Review: Leatherman Freestyle Multi-Tool

I normally have a Buck Sirus or Benchmade carbon-fiber 770 in my pocket depending on how I'm dressed. But I miss the utility of pliers. I used to have a nice and SOG multi-tool w/ pliers that was handy, but I rarely carried it, too large and poor ergonomics, it cut into my palms when using the pliers. But that was 7-8 years ago, they likely have better models now.

I didn't want/need a huge multi-tool that did everything, certainly not anything like this! I did want a fairly minimalist tool that included pliers and would fit in my pocket or used a pocket clip. I won't wear a sheath on my belt. The Leatherman Skeletool looked interesting as it also had the screw drivers included, but it still seemed a touch large. Then I see that the Leatherman Freestyle was introduced this year. Looks good. I wish they had found a way to include a screw driver, but that's not a tragedy.

The Freestyle is small enough to fit in my pocket, though I'll most likely use it with the pocket clip. I picked it up at retail from Dick's Sporting Goods for about $40. The Freestyle includes a combo blade (straight, partially serrated), wire cutters, and pliers. That's it. It comes in 420HC steel which is nothing to get too excited about. The more expensive Freestyle CX comes in superior 154cm steel and the blade is not serrated.

Here's a great review, compares Freestyle, Freestyle CX, and the Skeletool.

Reviews.
multitool.org - Leatherman Freestyle and Freestyle CX
Freestyle v.s. Freestyle CX v.s. Skeletool Comparison

Additional links:
Leatherman Freestyle Multitool
Freestyle Pocket-Size Multi-Tool : Leatherman
Freestyle CX Pocket-Size Multi-Tool : Leatherman
The New Leatherman Freestyle – Preview
GerberGear Tools, One-hand Opening
SOG Multipurpose Tools (compare)
multitool.org

Cretin or Crook?: Dan Rather Calls On Obama For Help

This guy is just too much. (pic via Salon.com)

Here we have another one of those stories that makes it tough to know where to begin.

Dan Rather wants Obama to help save the news - Aspen Daily News Online: "Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather called on President Barack Obama to form a White House commission to help save the press Tuesday night in an impassioned speech at the Aspen Institute. “I personally encourage the president to establish a White House commission on public media,” the legendary newsman said. Such a commission on media reform, Rather said, ought to make recommendations on saving journalism jobs and creating new business models to keep news organizations alive. At stake, he argued, is the very survival of American democracy."

Have the feds run or at least be heavily involved in the news media? Sounds a bit too much like old-school Pravda to me.

And this gem might be the best part. After calling on the president to get involved in something that would be clearly unconstitutional and a conflict of interest ... Rather says it's necessary to maintain a "truly free and independent press?!"

"'A truly free and independent press is the red beating heart of democracy and freedom,' Rather said in an interview yesterday afternoon."

I also wonder if he would be just as anxious to have the feds running the media if George W. Bush was still in office?

Friday Grab Bag

Watches. (pic via WatchTime)
Breguet at the Louvre: An Apogee of European Watchmaking (more here)
TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500M Calibre 5
Deep Sea Master Mariner: Jaeger LeCoultre's OTHER Diving Watch
What's the Deal With The Jo Siffert Heuer Autavia? A Look At Seinfeld's Watch

Architecture.
Modern Contemporary Architecture in Spain
Strange Buildings and Architecture

Style.
Alden Shoes - Shell Cordovan Jumper Boots - Leather Soul
Leffot Blog - Here’s How Bad it’s Gotten
A Suitable Wardrobe: A Formal Shirt Project Update
A Suitable Wardrobe: The Thomas
10 Things Every Modern Dandy Owns
Before the Runway - Signing His Name With a Stitch

Computers.
Nero Introduces Stripped-Down, Freeware CD and DVD Burner
Hack Turns Netbook Battery into USB Charger

Misc.
10 Worst Evolutionary Designs
100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About

Dr. Walter Block On Roads, Secession, and Anarchy

Fantastic interview w/ the great Dr. Walter Block of Loyola University New Orleans. MP3 format. And as Dr. Block notes, the idea of secession is inherently neither pro or anti-slavery.

