A Flood of Folly - Mises Institute

There are so many good point in this article I had a hard time deciding what parts to quote. Every bit of it is full of logic and well-done. A must-read for anyone interested in liberty and/or economics.

A Flood of Folly - Mises Institute: "Economic ignorance rises to the top: that seems to be one explanation for FEMA's continued support of building in flood-prone areas, and Congressional demands for FEMA to do even more of the same.

A Washington Post story (Oct 11, 2005 ) by Gilbert Gaul noted, 'The pattern of federal flood payments on Dauphin Island [AL] illustrates the growing share going to properties that get hit over and over. Federal data show that 300 buildings with multiple losses account for more than two-thirds of all flood payments the town has ever received — $21.3 million. Katrina claims could add tens of millions.'
...
The government should not be subsidizing insurance payments for anyone; and it's irresponsible to use other people's money to effectively encourage stupid people (who else builds in flood-prone areas?) to do ever-more-stupid things. Granting the natural right to behave stupidly, doing so should not come at other's expense."

Technorati Tags:
katrina FEMA economics insurace floods Dauphin+Island taxes liberty

Today's Quotes

Some good ones today.

"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace."
-- Thomas Paine (The American Crisis, No. 1, 19 December 1776)
Reference: Paine, Collected Writings, Library of America, p. 95


"We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt."
-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to Samuel Kercheval, 7/12/1816)
Reference: Jefferson: Writings, Peterson ed., Library of America (1400)


"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
-- Abraham Lincoln

Technorati Tags:
quotes

Arnold to propose $1 boost in minimum wage - olive branch to moderates, labor unions

"Olive branch" to moderates and labor unions? Should say "olive branch" to the corrupt and/or economically illiterate.

Let's try this one again, this time from the top. Price controls and specifically the minimum wage, take 1764. This just in, they're counter-productive. Will they ever learn? Or do they just not care?

'New Arnold' to propose $1 boost in minimum wage / After 2 vetoes, governor's move seen as olive branch to moderates, labor unions: "Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will propose raising the state's minimum wage by $1 in his State of the State address next week after vetoing a similar measure two years in a row.

The move is the latest signal that the Republican governor is trying to rehabilitate his image with moderate voters who soundly rejected his special election proposals this past November.

The proposal also may be an attempt by the governor to begin to mend fences with labor unions, who were his fiercest critics this past year and the most vigorous opponents of Schwarzenegger's special election measures."

At the risk of repeating myself. ;-)
Repeal the Minimum Wage - Mises Institute
Price Controls by Thomas Sowell
Four Thousand Years of Price Control

Technorati Tags:
price+controls minimum+wage living+wage economics price+floors Schwarzenegger unions

2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser - Auto Spectator

I really like the look of this truck. It's complete overkill for me, I have no use for it, but it looks slick.

2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser - Toyota News :. Auto Spectator: "12/19/2005 Torrance, CA -- A home run or a dream, come true? To its designers, the 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser is both those things, and more. To Kevin Hunter, vice president of Calty Design Research, the California-based Toyota design studio in which the FJ Cruiser concept vehicle was born, it's a home run."

Technorati Tags:
toyota truck Toyota+FJ+Cruiser Toyota+Land+Cruiser

Today's Quotes

"American Girls and American Guys
We'll always stand up and salute
We'll always recognize
When we see Old Glory Flying
There's a lot of men dead
So we can sleep in peace at night
When we lay down our head."
-- Toby Keith, Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue


"Justice will be served
And the battle will rage
This big dog will fight
When you rattle his cage
And you'll be sorry that you messed with
The U.S. of A.
'Cause we'll put a boot in your *ss
It's the American way"
-- Toby Keith, Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue

Technorati Tags:
quotes

ESPN.com - NFL - Patriots' Flutie converts first drop kick since 1941

I love Doug Flutie, perhaps the best over-achiever the NFL has ever seen, and the guy's 43 years old! Wish he was still on the Bills.

ESPN.com - NFL - Patriots' Flutie converts first drop kick since 1941: "FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Doug Flutie added another oddity to his football resume on Sunday when he converted a drop kick in the fourth quarter of the New England Patriots' 28-26 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

After a timeout, Flutie took the snap, dropped the ball and kicked it off a short hop through the uprights for one point. He ran off the field and embraced coach Bill Belichick.

According to the Hall of Fame site, Chicago's Ray "Scooter" McLean converted the last drop kick for an extra point in the Bears' 37-9 victory over the New York Giants on Dec. 21, 1941.
...
The dropkick remains in the NFL's official rule book, even though it hadn't been successfully converted in decades. Rule 3, Section 8 defines the drop kick as 'a kick by a kicker who drops the ball and kicks it as, or immediately after, it touches the ground.'"

Technorati Tags:
doug+flutie nfl football buffalo+bills patriots

Disinformation by Richard Miniter

Just finished Disinformation by Richard Miniter last night. I read his previous book, Shadow War (also highly recommended), about a month ago.

Disinformation gets to the truth regarding 22 different myths that undermine the war on terror: "In Disinformation, veteran investigative reporter and bestselling author Richard Miniter debunks the myths of the left (and the right) with hard evidence, high-level interviews and on-the-ground reporting in more than a dozen countries."

The book is a quick read. Miniter is certainly no political stooge for either the Left or the Right. He dispels rumors that would appear to benefit both.

Some of the biggest myths dispelled are the number of civilians killed in the Iraq War and the alleged improprer "war-profiteering" by Vice-President Dick Cheney and Halliburton (and KBR, Kellog, Brown and Root). In the former, Miniter goes through a detailed analysis of the origins of the oft-quoted 100,000 number and why it's bogus. In the latter, Miniter describes the recent fortunes of Halliburton and KBR showing why most of the allegations against the firms are unfounded. He does explain though that there may have been some improprieties with an original "super contract" bid on and won by Halliburton back in 1992. Perhaps just as important, Miniter explains the background of the "no-bid contract" business we've heard about for ther last couple of years and why it was the correct thing to do. With this specific myth as well as others (e.g. the CIA did not in fact support Osama Bin Laden in the past), those that spread these myths often leave out critical contextual information that completely changes the story. Sometimes this is unintentional, and sometimes quite intentional.

Most importantly of all, the book is VERY well researched. I highly recommend this book and its immediate predecessor Shadow War. Miniter's work here is what I believe to be the true role of journalists in a free society, that of dispelling myths and rumors, and getting to the truth, not just acting as a shill for one party or movement. In a way, Miniter is a much-needed throwback in my opinion.

From the Inside Flap of the book
You’ve been fooled. If you think...

• Al Qaeda terrorists are likely to cross the Mexican border
• Suitcase nuclear weapons are a real threat
• There was no link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein (and no WMD in Iraq)
• That Halliburton made a fortune off Iraq ..then you’ve accepted some of the most prevalent myths about the War on Terror—myths that are demonstrably untrue. If truth is the first casualty of war, urban legends are the first product of America’s War on Terror. In Disinformation, investigative reporter and terrorism expert Richard Miniter punctures twenty-two myths about terrorism, al Qaeda, and the war in Iraq. He has sifted the written record, met with countless high-level sources, and traveled the globe, from Sudan to the Philippines, Egypt to Iraq, to track down and refute some of the most widely believed—and often pernicious—legends of the War on Terror. Provocative but irrefutable, with startling new reporting, Miniter reveals:
• Why racial profiling of terrorists won’t work
• Why Iraq is not "another Vietnam"
• Why Osama bin Laden is not a massively wealthy criminal mastermind, was not funded or trained by the CIA, and is not on dialysis

Technorati Tags:
Books, War On Terror, Halliburton, Kellog, Brown and Root, Media, Osama Bin Laden, Osama, Al Qaeda, Miniter

Today's Quotes

The first post of '06.

The continued rapid cooling of the earth since WWII is in accord with the increase in global air pollution associated with industrialization, mechanization, urbanization and exploding population.
-- Reid Bryson, "Global Ecology; Readings towards a rational strategy for Man", (1971)

The battle to feed humanity is over. In the 1970s, the world will undergo famines. Hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. Population control is the only answer
-- Paul Ehrlich - The Population Bomb (1968)

I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000
-- Paul Ehrlich in (1969)

Technorati Tags:
Quotes, Global Warming, Population

Americans to pay millions to recapture battle flags

UK Telegraph - Americans to pay millions to recapture battle flags: “Four rare battle flags captured during the American War of Independence by a British officer have been returned after more than two centuries to be auctioned.

