fashion and Style Icons
Beryll Asphalt Boots - Acquire

NASA.
Astronomers Uncover Audio of 1969 Soviet Attempt to Beat U.S. to the Moon

Signs of The Times.
Is Slim Jim an endangered species?

Misc.
Jennifer 8. Lee hunts for General Tso
Tabasco - Her Majesty’s hot favourite
14 Basic Skills All Men Should Possess
Drive-Through Goes Green: Burger King Installs Kinetic Generators
Man takes LSD, runs naked in Lake Tahoe casino because he's The Terminator

P.J. O'Rourke on Cars, Liberty, Politics, and More

P.J. O'Rourke is nothing short of phenomenal. Enjoy this brief video interview with him.

reason.tv - Videos > P.J. O'Rourke: "Where Was the Government with Studebaker?": "P.J. O’Rourke is a 21st-century H.L. Mencken—a libertarian satirist and quote-machine who’s deeply suspicious of most any office-holder (“Politics is the attempt to achieve power and prestige without merit”). ... In June, Reason.tv’s Ted Balaker sat down with O’Rourke at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Topics include: bailouts, who ruined the U.S. auto industry, politicians’ love affair with trains, how easy women made O'Rourke a youthful socialist and how getting a paycheck turned him into a libertarian."

Empty Apologies for Slavery

An apology from people who never owned a slave, to people who never were slaves. And what of people whose families came here post-1865? Should they be forced to pay reparations, or be eligible to receive them?

Walter E. Williams : Senate Slavery Apology: "Absent from the reparations debate is: Who pays? Don't say the government because the government doesn't have any money that it doesn't first take from some American. So which Americans owe black people what? Reparations advocates don't want that question asked but let's you and I. Are the millions of Europeans, Asians, and Latin Americans who immigrated to the U.S. in the 20th century responsible for slavery and should they be forced to cough up reparations money? What about descendants of Northern whites who fought and died in the name of freeing slaves? Should they cough up reparations money for black Americans? What about non-slave-owning Southern whites, a majority of whites; should they be made to pay reparations? And, by the way, would President Obama, whose father is Kenyan and mother white, be eligible for a reparations payment?"

The Celebration of Collective Guilt - LewRockwell.com Blog: "But empty apologizing for ancient historical events serves no purpose other than to maintain both the sense of collective guilt and collective victimhood that keeps statist thinking going."

Today's Quotes

"The most dangerous man, to any government,
is the man who is able to think things out for himself,
without regard to prevailing superstition or taboo."
-- H. L. Mencken

"I have long been convinced that institutions purely democratic must,
sooner or later, destroy liberty, or civilization, or both."
-- Thomas Babington Macaulay

Outside Independence Hall when
the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended,
Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin,
"Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"
With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded,
"A republic, if you can keep it."
-- Benjamin Franklin

Is Climate Change Mutilating Frogs?

Weren't we told over and over that this problem with frogs was the canary in the mine, that the problem was caused by pollution and/or global warming? (pic via BBC)

BBC - Earth News - Legless frogs mystery solved: "Scientists think they have resolved one of the most controversial environmental issues of the past decade: the curious case of the missing frogs' legs. Around the world, frogs are found with missing or misshaped limbs, a striking deformity that many researchers believe is caused by chemical pollution. However, tests on frogs and toads have revealed a more natural, benign cause. The deformed frogs are actually victims of the predatory habits of dragonfly nymphs, which eat the legs of tadpoles."

The Vatican: Maybe the Most Libertarian State In the World

Wonderful insight, I never thought of it this way before. (pic via Wiki)

Re: Pope Benedict on Charity and Truth - LewRockwell.com Blog: "... quite right about charity being voluntary. And not only that, as far as I know, the Holy See is the only state in the world that does not tax–it’s supported by voluntary donations of a billion Catholics around the globe. It’s the most libertarian state in the world."

Pope Benedict on Charity and Truth - LewRockwell.com Blog: "Today Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical letter, “Caritas in Veritate,” was published. From time to time, popes issue such letters as guides to critical issues of the day, as seen in the light of faith. As is their wont, the usual suspects have already hijacked the letter to push their statist agenda. “If the Catholic right is against the redistribution of wealth, they’re against the pope,” whines one leftist priest who is out of favor with Benedict. More power-lusters are sure to follow."

Related links:
The Holy See
Vatican City - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint: The New Standard Oil?