The Lew Rockwell Show - 126. Walter Block Is an Anarchist: "Lew Rockwell interviews Walter Block" (Direct link to MP3)

Additional links:
Walter Block Archives
WalterBlock.com — Austrian Economist and Libertarian Theorist

Government Suspends 'Cash For Clunkers' Program

That didn't take long. And these people want to run the remainder of our healthcare?!

Government suspends 'cash for clunkers' program - USATODAY.com: "The government is suspending the explosively popular 'cash for clunkers' program at midnight tonight fearing it would go broke before it could parcel out what it still owes dealers for a huge backlog of sales. The pending suspension was confirmed by Bailey Wood, legislative director for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), which had been called Thursday night by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which administers the program. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., confirmed as well, saying she had been told by congressional leaders. 'Obviously the program has been an immense success in stimulating automotive sales,' Wood said. 'The thing has exploded. It has exceeded everyone's expectations,' said Miller, who was involved in writing the original legislation, known as CARS, for Car Allowance Rebate System."

FIASCO: Suspension of 'Cash for Clunkers' program couldn't come at a worse time - Drive On: A conversation about the cars and trucks we drive - USATODAY.com: "Automakers have ordered millions of dollars in television ads. Dealers had the hot dogs, balloons and full-page Sunday ads in the newspapers ready to pounce on sales opportunities. And it is all in vain: the 'Cash for Clunkers' program is on hold. This would have been the first full weekend for the program. It was only last Monday that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood officially kicked it off. Lots of momentum will be lost from the suspension, confirmed moments ago by sources."

Is Healthcare a Right? Let's Consider It Again ...

For argument's sake, let's say that healthcare is considered a 'right.' And let's imagine a case in which no one in a society voluntarily chooses to become a doctor or nurse. Is everyone else's 'right' to healthcare by definition violated? Would the state then force some to provide healthcare to the rest of us? I think this is key to understanding why healthcare is not and can not be properly considered a 'right.' (pic via Soviet Poster A Day)

Excellent WSJ piece from yesterday.
Dalrymple: There Is No ‘Right’ to Health Care - WSJ.com: "If there is a right to health care, someone has the duty to provide it. Inevitably, that “someone” is the government. Concrete benefits in pursuance of abstract rights, however, can be provided by the government only by constant coercion. People sometimes argue in favor of a universal human right to health care by saying that health care is different from all other human goods or products. It is supposedly an important precondition of life itself. This is wrong: There are several other, much more important preconditions of human existence, such as food, shelter and clothing."

Another good explanation.
If Health Care Is a Right . . . - The Beacon: "People can have a right to free speech, because in theory, they can say whatever they want so long as they don’t trespass against the property rights of others. This is true in any time and place. The notion of health care being a right is incoherent. For if you have a right to a check up, does that mean a doctor somewhere has the enforceable duty to perform it? Does a right to surgery imply a right to force surgeons to work? As Herbert Spencer said, all socialism involves slavery. Indeed, taken to its logical conclusion, a positive right to health care is not just a right to compel others to finance it, but to compel others to provide it."

I've posted this before, but it's a classic, a must-read.
Rights vs. Wishes by Walter Williams: "We hear so much about 'rights' -- a right to this and a right to that. People say they have a right to decent housing, a right to adequate health care, food and a decent job, and more recently, senior citizens have a right to prescription drugs. In a free society, do people have these rights? Let's look at it. At least in the standard historical usage of the term, a right is something that exists simultaneously among people. A right confers no obligation on another. For example, the right to free speech is something we all possess. My right to free speech imposes no obligation upon another except that of non-interference. Similarly, I have a right to travel freely. That right imposes no obligation upon another except that of non-interference."

Additional links:
A Cornucopia of Healthcare Fallacies
An Inch of Snow - The Unbroken Window
British Dr: Don't Copy Us! - John Stossel's Take
IBDeditorials.com: They're Coming For Your Tonsils

Thursday Grab Bag

Architecture / Design. (pic via Contemporist)
1960s-inspired Hotel Sax vintage design hotel in Prague
Small Houses on Small Budget by Pb Elemental
Ada Louise Huxtable on Frank Lloyd Wright
The Thiang Residence by Bojan Simic

Cars.
MW announces withdrawal from Formula One at end of 2009
Michael Schumacher returns to Formula One with Ferrari
Ferrari Web Site Crashes as Surfers Rush to See Pictures of Latest Model

Signs of The Times.
Rolls-Royce Unveils the Ghost, a Recession-Ready Limo
Homeless? If You Can Prove There's A Relative Who'll Tale You In, NYC Will Pay Your Way

Style.
B Store Derby Shoes
The Trad: The Best Socks in the World
The importance of shoe trees
MadMenYourself.com
Banana Republic Sponsors Mad Men?
Official Blog of Allen Edmonds CEO, Paul Grangaard

Palm Pre Smart Phone.
Huge Palm Pre Review

Computers.
Easily Kill Hung Processes on Windows with Super F4

Fountain Pens / Writing.
Quo Vadis Blog - Why Keep A Journal?