The regimental colours seized in 1779 and 1780 by Lt Col Banastre Tarleton, who remains one of the conflict's most controversial figures, have already aroused huge interest among American military historians. They are expected to fetch between 2.3 million and 5.8 million pounds at Sotheby's in New York next year.”

Technorati tags: Britain, UK, Flags, Auction, Revolutionary War

Scrawl, scribble, sketch, jot, doodle, muse & write on Moleskine

Scrawl, scribble, sketch, jot, doodle, muse & write on Moleskine:

Zac Templeton is a Moleskiner. So is Hillary Thoren. No, they’re not relieving small furry lawn pests of their pelts. Along with other South Sound residents, they’re discovering a quaint and trendy low-tech way of taking notes and recording notions.

Pen and paper.

Imagine that.

Moleskine (pronounced MOLE-uh-SKEEN-uh) notebooks are the anti-PDA, simple and elegant cardboard-bound writing pads steeped in history and tradition. They allow every user his or her own personal font (har har), and they return keeping a journal to the art form it once was.

“I never leave mine at home,” said Templeton, 25, an assistant in the Office of Student Affairs at the University of Washington Tacoma. “It’s better than American Express.”

Templeton estimates he has gone through 15 Moleskine notebooks in recent months. A food and wine columnist for the school newspaper, he jots down story ideas and sketches table- and dinner-plate layouts in his pocket-size Moleskine.

Technorati tags: Fountain Pens, Journals, Moleskine, fountain+pen

BostonHerald.com - Fed cash wasted in landlord’s Roxbury ‘hell’ hole

This is a disgrace. And where is the Constitutional mandate for the wasting of federal taxpayer money in this manner? (Hint: it doesn't exist)

BostonHerald.com - Fed cash wasted in landlord’s Roxbury ‘hell’ hole: "As Boston battles a crime surge, federal dollars pumped into a single address in Roxbury have failed to stop a plague of violence, drugs and prostitution...

“It’s hell in here,” said a 76-year-old woman who has lived in the building for 25 years. She asked that her name be withheld. “There are drugs all over the place. Prostitutes working in here. I’m afraid to go out in the hall because of all the fussing and cussing.”
Over the past five years, cops have responded to more than 300 calls for service. Earlier this month, a fugitive wanted for a New York City shooting was busted in the building cowering under his mother’s bed.
The elderly tenant interviewed by the Herald yesterday says she lives as a virtual prisoner afraid to leave her tidy apartment decorated with religious items she uses to pray for her safety.
“I call the landlord to complain, but he doesn’t do nothing about anything in here,” the woman said.
That landlord, John B. Cruz III, is flush with taxpayer-backed funds, including a $200,000 Housing and Urban Development “Multi-family Drug Elimination Grant” with the money earmarked for security improvements and drug programs he was awarded in 2001."

Technorati Tags:
Taxes, Constitution, Economics, Politics

Cash pours in for student with $1 million Web idea - Yahoo! News

Odd, not sure what to make of this one. A testament to marketing ingenuity I guess. ;-)

Cash pours in for student with $1 million Web idea - Yahoo! News: "Because chances are, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, is cleverer than you. And he is proving it by earning a cool million dollars in four months on the Internet.
...
He had the brainstorm for his million dollar home page, called, logically enough, www.milliondollarhomepage.com, while lying in bed thinking out how he would pay for university."

Technorati Tags:
Economics

Trademark Infringment: Starbucks vs. 'Charbucks'?

This is kind of amusing. It seems like an obvious name rip-off to me. Though some Austrians feel differently about patents and copyrights.

Judge Says No Trademark Infringment In Starbucks vs. 'Charbucks' Case

"A federal judge says a New Hampshire company that sells a dark coffee blend called 'Charbucks' hasn't harmed coffee giant Starbucks."

Technorati Tags:
economics trademarks coffee starbucks

Inverted Yield Curve, What Does It Mean?

I don't understand all of the issues surrounding this. But when it happens, it's believed by many to be a harbinger of recession and general economic downturn. I think this is when the return on short term treasury notes is higher than on long term treasury notes.

Also see what Gary North has to say about inverted yield curves.
"Tight money will produce rising short-term interest rates. Beware the inverted yield curve, when 90-day T-bills command a higher rate than 30-year U.S. bonds. This is a classic indicator of recession."

USATODAY.com - - Inverted Yield Curves: "Yield-curve inversion not seen in years
Inverted spread typically signals an economic slowdown

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Treasurys were higher Tuesday after the spread between the 2-year note and the 10-year note inverted for the first time in five years.

An inverted yield curve occurs when short-term maturities pay a higher interest rate than longer-term maturities.

Such an unusual event typically has foreshadowed a noticeable economic downturn. Usually, a recession has followed.

Despite the warning signs in the Treasury market, however, few economists expect a recession in the next year. This time, they say, things are different."

Technorati Tags:
Economics, Finance

What Is Up With Fiat Money? by Dmitry Chernikov

I don't claim to fully understand the issues related to fiat money vs. a true gold-backed currency. I probably know just enough to be dangerous. But given that, I think this column is easily worth its weight in gold (sorry, I know, horrible) for the following snippet. It's very clear and well written. I believe it gets to the root of some of the problems with monetary policy.

What Is Up With Fiat Money? by Dmitry Chernikov: "What should the supply of money be? Notice that money is different from all other commodities. Unlike all the sundry consumer or capital goods, an increase of money does not confer any social benefit. It merely dilutes the PPM. To be sure, if we magically doubled one person's bank balance, he would benefit, but everyone else would lose, since some of the prices will rise in response to his greater spending power. Society as a whole is no better off than before, since real resources, labor, capital, consumer goods, natural resources, productivity, have not changed at all. All that happens is that existing goods are redistributed toward the person with the higher bank balance and away from everyone else. In short then, because no additional money is socially useful, any money supply is 'optimal,' given, of course, a sufficient amount of gold in the hands of the public to facilitate daily transactions."

Technorati Tags:
Economics, Politics, Finance, Money

A Purist Gets A New Patek Philippe 5070

This thing is beautiful, perhaps the perfect chronograph in my opinion, if not, it's darn close.

The Patek Philippe 5070 chronograph in white gold.

Credit for the pics and great watch go to "HKDaytona", a poster at http://thepurists.com/.

Patek Philippe Discussion Forum

Technorati Tags:
Patek Philippe, Mechanical Watches, Watches

Today's Quotes

"The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth:
'that God governs in the affairs of men.'
And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice,
is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"
-- Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) US Founding Father
Source: June 28, 1787, in a plea to the delegates of a deadlocked Constitutional Convention


"As a child I received instruction both in the Bible
and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled
by the luminous figure of the Nazarene...
No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual
presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word.
No myth is filled with such life."
-- Albert Einstein
(1879-1955) Physicist and Professor, Nobel Prize 1921
1929
Source: in an interview with George Sylvester Viereck, "What Life Means to Einstein," The Saturday Evening Post, October 26, 1929, Curtis Publishing Company.

Technorati Tags:
Constitution, Quotes

Global Cooling: Fear the Ice by Bill Walker

Lots of good stuff in this one. It's amusing to note that the hand-wringing 25 years ago was about global-cooling and the upcoming ice age.

Global Cooling: Fear the Ice by Bill Walker: "The Ice Ages are not over. We’re still feeling the effects of the one that receded 12,000 years ago. I grew up on a farm in central Ohio, right on the terminal moraine. I spent my formative years toting glacier-dumped rocks from newly plowed fields, to put on the piles of rocks from the efforts of the previous century’s farm boys. So I have been meditating on the evils of Global Cooling since I was six or seven years old.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Global Cooling was all the fashion. Newsweek warned of it. Popular books warned of the return of the ice. Aircraft contrails, dust and sulfates from coal power plants, volcanoes, desertification, solar variation, galactic dust clouds, fires from global nuclear war (has everyone really forgotten Nuclear Winter? Or is that meme still happily cohabitating with Global Warming in millions of muddled minds?), etc., would all combine to freeze the Earth. No political careers were built on fears of a milder Earth."