It would seem so. Are you familiar with the anti-trust story of Standard Oil? No, I mean the actual story of what happened, not the nonsense we were taught in govt. schools. It's happening again. The difference is that this time it's cellular carriers under attack and not the oil industry.

Note that customers aren't complaining. They're being served well in a very competitive industry. As usual, it's competitors that are complaining. Don't miss the additional links below.

Cellphone Politics - WSJ.com: "In fact, the wireless marketplace has never been more competitive. Eight years ago there were 100 million U.S. wireless customers. Today there are more than 270 million. It's true that AT&T (82 million) and Verizon (72 million) have the lion's share. But the next two largest carriers, Sprint and T-Mobile, have a combined 82 million, and the five carriers that round out the top 10 have another 18 million among them. Merely because Cellular South doesn't threaten Verizon's share doesn't mean other companies don't. As for rural areas, 96% of Americans have a choice of at least three carriers. What these smaller carriers really want Congress to do is prevent bigger rivals from reaping the benefits of scale. But the government's role is to ensure competition, not protect competitors. AT&T, Verizon and other large carriers have invested billions to build the networks that device makers find so attractive."

Related links:
A Politically Incorrect Guide to Antitrust Policy
Anti-trust, Anti-truth - Thomas J. DiLorenzo
The Truth About the "Robber Barons" - Thomas J. DiLorenzo

Healthcare Rationing, Administrative Costs, and Advertising

One of the popular arguments in favor of socialized healthcare lately has been that this would reduce administrative costs and be more efficient. The efficiency argument seems laughable right out of the gate. These are the same people that brought us the Walter Reed VA hospital, the DMV, Iraq and Haliburton, Post Office, gas rationing in the 70s, the public education system, and on and on and on.

Marginal Revolution: The eloquent Craig Garthwaite: "There is also a broader point that I have always wondered when people cite the low administrative costs of Medicare. At least a portion of it has to come from the fact that they cover everything with little dispute. In addition, Medicare is also approaching fiscal insolvency. These are not two unrelated points, and therefore I wonder if perhaps Medicare might want to spend a little bit more on administrative costs?"

Of NICE and Men - WSJ.com: "In 2007, the board restricted access to two drugs for macular degeneration, a cause of blindness. The drug Macugen was blocked outright. The other, Lucentis, was limited to a particular category of individuals with the disease, restricting it to about one in five sufferers. Even then, the drug was only approved for use in one eye, meaning those lucky enough to get it would still go blind in the other."

Healthcare from Dr. Krugman - John Stossel's Take: "But the French freeload off American innovation! Can you name any new drugs or medical devices that are invented in France? Nearly all the world’s innovation comes from the relatively profit-driven American system. If we relied on government healthcare, the world would still be getting 1950’s quality care."

Marginal Revolution: Administrative Costs: "Picking out one measure of health care 'costs' to compare systems is sadly reminiscent of the arguments for socialism. Do you remember those arguments? Under socialism: 'Think of how much money we will save on advertising!'"

Camry and F-150. Which Is The American Car?

A strong argument can be made for the Camry. [CARPE DIEM: Toyota Is The Most American Car Company]

Survey: Camry more American than F-150 - The Detroit News: "The Toyota Camry is more American than the Ford F-150, at least according to Cars.com's annual American-Made Index. The findings further muddy the buy American debate that rages across the country. Toyota Motor Corp. also is the most American car company, according to the rankings of the index in terms of U.S. content in its cars and trucks. The findings are based on where each vehicle is built, its popularity based on sales volume and the percentage of the parts made in the U.S. based on the cost or value of those parts. This year, the Camry (not counting the hybrid or the Solara) dethroned the F-150 which had been a five-time winner. The Ford truck came in at No. 2."

Thursday Grab Bag

Architecture. (pic via Totonko)
45 faber park house - ong & ong
Farquar Lake Residence by ALTUS
Curtin Avenue Residence by Optimum Resource
Luxury Austrian Mansion by ProjectA01
Victorian Duplex in San Francisco by Patrick Flynn
$31.9 Million Mediterranean Mansion In Brentwood

Computers.
VLC Hits 1.0 with Better Playback and File Support
The Apple iPhone 3GS Hacking Debate (more)
Chinese company introduces Atom-powered Macbook Air clone

Fountain Pens / Writing.
Carolina Pad Hot Chocolate Collection
Review: Pen and Paper Test in a Moleskine Pocket Ruled Notebook