Travel.
The cheapest places to live in the world. $500 a month
Now Sailing - 7 New Cruise Ships

Misc.
Lightning - The Big Picture - Boston.com
The Best and Worst College Degrees by Salary

Organic Food Is No Healthier, Study Finds

Oops. Wait, what about 'local' organic food? ;-) (pic via Reuters/Mike Blake)

Organic food is no healthier, study finds - Science - Reuters: "LONDON (Reuters) - Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007. A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference."

Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?

Everybody knows that a fairy tale starts out 'Once Upon a Time', but a truck driver's tale starts out 'you ain't gonna believe this sh!t'!
-- Teri Horton

Watched this movie last night. If you are even remotely interested in art this documentary is a must-see. In addition to the interesting look inside the art world there's the juxtaposition of Ms. Teri Horton (retired truck driver, 8th grade education, and lives in trailer park) with the high-end art world experts she encounters and continually challenges. (pic via The Reeler)

Wikipedia sums it up fairly well.
Who the *$&% Is Jackson Pollock? - Wikipedia: "Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? is a documentary following a woman named Teri Horton, a 73 year old former long-haul truck driver from California, who purchased a painting from a thrift shop for $5, later to find out that it may be a Jackson Pollock painting."

A quick look at the story.
The Reeler: The $50 Million Question: "New documentary Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock? takes on the case of an accidental art collector versus the art-world elite"

Additional links:
Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock? (2006)
Controversial Pollock for sale in Toronto
Art Historical Theory and Methodology: More News on the Teri Horton Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock Painting - Report - New York Times
Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas

Wednesday Grab Bag

Fountain Pens / Writing. (pic via Jetpens)
Metaphys Blanc Fabric Cover 44113 Memo Pad
YouTube - Filling a Montblanc piston fountain pen
The Pen Addict: Review: Pilot M90 LE by Mabeloos

Architecture.
Villa Isola, Estate of the Day
12 Creative Architectural Art Installations
Artist Live, Work & Gallery Space
Finished Palabritas Beach House in Lima, Peru
House With Courtyard In The Middle in Australian Outback

Cars.
Saleen 435S Mustang Debuts With 435 HP
The legend of International Trucks

Travel.
The Most Expensive Streets In The World
Luxurious Tucker’s Point Hotel & Spa Resort in Bermuda
Have Things Your Way With The Pershing 108’
12 Exciting Ethnic Enclaves & International Districts

Food. (ht: Dr. Newmark)
Swiss Company Promises Chocolate Revolution - ABC News
What to Eat at the Ballpark: Chowhound picks for the best food and drink

Climate Change.
Chicago Area Sees Coldest July Since 1942

Gadgets.
Leatherman Monarch Flashlights
BedBunker - Uncrate
Fjällräven Vintage Backpack

Misc.
Baby otters debut at zoo
Man with fetish charged with stealing eyeglasses

Wristwatch Round-Up! ...

Lots of good things in here today.

Beautiful new Vacheron.
Introducing the new Malte Moon Phase and Power-Reserve

Not good. Will we see a shake-out of some of the most rediculous and superfluous brands?
First-Half Swiss Watch Sales Plummet - WatchTime.com: "The half-year figures for Swiss watch exports are in, and they’re not pretty. The value of watches that Switzerland exported to the rest of the world between January and June declined 26.4 percent from the same period last year."

Love it!
Early Omega Speedmaster Pre-Professional: The Unemployed Speedmaster - Hodinkee: "We have been giving the Omega Speedmaster Professional a lot of attention as of late what with the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing taking place just this past week."