Technorati Tags:
Books, Global Warming

The Transit Strike in New York City by Gary North

Gary North sums up the New York City 2005 Christmas transit strike quite nicely here. Not anything to add really.

The Transit Strike in New York City by Gary North: "The modern trade union movement is the product of special legislation. Businesses are compelled by law to honor unions that receive a majority vote by employees. Employees are then able to gain above-market wages because businesses are forbidden by law to make offers to potential employees who would otherwise underbid the unionized workers. These would-be employees are referred to by union members as 'scabs.' The idea of competitive, open-entry bidding is anathema to trade unions."

Technorati Tags:
Unions, Living Wage, Economics, Politics

East German watchmakers revive luxury tradition - Yahoo! News

I posted this story for two reasons. First, the simple fact that I enjoy mechanical watches, and these two German brands are at the top of the heap. Second, it's no coincidence that this region was mired in unemployment and poverty from 1945 through 1990 when run by communists. The entrepreneurial spirit exploded once East Germany became free.

East German watchmakers revive luxury tradition - Yahoo! News: "GLASHUETTE, Germany (Reuters) - Like the intricate, fabulously complicated watches made by its skilled artisans, the former mining town of Glashuette in east Germany is a rarity.

In this picturesque setting, traditional watchmakers make timepieces so prized by connoisseurs that they can sell for nearly $500,000 -- making Glashuette a rare economic success story in a region with a jobless rate of about 17 percent.

Glashuette was at the heart of a watchmaking industry that rivaled Switzerland's until Russian bombers destroyed its main workshops on the day World War Two ended in Europe.

Forced nationalization of family-owned firms and 40 years of communism apparently buried what survived the Russians until the fall of the Berlin Wall sparked an unexpected revival fueled by a renaissance in demand for high-quality mechanical watches."

Caption and source for above pic: "An employee of German watchmaker Glashuette Original works on a half-assembled watch in the eastern German town of Glashuette, south of Dresden December 8, 2005. Glashuette's century-old tradition as a centre of fine watch making has been revived since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, fuelled by a renaissance in demand for high quality mechanical watches. To accompany feature Germany-Watches. Picture taken December 8, 2005. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann".

Technorati Tags:
Mechanical Watches, Watches, Germany

Mesothelioma Lawyers Battle for Pay Per Click Advertising

I had no idea that asbestos related illness/cancer was still so big. I seem to remember it being a big deal 10, maybe 20 years ago? But until this recent Mesothelioma craze (constant ads on TV in recent months), I though it was behind us. I think Steve McQueen (my favorite actor) might have died from an asbestos related cancer like mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma Lawyers Battle for Pay Per Click Advertising - Scoreboard Media Group: "The rare, asbestos-related cancer is the king of search advertising, a Web phenomenon in which companies bid to get their ads placed high on the search-result pages of sites like Yahoo and Google and then pay when users click on them. While most search ads cost less than a dollar a click, personal-injury law firms looking to land new clients have bid up mesothelioma ads to $90 or more.

...

With mesothelioma, it's simple economics, says Chris Hahn, executive director of the not-for-profit Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation in Santa Barbara, Calif. "Why is [mesothelioma] the highest paying keyword? Because there is nothing more valuable than one mesothelioma patient."

Lawyers are so eager to attract mesothelioma cases because there is a clear link between it and asbestos exposure. Lawyers say a typical award in a mesothelioma settlement is $1 million, and attorneys get 40%. For cases that go to trial, the mean award in 2001 was $6 million, triple the amount two years earlier, according to a study by think tank Rand Corp. Over roughly two decades of asbestos litigation through 2002, Rand says, mesothelioma cases represented about 4% of asbestos-related cases but 20% of all cash paid out in asbestos-related claims."

Technorati Tags:
Mesothelioma, Asbestos, Politics

Tortoise & Baby Hippo - Yahoo! News

How cute is this?!?

Yahoo! News Photo - Baby Hippo & Tortoise Best Friends: "Owen (R), a baby hippo that survived the Tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast, snuggles close to its new best friend, Mzee, a giant century old tortoise in an animal facility in Mombasa, January 2005.(AFP/File/Peter Greste)"

CNN.com - AIDS Expert Has Theory On Vaccine's Delay

I had a hard time deciding where to start with this story. Lots of problems here.

First, why is there even a "federal chief of AIDS research"?

Second, of course the private sector has a diminished incentive to create a market and AIDS vaccine! That should really be a shock to no one. The govt. has been deeply involved in this for ~20 years, crowding out some of the private sector for talent and capital, and generally upsetting the market signals.

Third, with the preponderance of liability lawsuits in recent years, particularly against the pharma industry, the firms are only responding sensibly. Why come out with something when 5 people out of millions are harmed by it but demand (and probably get) billions in damages?

Fourth, does anyone doubt how this situation would likely play out? The way I see it is the first time someone comes out with a vaccine/cure, there will be all kinds of socialist demands for it to be given away. The pharma company will be demonized by the media. And the other countries will quickly steal the intellectual property and simply copy the drug on their own. That's how I see it playing out anyway.

Fifth, what is meant by "delay"? Did someone promise a delivery date on a vaccine?

CNN.com - AIDS expert has theory on vaccine's delay - Dec 25, 2005: "WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an unusually candid admission, the federal chief of AIDS research says he believes drug companies don't have an incentive to create a vaccine for the HIV and are likely to wait to profit from it after the government develops one.

That means the government has had to spend more time focusing on the processes that drug companies ordinarily follow in developing new medicines and bringing them to market.

'We had to spend some time and energy paying attention to those aspects of development because the private side isn't picking it up,' Dr. Edmund Tramont testified in a deposition in a recent employment lawsuit obtained by The Associated Press."

Footnote: See this great column from last year: When Is Enough Enough? from Tech Central Station. This is a must-read.

Technorati Tags:
AIDS, Pharma, Economics, Politics

Repeal the Minimum Wage - Mises Institute

Not really much to add here. This is well written.

Repeal the Minimum Wage - Mises Institute: "Good intentions, when guided by error and ignorance, may have undesirable consequences. There is no better example than minimum wage legislation.

...

Few economists have the courage to point to labor legislation and regulation as the very cause of mass unemployment. A few who muster the courage may emphasize the infinite demand for labor but are ever mindful that its costs set limits to the demand. Few employers, if any, knowingly buy labor that costs more than it produces, just as few workers are likely to purchase consumer goods which, in their judgment, cost more than they are worth. Yet, economists who dare to point to labor legislation and regulation as important causes of mass unemployment are criticized, denounced, condemned, and vilified as callous and ruthless agents and spokesmen of greedy
employers."

Technorati Tags:
Living Wage, Minimum Wage, Economics, Politics, Money

Anti-Wal-Mart agitprop� - The Washington Times

Organized labor, working hard for America.

Anti-Wal-Mart agitprop - Editorials/Op-Ed - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper: "Inside a South Florida Wal-Mart last Thursday, union-sponsored protesters handed out empty, gift-wrapped boxes to children and made them cry, according to multiple witnesses -- and it appears that the arrests of two of the protesters may have been part of a grand strategy designed by Big Labor-backed WakeUpWalMart.com.

Yet despite internal WakeUpWalMart.com communication -- obtained exclusively by this columnist -- indicating that the union-funded front instructed its protesters to test police patience, the organization is now playing the race card since the two protesters arrested (out of 15 total) are both black.

Late in the afternoon last Thursday, two people dressed as elves, and, in the words of an employee, someone who 'kind of looked like Santa,' walked into the North Lauderdale Wal-Mart armed with empty, gift-wrapped boxes and WakeUpWalMart.com fliers. According to several Wal-Mart employees and the sheriff's office, the presents were given to a number of children, and at least one, a 4-year-old boy, opened the gift inside the store.

Discovering that the box was empty, the little boy started crying. "

Technorati Tags:
Wal-Mart, Unions, Living Wage

Food Tax Sends Tenn. Shoppers Out of State

I'm shocked, that anyone is actually shocked by this. Here's a good example of why liberal democrats and RINOs have been chasing business and customers out of New York state for years. And their current answer to these problems? You guessed it, higher taxes!