Signs of The Times.
Lear files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Jewelers Aren’t So Precious Recession Hits the Jewelry Sector Hard

Watches.
Omega Constellation pie-pan saved!
Breitling Chronomat B01: ultimate mechanical chronograph
Video Watch Review: Glashütte Original Senator Automatic
Chronopassion - Laurent Picciotto
Beginners Guide to Seiko Dive Watches

Cars.
Sachs MadAss 125 - Uncrate
Pagani Zonda Cinque R: Power and Exclusivity
BBC NEWS - Paradise lost
Lamborghini Gallardo Goes Up In Smoke

Style.
Barker Black Ltd. - SwipeLife
St. Crispin’s Bespoke - SwipeLife
Alden Shoes - Plaza Straight Tip: Leather Soul Hawaii
Shine On - 5 Tips for Keeping Your Shoes in Top Shape

Misc.
12 Unusual and Creative Home Theaters
10 Twilight Zone references in Disney’s Tower of Terror
A coffee a day ensures the memory will stay

Are We Victims of Deregulation?

That's what we've been told for months now. But as I've stated many times before ... one would have to be disingenuous or wholly ignorant of the topic to tout that argument.

Radical Laissez-Faire Capitalism - The Unbroken Window: "What you see below you is a comparison of the size of the federal government that our Founders intended (see that tiny pamphlet on the right, it includes both the Declaration of Independence AND the Constitution) and the one we have today. That ridiculous pile on the left is all the pages of the Federal Register stacked high. From bottom to top, the stack is over 8 feet tall."

Tuesday Grab Bag

Watches. (pic via SwipeLife)
Citizen Eco-Drive Concept Watches (more)
Digital Hourglass Stopwatch Tells Time in Sand Pixels
Montres Journe SA - A new distinction for the F.P.Journe Minute Repeater
Interest in space memorabilia takes a leap
The grand art of watchmaking - Vacheron Constantin

Cars.
Land Rover Defender Fire and Ice Editions

Fountain Pens / Writing.
Graf von Faber-Castell Pen of the Year 2009

Healthcare.
Medicare Administrative Costs Are Higher, Not Lower, Than for Private Insurance

Signs of The Times.
America's Most Troubled Luxury Neighborhoods

Animals.
Zoo evacuated after chimps escape
Man digs 50ft hole to fish - in his kitchen

Global Warming / Climate / Environment.
Environment Agency sets up green police
Let's Do Something—Anything: The trouble with the new "cap and trade" bill

Food.
When Will Greenpeace Accept the Global Scientific Consensus on Biotech Crops?

Liberty.
Celebrate Secession!
Ron Paul - Celebrating the Fight for Freedom on the Fourth

Style.
Red Wing Comes Home - The Wabasha Boat Shoe
Shirtmakers - The Upgrader on Men.Style.Com
Tight Squeeze: Making Room For a New Men's Fashion
Brown Wings Horns x Dayton Service Boot

Computers.
Wolfram Alpha: The Use Cases
Information Overload? Relax - WSJ.com
Lifehacker - HideTab is a Boss Key for Your Browser

Misc.
The 50 Greatest Movie Trailers of All Time
20 Scary Old School Surgical Tools - Curious? Read
7 Dangerous Toys Kids Today Are Missing Out On
Celebrity-Shielding Flashgun Handbag Defeats Paparazzi
Secret Passage Hides Shame of Messy Office
BBC NEWS - Who is Neil Armstrong?

Unions, Healthcare, and Taxes

This business about giving an exemption only to unions is outrageous.

Dems To Tax Health Benefits … Unless You Join a Union by Vin Suprynowicz: "Don’t ask, for the moment, why Congressional Democrats need to find an extra trillion dollars to pay for a socialized medicine scheme they insist will “reduce costs.” We’re WAY too far into Wonderland to worry about that."

Related Links:
A History of Labor Unions From Colonial Times to 2009
Public Pensions Cook the Books - WSJ.com

Architecture and Pre-Fab Updates

I love this stuff.

The Wolfback Ridge FlatPak House - SwipeLife: "Architect Charlie Lazor has been at the forefront of prefabricated architecture in recent years with his creation of the FlatPak system. Designs are based on eight foot wide, one story tall wall panels, and size and configuration are otherwise limited only by the imagination and budget of the client. Lazor also created a series of kitchen and bath components and storage solutions that integrate directly into the system."