Lange.
A.Lange & Söhne:Press release: Still on the Go – Walter Lange at 85
A.Lange & Söhne:An interview with Walter Lange - “I Was the Bridge to Our History”

Fun.
A PuristSPro sneak peak behind the scenes at Montblanc: "The production of Montblanc's timepieces occur in two locations. Their top of the line Villeret timepieces dedicated to serious collectors are manufactured at the transformed Minerva factory located in Villeret."

Beautiful.
JLC:A look on the Grande Reverso-Jaeger LeCoultre - jlc.watchprosite.com: "Jerome introduced us to the Grande Reverso, which was presented by JLC during the last SIHH, in January 2009.

Additional links:
TimeZone: Omega: The name is Bond...
TimeZone: Public Forum: Seiko clocks...
Blast from the Past - Zenith Vintage 1969

Obamacare Round-Up!

Tons of good info below! ;-) (pic via Liberty For Kids)

This is absolutely fantastic.
A Cornucopia of Healthcare Fallacies - Foundation for Economic Education: "The effort to reinvent medical care is so full of fallacies and bad logic that it would take volumes to properly expose them. Nevertheless, in this short space, let’s take a crack at some of the problems."

Indeed!
Liberty for Kids: Two Fundamental Questions for Obamacare Advocates: "Assuming, for the sake of argument, that Obamacare is better and cheaper than the current system (which it is not), I believe it would still be detrimental to our long-term interests. The threat to liberty posed by Obamacare is grievous. For both practical and philosophical reasons, every American should be horrified by the very thought of President Obama’s proposed health care plan. As Ayn Rand wrote about such programs, two questions must be asked: “By what right?” and “At whose expense?”"

Well-stated.
John Stossel: Arrogance: "Also leave aside the inevitable huge cost of any such program. The administration estimates $1.5 trillion over 10 years with no increase in the deficit. But no one should take that seriously. When it comes to projecting future costs, these guys may as well be reading chicken entrails. In 1965, hospitalization coverage under Medicare was projected to cost $9 billion by 1990. The actual price tag was $66 billion."

Boudreaux blasts Krugman. And add LASIK eye surgery to that list.
Cafe Hayek: Markets Don't Work in Health Care?: "First of all, I can list lots of examples of successful health care based on the principles of the free market: the regular, smooth, widespread, and affordable supply of aspirin, bandages, decongestants, toothpaste, dental floss, toothbrushes, contact lenses, running shoes, and gyms. I could go on."

Additional links:
National Health Care is Not About Health Care - The Unbroken Window
Obama says tonsillitis is a matter of doctors’ greed - WSJ.com
The Uninsured: Adverse Selection Problem or Distribution Problem?
Newmark's Door: *This* is truly disturbing
The Cato Institute on Health Care Reform

de Tocqueville Understands Secession

de Tocqueville understands secession, liberty, and freedom of association.

"The Union was formed by the voluntary agreement of the states;
and these, in uniting together, have not forfeited their nationality,
nor have they been reduced to the condition of one and the same people
will stop if one of the states chose to withdraw its name from the contract,
it would be difficult to disprove its rights to do so."
-- Alexis de Tocqueville
(1805-1859) French historian
Source: Democracy in America, 1835

Tuesday Grab Bag

Architecture.
Palabritas Beach House by Jose Orrego
Below The Clouds - Vacker villa av Young & Young
Shedworking: The Gypsy Caravan Company
Barge Beach Budapest Floats Down the Danube

Cars.
2010 BMW 760Li: V12 Power For A V12 Price
Nissan tweaks mpg to sweeten payout: AutoWeek

Watches.
Orbita Futura Watch Winder Review
An exhibition not to be missed at F.P. Journe's Manufacture in Geneva
Hermes Alligator Leather Table Clock for Only Watch 2009
Linde Werdelin Hard Black II: 1/1000th a Millimeter of Carbon Some Yellow In Only 88 Pieces

Fountain Pens / Writing.
Don't take my Moleskine notebook and Rotring pen
Stylish scribbles
Review: Pen and Paper Test in the Moleskine Volant Daily Planner
Knurly: the Rotring 600 mechanical pencil
Montblanc 149 Diplomat - Review
Mourning the Death of Handwriting - TIME
moleskinerie: The Beauty of it All...