Food Tax Sends Tenn. Shoppers Out Of State: "CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- When Julie Abel goes grocery shopping each week, she drives more than 25 miles to Georgia to avoid paying the nation's highest average tax on food: 8.4 percent in Tennessee.

'If you can save $5 it is worth driving down the road,' Abel said after traveling from her rural home in Hamilton County, which collects 2.22 percent sales tax on food on top of the 6 percent for the state. Georgia does not tax food sales.

Abel is not alone in her frustration. Rep. Michael Kernell, D-Memphis, said he regularly hears complaints about the state's almost 60-year-old food tax and he predicted it would change.

'A lot of people can't believe it,' he said. 'People are leaving the state to buy groceries.'

Chris Daly, chairman of Tennesseans for Fair Taxation, wants to end the state's tax on food because he said it victimizes low and middle income people.

An "average family of four could eat for free from Thanksgiving to Christmas on the tax they pay on food in a year," Daly said."

Technorati Tags:
Taxes, Economics, Politics

Europeans Missing Their Kyoto Targets

Sometimes you hate to say "I told you so". This isn't one of them. No surprises here.

Europeans Missing Their Kyoto Targets: "Britain and Sweden are the only European countries honouring their Kyoto commitments to cut greenhouse gasses, according to a think-tank report.

Although the US is portrayed as the ecological villain for refusing to sign up to the agreement, 10 out of the 15 European Union signatories - including Ireland, Italy and Spain - will miss their targets without urgent action, the Institute for Public Policy Research found.

France, Greece and Germany are given 'amber warnings' and will only achieve the objectives if planned policies are successfully carried out."

Technorati Tags:
Global Warming, Kyoto, Economics, Politics

Today's Quotes

Some real gems today. ;-)

This [cooling] trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century
-- Peter Gwynne, Newsweek 1976

There are ominous signs that the earth's weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production - with serious political implications for just about every nation on earth. The drop in food production could begin quite soon... The evidence in support of these predictions has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologist are hard-pressed to keep up with it.
-- Newsweek, April 28, (1975)

This cooling has already killed hundreds of thousands of people. If it continues and no strong action is taken, it will cause world famine, world chaos and world war, and this could all come about before the year 2000.
-- Lowell Ponte "The Cooling", 1976

If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder by the year 2000...This is about twice what it would take to put us in an ice age.
-- Kenneth E.F. Watt on air pollution and global cooling, Earth Day (1970)

Technorati Tags:
Global Warming, Kyoto

Overhead takes up to 1/3 of tsunami funds

From UPI, this is a disgrace. When will they learn? I'm skeptical,, it sometimes feel like people will never learn. How much of the massive amount of money looted by the crooks at the U.N from tsunami aid will go to buy Kofi's kids new luxury cars? We've already seen how the U.N handled the Oil For Kickbacks program.

United Press International - NewsTrack - Overheads take up to 1/3 of tsunami funds: "Overheads take up to 1/3 of tsunami funds

NEW YORK, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Up to about a third of the $590 million U.N. fund spent for the Indian Ocean tsunami relief may have gone to pay for overhead.

The Financial Times says its two-month investigation showed the money appears to have been spent on administration, staff and related costs. The $590 million was part of the United Nation's $1.1 billion disaster flash appeal.

The newspaper also found several U.N. agencies continue to refuse to disclose details of their relief expenditure in spite of earlier pledges of transparency by senior officials.

The flash appeal covered the money donated by governments to the world body in the first weeks after the disaster to fund the early aid work, the Times reported.

The newspaper said details of that appeal it obtained from U.N. agencies such as the World Health Organization and the World Food Program showed 18 percent to 32 percent of the expenditure related to staff, administration and other costs.

Some agencies say non-profit aid organizations should claim no more than 10 percent of project funds for administration costs, the report said."

Technorati Tags:
Economics, Politics, Money, UN, United Nations

The Media’s Top 10 Economic Myths of 2005

This is a great list, I'm sure there are more than ten and we could argue over subtleties and order. But the bottom line is that this is a great start.

The Media’s Top 10 Economic Myths of 2005: "The Gallup Poll reported in September that “half of Americans say they trust the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.” Those three words – fully, accurately, fairly – each communicate different ways the media can distort the news. They can leave out pertinent information; they can report false information; and they can tilt coverage toward one side or the other. Coverage of Hurricane Katrina’s death toll on the Gulf Coast, now proven to have been exaggerated and in some cases fabricated from hearsay, was one grave example of the media’s failure in 2005.

The Media Research Center’s Free Market Project spent 2005 tracking news reporting on business and economic issues and compiled a list of the most common and most egregious errors. They ran the gamut from omissions to exaggerations and plain misinformation. We have visions of better coverage dancing in our heads for 2006."

Technorati Tags:
News, Economics

A Moot Point - The Cost To Create A CD

On this web site the RIAA is politically pleading its case to the public. The RIAA is explaining what it costs to make a CD, the implication being that this is why CDs are priced the way they are at retail. This is moot from my standpoint. Supply and demand determine prices in an undisturbed market (there are a few left, much to the chagrin of Marxists everywhere), not the costs of production. If the costs of production are less than what consumers will pay for the final product, it will probably get made. If people loved these CDs even more, they could be sold for as much as perhaps $20 each, even if they only cost $2 each to create.

If consumers valued the CDs at $4 each and it cost $15 each to create them, they would not be getting created for long. Using the logic of the linked web page, in this scenario the CDs would sell for $4 each plus a normal profit.

I don't think I did a great job of explaining that. Another point worth mentioning here is that if someone spends $12 on a new CD, they obviously valued the CD more than the $12 in their pocket. It was a free transaction, no one was coercively separated from their money.

Key Stats/Facts - What It Costs To Create A CD: "While the RIAA does not collect information on the specific costs that make up the price of a CD, there are many factors that go into the overall cost of a CD -- and the plastic it's pressed on, is among the least significant. CD manufacturing costs may be lower, but it takes more money than ever before to put out a new recording."

Technorati Tags:
Marketing, Economics

Baby Macaque Eats Orange - Tokyo Zoo

How d@mned cute is this?!?

Baby Macaque Eats Orange - Tokyo Zoo: "A baby monkey eats an orange beside a hot bath at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo December 22, 2005. Japanese macaque, or the snow monkey, in the zoo enjoyed the cold Tokyo winter in the Japanese custom of soaking in 'yuzu' fruit baths to warm their bodies for good health. REUTERS/Toshiyuki Aizawa"

Technorati Tags:
Nature, Wildlife, Animals, Cute

BBC NEWS - Scientists find 'mass dodo grave'

This is interesting. I hope the find turns into some useful info.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Scientists find 'mass dodo grave': "Scientists have discovered the 'beautifully preserved' bones of about 20 dodos at a dig site in Mauritius.

Little is known about the dodo, a famous flightless bird thought to have become extinct in the 17th century.

No complete skeleton has ever been found in Mauritius, and the last full set of bones was destroyed in a fire at a museum in Oxford, England, in 1755.

Researchers believe the bones are at least 2,000-years-old, and hope to learn more about how dodos lived."


Technorati Tags:
Nature, Wildlife, Animals, Science

Japan's population starts shrinking - Yahoo! News

Pat Buchanan discussed this a few years ago in his book Death Of The West, an excellent if depressing read.

Japan's population starts shrinking - Yahoo! News: "TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's population fell for the first time in 2005, the government said, calling it a "turning point" that will force the world's second largest economy to adapt to a rapidly aging society.

With its young people increasingly finding children a burden to their careers and lifestyles, Japan joins Germany and Italy among a club of nations whose populations have started to shrink.

Deaths are likely to outnumber births by about 10,000 this year, the first decline since 1899 when Japan began compiling the data, health ministry figures showed."

Technorati Tags:
Books

Where's power to pay heat bills in Constitution?

Lots of sense in this column. The general welfare clause is like a keyhole that's had a truck driven through it in the last 100+ years. Disheartening.

WorldNetDaily: Where's power to pay heat bills in Constitution?: "Congress continues to steal from the public treasury for votes with the full support of President Bush. Earlier this month, Bush said he fully supports a House plan for an extra $1 billion to help poor families pay heating bills this winter, an amount Democrats – surprise, surprise – say isn't enough. Our 'compassionate conservative' president also said he supports $2.2 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program, which spent the same amount to help poor and elderly Americans pay their heating bills.