Tiny Houses on Tiny Islands: "In celebration of Canada
Day and the 4th of July, I thought I would do a post on the tiny houses of the Thousand Islands, which is the name of an archipelago of islands that straddle the U.S.-Canada border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario."

Sosnowski Residence by Chen Suchart Studio - SwipeLife: "Chen Suchart Studio designed the Sosnowski Residence in Tempe, Arizona. Located on the outskirts of Tempe’s urban center, the home exudes an industrial aesthetic. A pronounced steel frame constructed from I-beams is the skeleton for the upper volume, which sits upon a concrete block base."

Cascade House by Paul Raff Studio - SwipeLife: "Located in Toronto’s Forest Hill, the Cascade House by Paul Raff Studio is a dramatic departure from the surrounding built environment. The home’s straight-edged facade, composed of black slate and glass, was designed to reflect the owners’ love of modern art and allow copious daylight to flood the interior. The 3500 square foot home is spread over three levels, the lowest of which is partially sunken into the earth."

Shedworking: MetroShip: "David Ballinger from Metroshed was kind enough to send details of his new venture, MetroShip. It's actually a houseboat rather than a floating garden office, yet as the image below shows, it would be perfect for on-water shedworking."

Primitive Living in Saijo, Hiroshima - Design Architecture Art Fashion more: "“When I always create, I think that I want to find the charm of the plan,” claims 35 year old talented architect Makoto Tanijiri, chief architect of Suppose Design Office. In the nine year existence of Suppose Design Office they have built more than 50 works of architecture, almost all single-family homes, among other projects."

Related Links:
Kalkin House by Adam Kalkin
Vivienda L, Uruguay, by MBAD Arquitectos

Monday Grab Bag

Architecture. (pic via Inhabitat)
California Desert Home Uses Passive Ventilation
Carre D'etoiles French Cube
Tennesee's Franklin Home for Sale at $38 Million
ceiling porn
Paterson House, East Lothian Coast, Scotland
The Robinson Residence by BDA Architecture

Fountain Pens / Writing.
The Pen Addict: Ink Links
Rhodia Pad Review by Tejal - Rhodia Drive
Porsche Design P3140 Carbon Fiber Shake Pen

Cars.
Top 10 supercars from the 1970s
1983 BMW R80 Bobber - Bike EXIF

Style.
Alden Shoes - Cognac Soft Calf Flex Longwing
Cliff Roberts handmade shoes
Itsy-Bitsy Green Bikini: The Iconic Two-Piece Turns 63

Animals.
English Russia - The Wild Russian Pet

Computers.
Palm Pre vs iPhone 3.0: A Feature-by-Feature Comparison (more)
RIP CompuServe, at Least Sort of
30 Funny & Weird Twitter Applications
4 Cool Fake Viruses to Make Your Friends Freak Out

Watches.
Breitling Limited Edition Superocean Héritage Chronographe (more)
TAG Heuer Monaco Twenty Four Concept Chronograph
Review - Citizen NY2300 vs Seiko 200m Diver
KronosBlog: HYBRIS MECHANICA
Omega & Lunar Pioneers - The Speedmaster Reunites Four Moonwalkers

Misc.
Kids May 'Learn' to Tolerate Food Allergens
"Mathemagician" excited by odd date
BBC NEWS - What is Andy Murray's weird press-up for?
Gizmodo - The Pegasus Open 50 Sailboat Log

Secession: A Defense Against Tyranny

And a fundamental liberty. The freedom to associate implies the freedom to disassociate.

Happy Secession Day by Thomas DiLorenzo: "Each colony was considered to be a free and independent state, or nation, in and of itself. There was no such thing as 'the United States of America' in the minds of the founders. The independent colonies were simply united for a particular cause: seceding from the British empire. Each individual state was assumed to possess all the rights that any state possesses, even to wage war and conclude peace. Indeed, when King George III finally signed a peace treaty he signed it with all the individual American states, named one by one, and not something called 'The United States of America.' The 'United States' as a consolidated, monopolistic government is a fiction invented by Lincoln and instituted as a matter of policy at gunpoint and at the expense of some 600,000 American lives during 1861–1865. Jefferson defended the right of secession in his first inaugural address by declaring, 'If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left to combat it.' (In sharp contrast, in his first inaugural address, Lincoln promised an 'invasion' with massive 'bloodshed' (his words) of any state that failed to collect the newly-doubled federal tariff rate by seceding from the union)."