There isn't a scintilla of authority in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution that allows Congress to steal from we the people to pay heating bills for individual citizens or families. These lawbreakers in Washington will try to justify violating the supreme law of the land by claiming the general welfare clause of the Constitution allows it. Of course, when one has done the historical homework, it's clear this is an unsupported argument."

Today's Quotes

Some real winners in here today. ;-)

Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it.
-- Ingrid Newkirk, President, PETA (Vogue, September, 1989).


To those people who say, `My father is alive because of animal experimentation,' I say `Yeah, well, good for you. This dog died so your father could live.' Sorry, but I am just not behind that kind of trade off.
-- Bill Maher, PETA celebrity spokesman.


The life of an ant and the life of my child should be accorded equal respect.
-- Michael W. Fox, Vice President, The Humane Society (The Associated Press, Jan. 15, 1989).


We are not superior. There are no clear distinctions between us and animals.
-- Michael W. Fox, Vice President, The Humane Society (Washingtonian Magazine, February 1990).

Double-Mouthed Fish Pulled From Neb. Lake

Strange!

Double-Mouthed Fish Pulled From Neb. Lake - Yahoo! News: "LINCOLN, Neb. - This fish didn't have a chance. A rainbow trout pulled out of Holmes Lake last weekend had double the chance to get hooked: It had two mouths. Clarence Olberding, 57, wasn't just telling a fisherman's fib when he called over another angler to look at the two-mouthed trout. It weighed in at about a pound. 'I reached down and grabbed it to take the hook out, and that's when I noticed that the hook was in the upper mouth and there was another jaw protruding out below,' said Olberding."

Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast

A nice little piece of Christmas history here.

Listen to it here in Quicktime (2400kb).

Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast: "Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. That evening, the astronauts; Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders did a live television broadcast from lunar orbit, in which they showed pictures of the Earth and Moon seen from Apollo 8. Lovell said, 'The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth.' They ended the broadcast with the crew taking turns reading from the book of Genesis."

Businesses assaulting energy inefficiency - Ford

I hope this effort proves fruitful. Hat tip to treehugger.com for the link.

Businesses assaulting energy inefficiency | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse: "Ford Motor Co. figured it could knock more than $3 million a year off energy costs at its casting plant in Brook Park by replacing four old, energy-wasting furnaces with two energy-efficient ones.

So a year ago Ford workers demolished part of the foundry roof, bumping it up by 50 feet and dug a 35-foot pit to make way for the new furnaces, called cupolas, said Doug Rowe, manager of melt and plant engineering.

The furnaces melt recycled iron, steel and other alloys with coke and limestone, and the molten metal is cast into sand molds to make engine blocks and other components.

Ford expects to get 'huge energy savings' from the $65 million project, Rowe said. Rather than using air pre-heated by natural gas burners, the new furnaces save by recycling heat from the melting process, he said."

Today's Quotes

"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one."
-- Thomas Paine, Common Sense


"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it."
-- Benjamin Franklin


"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand."
-- Milton Friedman

Sarbanes-Overkill by John Stossel

No free lunch, the costs of Sarb-Ox.

Townhall.com :: Columns :: Sarbanes-Overkill by John Stossel: "Suppose you've got a growing business. You've just opened your 100th restaurant, and your company is making just over a million dollars in annual profits. You want to expand further -- spend a million dollars to rent a new building and hire more cooks and waiters. An accounting firm offers you new services that will cost nearly half that, money you might otherwise spend continuing to expand the business.

Do you hire more cooks, or do you hire more accountants?"

The consumer rip-off by Walter E. Williams

More good stuff from Dr. Williams.

Townhall.com :: Columns :: The consumer rip-off by Walter E. Williams: "Since allegations of oil company price-gouging have become topical, let's look at real price manipulation. Suppose a dairyman wants to sell a gallon of milk for 25 cents less than his competitors, would you want him fined or jailed? Federal Milk Marketing Orders would do just that. Americans pay four times the world price for sugar as a result of tariffs and quotas on foreign imports. That leads to higher profits and wages in the sugar industry and higher prices for sugar products. Since consumers are far more numerous than businessmen, one might ask how in the world is it politically possible for businessmen to get congress and state legislators to allow them to rip us off?"

Today's Quotes

"A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district - all studied and appreciated as they merit - are the principle support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty."
-- Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) US Founding Father
in a letter dated March 1778 to the Ministry of France


"Our ancestors established their system of government on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be trusted on any other foundation than religious principle, not any government secure which is not supported by moral habits.... Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens."
-- Daniel Webster
(1782-1852), US Senator
Source: Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1820, commemorating the arrival of the Pilgrims 200 years prior

Webster gas station fined price-gouging

This is horrible. Search this blog fo earlier comments on "price-gouging". Now a proprietor no longer has the freedom to do as he wishes with his own property?

Democrat & Chronicle: Local News: ("December 19, 2005) — A Webster filling station is among 15 statewide that will pay a total of $63,500 in fines for alleged gasoline price-gouging in the wake of late August's Hurricane Katrina.

The state Attorney General's Office announced the fines today. The price jumps at the filling stations came not due to increased costs after the hurricane damage in the Gulf region, but because some retailers used the hurricane damage as an excuse to raise prices, according to the state agency.

At the Noco S-68 gas station at 58 W. Main St. in Webster, gas prices jumped from $2.66 a gallon before the hurricane to $3.60 afterward, according to the Attorney General's Office. The Webster station was the only one cited in the Rochester region.

The Attorney General's Office in announcing the fines said that, as part of the investigation, it obtained invoices and other records from 80 filling stations around the state, after receiving consumer complaints about price jumps at those gasoline retailers."

How A Watch Works - 2 Diagrams

Two great pics posted on the Purists site that explain how watches work.

If anyone reading this knows the original source for the pics, please contact me so I can credit them appropriately.

WatchRap General Watch Discussion Board

Today's Quotes

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
-- George Washington
(1732-1799) Founding Father, 1st US President, 'Father of the Country'
Source: Questionable - no sources ever confirmed


"We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."
-- John Adams
(1735-1826) Founding Father, 2nd US President
Source: Oct. 11, 1798; Address to the military


"Jefferson was against any needless official apparel, but if the gown was to carry, he said: "For Heaven's sake discard the monstrous wig which makes the English judges look like rats peeping through bunches of oakum."
-- Thomas Jefferson (commenting on judges' apparel)

BBC NEWS - Ramp creates power as cars pass

UPDATE: I've been thinking about this a bit more. I wonder about the efficiency of the system. Let's say for a moment that each car on avergage going over the lever/switch creates $0.05 worth of electricity. But what if at the same time it also puts $0.07 worth of additional wear and tear on the car? In this case the owners/operators of the system have managed to offload part of the burden onto each driver.

This is a great idea, I wish we did more things like this. Tons of opportunities out there I'm sure.

BBC NEWS | UK | Ramp creates power as cars pass: "Ramp creates power as cars pass

A road ramp that uses passing cars to generate power has been developed.

Dorset inventor Peter Hughes' Electro-Kinetic Road Ramp creates around 10kW of power each time a car drives over its metal plates. More than 200 local authorities had expressed an interest in ordering the ramps to power their traffic lights and road signs, Mr Hughes said.
Around 300 jobs are due to be created in Somerset for a production run of 2,000 ramps next year.
Plates in the ramp move up and down as vehicles pass over them, driving a generator. 'The ramp is silent, comfortable and safe for vehicles,' Mr Hughes said. Depending on the weight of the vehicle passing overhead, between five and 50kW can be generated."

DaimlerChrysler Sells American LaFrance

A lot of history here. American LaFrance has been making firetrucks of one kind or another for over 100 years.

Stock Market News and Investment Information | Reuters.com: "FRANKFURT, Dec 15 (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler's U.S. truckmaker Freightliner will sell its American LaFrance business to New York investment firm Patriarch Partners LLC, DaimlerChrysler said on Thursday."

Today's Quotes

"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge; I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers."
-- John Adams (Dissertation on Canon and Feudal Law, 1765)
Reference: Our Sacred Honor, Bennett, 253.