Secession, Virtual or Otherwise - The Unbroken Window: "The ultimate protection from abuse in virtually every area of life is the right to escape oppression. Simply put, an individual’s ability to leave one jurisdiction or institution and select another typically puts institutions on watch that they best serve their “clients” interests or else they will lose clients. This is certainly true for most private businesses and personal relationships, and used to be true when the US was truer to its “federal” roots."

Related Links:
Flag Waving Is Not My Kind of Patriotism by Robert Higgs

The EPA Silences a Climate Skeptic

So much for actual science.

Strassel: The EPA Silences a Climate Skeptic - WSJ.com: "The professional penalty for offering a contrary view to elites like Al Gore is a smear campaign. Wherever Jim Hansen is right now -- whatever speech the "censored" NASA scientist is giving -- perhaps he'll find time to mention the plight of Alan Carlin. Though don't count on it. Mr. Hansen, as everyone in this solar system knows, is the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Starting in 2004, he launched a campaign against the Bush administration, claiming it was censoring his global-warming thoughts and fiddling with the science. It was all a bit of a hoot, given Mr. Hansen was already a world-famous devotee of the theory of man-made global warming, a reputation earned with some 1,400 speeches he'd given, many while working for Mr. Bush. But it gave Democrats a fun talking point, one the Obama team later picked up."

A. Lange & Söhne Datograph and Philippe Dufour

Two wonderful A. Lange & Söhne Datograph and Philippe Dufour related links below.

The most significant Lange fan: - Philippe Dufour! - Watch Forums - Horomundi: "To complement our newly launched A. Lange & Sohne forum we thought it fitting to introduce Wei Koh’s exciting article and interview with one of the brand’s greatest champions and a man who is in his own right one of watchmaking’s most iconic heroes, Philippe Dufour."

Tapestry of Time: Acknowledging A Contender... A. Lange & Sohne Datograph: "as brando said in on the waterfront... 'I could have been a contender, I could have been somebody'... this post is about a contender... or specifically a watch contending to be in my collection :) Before I begin this, as a number of my mates are current owners, in the spirit of being a bit more sensitive i would just like to note that what follows is just my personal review and observations of the watch, reflect my taste which of course will differ from the many that have it or really really want to have it."

Welcome to the 'Hope' Economy

The collision of Hope and Change.

David Harsanyi: Welcome to the 'Hope' Economy: "After being asked when the public should begin judging the success of the nearly $800 billion stimulus plan, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs answered, 'I think we should begin to judge it now.' Let's take his advice. The administration warned that if we failed to support a stimulus package, unemployment would hit a dire 9 percent by 2010. With the stimulus, unemployment, it claimed, would stay in the 8 percent range."

Markets In Everything: 8-Track Tapes

I want to think this is a bogus story, or a fantastic publicity stunt. ;-) (pic via G&M)

Cheap Trick brings back the 8-track - The Globe and Mail: "Maybe unsurprisingly, a band called Cheap Trick isn't above a shameless stunt. The idea is for the new album (available digitally already) to be serviced to media outlets in the 8-track format, so as to attract attention. Classic rock radio stations in the United States, where bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, Styx and Cheap Trick are in heavy rotation, tend not to play new material by these same bands. “If a bunch of these stations weren't going to play it anyway, we'll send them something that will be a nice conversation piece,” explains Dave Frey, the group's manager. “The 8-track is something that'll sit on their desk for a while, attract some attention.”"

Saturday Grab Bag

Architecture. (pic via Mocoloco)
Shelter House by Franklin Azzi
Half buried house in Mexico profits from soil’s thermal mass
Eco Friendly Architecture Idea by Studio 804
The Grid House by Forte, Gimenes & Marcondes Ferraz
Carmel Residence by Dirk Denison Architects

Fountain pens / Journals.
Review: First Look at Moleskine’s New Volant Daily Planner Set
Custom Stationery in an E-mail Age - NYTimes.com
J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage

Cars.
Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport
Novitec Rosso Upgraded Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16 M

Watches.
Patek Sky Moon Tourbillon: Two Units Made Each Year

Style.
Alden Shoes - NST High Boot Re-Stock : Leather Soul Hawaii

Travel.
Ant’s Nest - Africa’s most vibrant and luxurious Safari

Computers.
10 Places To Get Cool Media Clips For PowerPoint

Misc.
15 Useful and Creative Inventions
Leatherman Super Tool 300 - Acquire
Wind Knitting Factory
Benchmade Mini-Barrage and ComboEdge Sharpener Kit