"[Democrats] are the same people who rediscover poverty every election and promise to cure it. They've cured it so often that they've now made a profession of it. They thrive on failures, on righting wrongs, aiding victims, and so forth. It must be understood that success in those tasks would put them out of business. No matter how many programs are set up and operating, their proponents never claim success for them. To do so would be to say the problems have been solved, meaning the programs are no longer needed. And the programs, not the problems, are their very reason for being."
-- Ronald Reagan

General Motors to increase production in India

From autoblog.com. GM is making moves into India. BMW and Citroen are already there. Honda is also getting ready to jump into this market with 1.2 billion people.

General Motors to increase production in India - Autoblog - www.autoblog.com _: "General Motors announced that it will be tripling its production of vehicles in the world’s largest democracy. Previously the automaker had plans to double current production of 25,000 per year. Interestingly enough, the new goal would be accomplished not by hiring more local workers but increasing their hours instead.

GM has already been purchasing many parts from the country in its efforts to reduce its costs."

The Social Blessings of "Usury" - Mises Institute

I believe this brief article/column is a must-read for anyone even remotely interested in economics or public policy.

Money is perhaps the purest commodity. Why should busy-bodies be able to declare illegal a harmless, moral transaction that both parties determine makes them better off? I believe the same can be said with respect to arguments against "loan sharks".

The Social Blessings of "Usury" - Mises Institute: "In a front-page article in the Birmingham News of November 22, staff writer Russell Hubbard reported that the Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that the high interest rates charged by payday lenders in Alabama from 1998 through 2003 were 'usurious' and therefore illegal.

Though high-interest payday loans have been legal in Alabama since 2003 (albeit with a cap on the actual rate charged) an attorney named Mike Skotnicki suggests that possibly as many as 50,000 such high-interest (and apparently illegal) loans were made prior to the law change in 2003."

Ride An Ostrich?

Gotta admit, I'd like to try this.

Ostrich Jockey Rides During Training: "Radical ride : An ostrich jockey rides a two-year old male ostrich during a training at a Ostrich farm in Kitengela, Kenya. (AFP/Simon Maina)"

Marginal Revolution: Farm subsidy facts of the day

From Marginal Revolution. This is outragous imho. Massive corporate welfare and pork, at the U.S. taxpayer's expense.

Marginal Revolution: Farm subsidy facts of the day: "Farm subsidy facts of the day

• Half of all subsidies go to only 5% of Congressional districts.
• Four commodities—corn, wheat, rice and cotton—account for 78 percent of all ag subsidies."

Ethan Allen - Patriot and American Hero

Another great revolutionary era patriot. He is also credited with starting the Green Mountain Boys.

Ethan Allen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Ethan Allen (January 10, 1738 – February 12, 1789) was an early American revolutionary and guerrilla leader during the era of the Vermont Republic and the New Hampshire Grants. He fought against the settlement of Vermont by the Province of New York.
...
In the spring of 1775, Allen and Benedict Arnold led a raid against Fort Ticonderoga. ... the rebels moved north, managed to get a few dozen men across Lake Champlain .... In a dawn attack, Ticonderoga was taken from the 22 British troops that held it and who were not aware that a war was in progress. Allen/Arnold's rebels also quickly captured forts at Crown Point, Fort Ann on Isle La Motte near the present Canadian border, and (temporarily) the town of St John. ... the huge stores of cannon and powder seized at Ticonderoga allowed the American rebels to put in place an effective siege of Boston which caused the British to evacuate in October of 1775."

Car Buried in 1957 to Be Unearthed in '07 - Yahoo! News

This is cool! But I can't help but wonder if the beer is skunked. ;-)

Car Buried in 1957 to Be Unearthed in '07 - Yahoo! News: "TULSA, Okla. - A Plymouth Belvedere that was buried in a concrete vault nearly 50 years ago as part of the state's golden anniversary celebration will be unearthed in 2007 as part of the Oklahoma centennial festivities.

The 1957 Belvedere is underground next to the Tulsa County Courthouse. Also buried with it were five gallons of gas and a case of beer.

Old news reports indicate the gas was buried in case internal combustion engines became obsolete by 2007 and no fuel was available. Other buried items include the contents of a woman's purse: 14 bobby pins, a lipstick, a pack of gum, tissues, a pack of cigarettes and matches and $2.43.

There was also an unpaid parking ticket, a bottle of tranquilizers and a spool of microfilm, which records the entries of a contest held to determine the winner of the car. The person to guess Tulsa's population in 2007 or the heirs of that person were to win the car and a $100 savings account.

Assuming an average annual interest of 5 percent compounded quarterly, such an account would be worth almost $1,200 today, if the account could be found.

The account was set up at a savings and loan that was taken over by Sooner Federal, which was liquidated during the savings and loan bust of the early 1990s. The committee has been trying to find the account, so far without success.

It's not clear exactly how the items were prepared for burial, or how they may have held up for all these years."

Henry Knox - Patriot and American Hero

I've been reading 1776 this week, highly recommended.

Henry Knox volunteered to take a group of men from Boston during the seige (in the winter no less) and go to the abandoned Fort Ticonderoga. His plan was to grab all of the fort's cannon and artillery, bringing it back to Boston. Unbelievably, he was successful and the Americans were able to get the British to abandon Boston using this new artillery. Without this turn of events I suspect the war might have gone quite differently.

Henry Knox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Knox supported the American rebels, supported the Sons of Liberty, and was present at the Boston Massacre. He volunteered as a member of the Boston Grenadier Corps in 1772 and served under General Ward at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. Being a member of the Army of Observation, Henry met and impressed General Washington when he took command. The two became lifelong friends.

As the Siege of Boston continued, he suggested that the cannons then at Fort Ticonderoga could have a decisive impact. Washington commissioned him as Colonel of Artillery, and gave him charge of the expedition to retrieve them. His force brought them by ox-drawn sled through the Green Mountains and across the frozen Connecticut River. When they returned and placed the cannons overlooking the harbor, the British were forced to withdraw to Halifax on March 17, 1776."

The General Henry Knox Museum
Fort Ticonderoga: National Historic Landmark

Today's Quotes

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
-- John F. Kennedy


"Where, I have at times asked myself, where do you all [U.S. Armed Forces] come from? How have you managed to cohere into the crack, disciplined, patriotic band of brothers I see before me this morning? Well, the answer's simple. You come from the southwest and the northeast, from the Rockies and the Adirondacks, from the inner cities and the most remote of farms. You come from America, and you are America's pride. And on behalf of all America, I thank you and pray God that He may bless you now and forever."
-- Ronald Reagan


"Freedom... refer[s] to a social relationship among people -- namely, the absence of force as a prospective instrument of decision making. Freedom is reduced whenever a decision is made under threat of force, whether or not force actually materializes or is evident in retrospect."
-- Thomas Sowell
(1930- ) Writer and economist

BMW Turbosteamer: Harness Wasted Energy?

I love this stuff. The waste of the internal combustion engine has bothered me for a long time. the fact that we in the North heat our cars with the engine's heat is a testament to the relative inefficiency of the design. All of that radiated heat is wasted energy in that it does nothing to propel the car.

Incandescent light bulbs are the same deal. All of that radiated heat is wasted energy.

BMW Turbosteamer: "BMW Research and Engineering is using combined heat and power in a car for the first time

* Enhancing efficiency by up to 15 percent feasible
* 1.5 litres of petrol less consumption realistic in mid-range car
* Basis: The principle of the steam engine"

Portugal Turns To Wind, Waves And Sun To Reduce Oil Dependence

I love this idea, what a huge untapped source of energy! I hope the technology makes it profitable and worth-while if it isn't already.

As an aside, I'm not thrilled that public money is being used on this project.

And note this quote: "Meanwhile in October the government granted an operating licence for a solar energy power station to be set up in the thinly-populated Alentejo, a southern province of rolling hills that is one of Europe's sunniest regions.".

I can not understand why someone would need a license to do something like this, seems like another uneeded tax.

A hat tip to the Dvorak Blog for the link.

Portugal Turns To Wind, Waves And Sun To Reduce Oil Dependence: "Portugal is turning to wind, wave and solar power to reduce its huge dependence on oil imports and meet its international commitments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The world's first commercial wave power plant is set to begin operating off Portugal's northern coast in 2006 while work on the world's biggest solar power station will begin in the sunny south of the country next year.

...

The project will use three wave power generators supplied by Scottish firm Ocean Power Delivery for eight million euros (9.4 million US dollars).

The generators look like giant floating sausages and they rock with waves, pumping water to hydraulic motors that drive generators to produce electricity."

Girard Perregaux & John Harrison

Hat Tip to Kelvin from the GP forum.

New Straits Times - Malaysia News Online: "WILLY SCHWEIZER tells us who John Harrison was and why we owe him a great debt for his invention.

The Sea Hawk II is without doubt one of the successful models in Girard Perregaux’s current collection, especially in its “extreme” version. The Pro is capable of withstanding depths of down to 3,000 metres.

Some of the Sea Hawk models also bear another name: “to John Harrison”. What is it exactly, and to whom does it refer? Within the Sowind Group, like in any industrial group, there are active brands, like Girard Perregaux, and some which are not, even though they are duly registered. This was the case for John Harrison, a brand which we had the opportunity to acquire years ago, and which we had the intention to re-launch some time in the future."

Wired News: Cut Emissions and Pump More Oil

Very interesting, curious to see where this technology goes.

Wired News: Cut Emissions and Pump More Oil: "The energy industry has found a new way to dispose of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide: pump it back into the underground oil reservoirs from whence much of it came. Five million tons of CO2 has been successfully pumped underground into the Weyburn oil field in a pilot project in Saskatchewan, Canada.

...

In Western Canada alone, pumping CO2 into oil fields could yield billions of barrels of additional oil while reducing CO2 emissions to the tune of pulling more than 200 million cars off the road for a year, said U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman in a statement."

Macintosh Stories: Stolen From Apple

A brief and amusing story about Apple Computer history.

Folklore.org: Macintosh Stories: Stolen From Apple: "In 1980, a company called Franklin Computer produced a clone of the Apple II called the Franklin Ace, designed to run the same software. They copied almost every detail of the Apple II, including all of its ROM based software and all the documentation, and sold it at a lower price than Apple. We even found a place in the manual where they forgot to change 'Apple' to 'Ace'. Apple was infuriated, and sued Franklin. They eventually won, and forced Franklin to withdraw the Ace from the market. "

The "Living Wage" Revisited

Last week I had a lively debate with a friend regarding the recent Wal-Mart bashing movie. He was distressed that Wal-Mart was clearly guilty of not paying its employees a living wage.

Here are a few good write-ups on the topic.

Let's debate but think straight
- by Walter Williams

"Making anything more expensive almost invariably leads to fewer purchases. That includes labor."
"Living wage" kills jobs
- by Thomas Sowell

Living-wage Follies
- by John Egger

Warped geometry speeds airline boarding

I would still be willing to pay a small premium to get a reserved seat that I prefer. I bet many others would too. I bet there's room for both models in the market.

Warped geometry speeds airline boarding, A free-for-all gets people on planes quicker than starting at the back.: "Budget airlines' 'free boarding' policies may produce an indecorous scramble for seats, but don't be too quick to grumble. According to a team of computer scientists and mathematicians, this is one of the most efficient ways to board passengers.

Boarding from the back rows first - typical in classier airlines - is much less efficient. As experience tells us, boarders are frequently held up while those ahead of them block the aisles."

What If GM Did Go Bankrupt?...

I don't believe GM can be a success unless it gets some more imaginative management like Bob Lutz, and somehow sheds the albatross of the UAW. The latter is not likely imho.

What If GM Did Go Bankrupt...: "What If GM Did Go Bankrupt...
How investors, customers, and suppliers might fare under Chapter 11

After weeks of listening to analysts and pundits beat the drum about the possibility of a General Motors Corp. (GM ) bankruptcy, Chairman and Chief Executive G. Richard Wagoner Jr. decided he had heard enough. On Nov. 16 he declared in an internal memo to his 325,000 employees that bankruptcy is 'unnecessary.' There is no plan to file for Chapter 11 protection, Wagoner said flatly, calling such an action 'contrary to the interests of our employees, stock- and bondholders, dealers, and our suppliers and customers.'"

Ward’s Names 10 Best Engines for 2006

I look forward to this list every year. Some variant of the BMW I6 seems to be there yearly. Two Audi engines this year. Honda is notable by its absence.

Ward’s Names 10 Best Engines for 2006: "SOUTHFIELD, MI – The winners of Ward’s 10 Best Engines awards for 2006 demonstrate U.S. auto consumers still can have it all: Many of the winning engines highlight sophisticated new technology that generates exhilarating performance – but also improves fuel economy.

This year’s winners, as well as the vehicles tested, include:

Audi AG: 2L FSI turbocharged DOHC I-4 (Audi A3)

Audi AG: 4.2L DOHC V-8 (Audi S4)

BMW AG: 3L DOHC I-6 (330i)

DaimlerChrysler AG:5.7L Hemi Magnum OHV V-8 (Dodge Charger R/T)

Ford Motor Co.: 4.6L SOHC V-8 (Mustang GT)

General Motors Corp.: 2L supercharged DOHC I-4 (Chevrolet Cobalt SS)

General Motors Corp.: 2.8L turbocharged DOHC V-6 (Saab 9-3 Aero)

Mazda Motor Corp.: 2.3L DISI turbocharged DOHC I-4 (Mazdaspeed 6)

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.: 3.5L DOHC V-6 (Infiniti G35 6MT)

Toyota Motor Corp.: 3.5L DOHC V-6 (Lexus IS 350)"

Today's Quotes

"So that the executive and legislative branches of the national government depend upon, and emanate from the states. Every where the state sovereignties are represented; and the national sovereignty, as such, has no representation."
-- Joseph Story (Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833)

"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."
-- Karl Marx
(1818-1883) Father of Communism, Author of the 'Communist Manifesto'

The Seiko Spirit & The New 6R15 Movement

I've been intrigued by this new Seiko watch and movement since first seeing it a couple of months ago. The new automatic movement is the 6R15 and looks to be an enhanced version of the trustworthy 7S26 automatic. But the 6R15 offers manual winding and some extra jewels. The watch looks like what I would call a poor-man's Grand Seiko, and for well under $300!

See Seiya in Japan to buy.

Credit goes to:
Jayhawk's Watch Photograph Database

Mind-changing books by Thomas Sowell

What Dr. Sowell read and learned from:
Townhall.com :: Columns :: Mind-changing books by Thomas Sowell: "From time to time, readers ask me what books have made the biggest difference in my life. I am not sure how to answer that question because the books that happened to set me off in a particular direction at a particular time may have no special message for others -- and can even be books I no longer believe in today."

Scientists Determine Age of New World Map

I love this stuff.

Scientists Determine Age of New World Map: "Scientists from the University of Arizona, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Smithsonian Institution have used carbon-dating technology to determine the age of a controversial parchment that might be the first-ever map of North America. In a paper to be published in the August 2002 issue of the journal Radiocarbon , the scientists conclude that the so-called “Vinland Map” parchment dates to approximately 1434 A.D., or nearly 60 years before Christopher Columbus set foot in the West Indies."

Watch Movements With Spare Parts?

I've never before seen or even heard of a watch movement that came with its own spare parts. This one looks to come with a spare balance staff and a few other wearable parts. I wonder if they rattle enough to be heard?

Pic credit to Ed Hahn of the timezone.com Watchmaking & Repair forum.





From Ed: "...Clebar pocket timer equipped with a spare parts bin - it contains a spare balance staff (A), a replacement wheel arbor (B), some spare screws (C), a spare click spring and crown wheel return spring (both marked D).

This is a Venus 121. FWIW, your photo is only the second watch I've seen with the spares built-in to the movement."

Ship's Cook Third Class Doris Miller, USN

Let's not forget today is the anniversay of the Pearl harbor attack.

And let's not forget about great Americans like Ship's Cook Third Class Doris Miller, USN.

Doris "Dorie" Miller, USN Sailor, Pearl Harbor Hero: "Doris Miller, known as 'Dorie' to shipmates and friends, was born in Waco, Texas, on 12 October 1919, to Henrietta and Conery Miller.

Following training at the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia, Miller was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1) where he served as a Mess Attendant, and on 2 January 1940 was transferred to USS West Virginia (BB-48), where he became the ship's heavyweight boxing champion. In July of that year he had temporary duty aboard USS Nevada (BB-36) at Secondary Battery Gunnery School. He returned to West Virginia and on 3 August, and was serving in that battleship when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

Miller had arisen at 6 a.m., and was collecting laundry when the alarm for general quarters sounded. He headed for his battle station, the antiaircraft battery magazine amidship, only to discover that torpedo damage had wrecked it, so he went on deck. Because of his physical prowess, he was assigned to carry wounded fellow Sailors to places of greater safety. Then an officer ordered him to the bridge to aid the mortally wounded Captain of the ship. He subsequently manned a 50 caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun until he ran out of ammunition and was ordered to abandon ship."

Hat tip to Bob Lonsberry's radio show for making me aware of this hero.

More info:
http://www.medalofhonor.com/DorisMiller.htm
http://www.dorismiller.com/

Basic economics by Walter E. Williams

Common sense from Dr. Williams. I'm convinced his columns should be required reading for every high school senior.

Townhall.com :: Columns :: Basic economics by Walter E. Williams: "With all the recent hype and demagoguery about gasoline price-gouging, maybe it's time to talk about the basics of exchange. First, what is exchange? Exchange occurs when an owner transfers property rights or title to that which is his.

Here's the essence of what transpires when I purchase a gallon of gasoline. In effect, I tell the retailer that I hold title to $3. He tells me that he holds title to a gallon of gas. I offer to transfer my title to $3 to him if he'll transfer his title to a gallon of gas to me. If this exchange occurs voluntarily, what can be said about the transaction?"

Today's Quotes

"To speak his thoughts is every freeman's right, in peace and war, in council and in fight."
-- Homer
(sometime between 1050-850 BC) legendary Greek epic poet
Source: The Iliad


"The first and governing maxim in the interpretation of a statute is to discover the meaning of those who made it."
-- James Wilson (Of the Study of Law in the United States, Circa 1790)
Reference: Original Intent, Barton (22); original The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, B. Wilson, ed., vol. 1 (14)

Detroit's Next Big Threat - Indian Auto Parts?

Detroit's Next Big Threat: "CHENNAI, India -- The next wave of globalization is swelling here, in this southern Indian city that was battered by a real wave during last year's tsunami. This new wave is not about Gap T-shirts or Dell laptops, the poster children for the light industries that already have global supply chains. And it is not about software and/or call centers, the industries for which India is famous. Instead, this new globalization is about heavier manufacturing, particularly cars. Detroit's panicking firms know it."

Airlines cram more fliers into fewer seats, flights - Yahoo! News

For any plane I've been on, it's one seat per customer, no more, no less. How do you cram more passengers into fewer seats?

Airlines cram more fliers into fewer seats, flights - Yahoo! News: "For the first time in recent aviation history, the financially troubled U.S. airline industry is shrinking domestic flying capacity in the face of strongly growing public demand for its service.

If the capacity reduction is the beginning of a long-term trend toward less domestic flying - and it's not certain that it is - the implications could be profound."

Technorati Tags:
air+travel airlines travel

Google: Ten Golden Rules - MSNBC.com

Google: Wall St.'s Golden Child of late.

Google: Ten Golden Rules - Issues 2006 - MSNBC.com: "Google: Ten Golden Rules
Getting the most out of knowledge workers will be the key to business success for the next quarter century. Here's how we do it at google."

Christmas books by Thomas Sowell

I really need to get the 1776 book. I've read many books recommended by Dr. Sowell, never been disappointed yet.

Townhall.com :: Columns :: Christmas books by Thomas Sowell: "My annual list of books to recommend as Christmas presents is led by the clearest front-runner in years: '1776' by David McCullough.

There was a time when the very mention of 1776 struck a responsive chord in Americans, as the year in which their country's independent existence began. Today, history is so neglected in our schools and colleges that even many graduates of Ivy League institutions would have to have the significance of that year explained to them."

Rum Is Still Being Demonized by Andrew S. Fischer

A rather humorous look at the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. ;-)

Rum Is Still Being Demonized by Andrew S. Fischer: "Pennsylvania is one of about a dozen states where liquor sales are under the absolute control of the state at both the wholesale and retail level. This state monopoly (which features limited selection and convenience), is universally despised by consumers, yet none seem angered enough to take their revulsion of this Prohibition-era system one step further, and growl at the state government itself."

What Do Rising Gold Prices Mean? by Ron Paul

What Do Rising Gold Prices Mean? by Ron Paul: "Gold prices historically rise when faith in paper currencies erodes, as investors seek the intrinsic value of gold to protect themselves from inflation. It’s interesting to note that while the U.S. dollar has regained some of its value relative to other paper currencies like the Euro, it continues to lose value relative to gold and other hard assets. This shows the folly of using one fiat currency to value another."

Clothes of 1924 head for Everest - BBC

Yikes, I'm chilly just thinking about this!

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Clothes of 1924 head for Everest: "When mountaineer Graham Hoyland returns to Mount Everest next year, he will not be clad in modern hi-tech fibres with tog ratings and windchill factor reduction.

Instead, he'll be sporting replicas of garments last taken to the Himalayas in 1924, on the ill-fated expedition of George Mallory and Andrew (Sandy) Irvine which left both pioneers dead.

Whether they reached the summit before succumbing to Everest's harsh conditions is unclear.

They have acquired a reputation for a somewhat amateurish approach, based in part on photographs taken at base camp showing them wearing the English gentleman's attire of plus fours and tweed jackets."

Tech. Images Of WWII Equipment

Lots of interesting historical pics here. Well worth browsing for history and/or military buffs.

Wartime Images: "UNUSUAL TECHNICAL IMAGES OF EQUIPMENT USED IN WORLD WAR II"

Richard Miniter: Shadow War

I read this book over the weekend. A great focus on some of the otherwise quiet successes we've had in the war on terror since 9/11. Highly recommended.

By Richard Miniter

Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush Is Winning the War on Terror

Today's Quotes

"True liberty cannot exist apart from the full rights of property,
for property is the only crystallized form of free faculties...
The whole meaning of socialism is a systematic glorification of force...
No literary phrases about social organisms are potent enough to evaporate the individual, who is the prime, indispensable, irreducible element."
-- Auberon Herbert
(1838-1906) English author


"The law of nature and the law of revelation are both Divine: they flow, though in different channels, from the same adorable source. It is indeed preposterous to separate them from each other."
-- James Wilson (of the Law of Nature, 1804)
Reference: The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, Wilson, ed., vol. 1 (120)


"An individual, thinking himself injured, makes more noise than a State."
-- Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President
1785

departures.com | Grandly Complicated

An interesting look at mechanical watches.

departures.com | Grandly Complicated: "Grandly Complicated
What makes a watch worth a million dollars? James Kaplan investigates.

On the brightly lit center stage of the microscope's field of vision a tiny clockwork miracle quivers—as wondrous, in its own way, as the fervent, sonogrammed heartbeat of a four-month-old fetus. A balance wheel whirls, too fast to see; a toothed escape wheel clicks around, caught and then released, caught and released, by two minuscule, darting, synthetic-ruby pallet stones.

But while this is beautiful, it happens in every mechanical watch. What is different here is that this entire whirling and clicking escapement (as the watch's central works is known) is centered on a second wheel that is slowly revolving, clockwise (of course!), within a tiny ring. And the miracle is that this miniature mechanism, known as a tourbillon (French for vortex, or whirlwind), counteracts the effects of gravity (which slows down, by an infinitesimal amount, even watch wheels weighing but a fraction of a gram)."

The 100 Most Unexpected TV Moments - TV Guide Magazine

The best series finale of all time in my opinion!

TV Guide Magazine - [TV Guide Online]: "The Newhart Finale (May 21, 1990)
TV legend Bob Newhart parodies — and perfects — the 'dream sequence' finale when his entire Newhart series turns out to be the dream of Dr. Bob Hartley, his old Bob Newhart Show character. When a stunned Bob wakes up his first TV wife, Emily (Suzanne Pleshette), it's pure double-take genius. Says Newhart costar Tom Poston, 'It has proven to be one of the great endings of all time.'"