Education.
Detroit Schools on the Brink - WSJ.com

Computers.
Firefox 4.0: Early Screenshots Released

Film.
The Dark Allure of Film Noir

Style.
Fashion For Frequent Fliers - Forbes.com
Best Summer and Winter Jackets - Esquire
Site Wins Fans by Letting Them Play Fashion Designer
Collar Card - Never be without collar stays again!
Lodger Shoes - Gear Patrol

Travel.
Squatters in paradise say it's job from hell - Los Angeles Times
Famous World Explorers - History of Travel - Esquire

Misc.
Last Galapagos Tortoise May Become Oldest Dad: NPR
100-inch Screen Gets Mounted Flush in the Ceiling

Bastiat's Broken Window, Bootleggers, Baptists and Cash for Clunkers

This story just about has it all. A good read, and not too long.

Green Baptists Preach Salvation by Breaking Car Windows - Tyler A. Watts - Mises Institute: "Who could possibly claim that buying up drivable used cars at prices far in excess of their market value, for the express purpose of destroying them, will be beneficial for the economy or the planet? You guessed it: a combination of economy-saving politicians and earth-saving green activists are peddling the wonders of a new government program popularly known as 'Cash for Clunkers.' The Consumer Assistance Recycle and Save Act of 2009 has the two ostensible goals of jump-starting the stalled automobile industry and combating global warming (or climate change, or whatever they're calling it these days) by replacing old, gas-guzzling smog machines with new, more fuel-efficient, cleaner cars."

Book Review: The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art

I saw this (The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art by Don Thompson) reviewed earlier in the year and put it in my queue. Didn't think much more of it until I saw it on the new book shelf at the library recently. Normally, I have no notable interest in contemporary/modern art. But the title definitely piqued my curiosity.

If art fakes can easily fool so many experts, why are the originals worth so much?
-- George Carlin (paraphrased)

This book is somewhat like Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, but focused on art, instead of corpses. Maybe Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers crossed with art and a touch of Freakonomics? ;-)

The centerpiece of the book is a detailed look into the two main auction houses for art: Christie's and Sotheby's.

In just the first few chapters the reader quickly realizes that art auctions are perhaps 40% marketing, with the rest being a combination of signaling and high-end theater. The relationships between the major players (consignors, dealers, bankers, buyers/bidders, guarantors, consultants, critics, etc.) are complex. And the industry is mature. Each of the players has a role that includes feeding off the others as well as serving them. Branding is a huge part of this industry, for both auction houses as well as celebrity artists.


On branding ... it is clear that we should attribute art to the person who created it with his/her own hands. But what of an artist who simply directs others to do the work for him/her, then simply signs the painting once complete? Where does that fit in? Should we care? (see Damien Hirst's spot paintings) Hirst, Warhol, and Koons are known for "producing" art in addition to creating it.

The market is a perfect storm of hocus-pocus, spin, and speculation, a combination of slave market, trading floor, disco, theater, and brothel where an insular and ever-growing caste enacts rituals in which the codes of consumption and peerage are manipulated in plain sight.
-- Jerry Saltz, art critic

Is a USD $12 million stuffed shark a good investment? What makes an artist a hit in modern/contemporary art, while others languish in obscurity? Why do the works of Jackson Pollock, Damien Hirst, and Mark Rothko demand such high prices at auction? After this book you won't necessarily have a definitive answer to these questions (I'm not convinced there is one), but you'll have a better feel for the industry and the forces that drive the prices.

In short, this is a fun and interesting book, full of fascinating anecdotes, many from the last decade. I read the last half of it on vacation and had trouble putting it down. If you're not into art it's not necessarily worth owning, but definitely a top library pick. If you are interested in art, I would consider it a must-read.

Some items of note from the book that jumped out at me:
1. Non-conventional art is considered disruptive by dealers. p. 30
2. Dealers apparently prefer to be known as "gallerists." p. 29
3. Jean-Michel Basquiat's girlfriend circa 1983? Madonna. p. 36

4. Crowd behavior, signalling, safety in numbers. p. 39
5. Alcohol rehab and nanny services as stipends. p. 46
6. What is a "Gallerina?" p. 50

7. Yves Klein, IKB 234, sold for USD 1.8 million in 2006. p. 54
8. Hirst, "A Thousand Years," flies and a cow's rotting head. p. 63
9. Damien Hirst's spot paintings. p. 65

10. Hirst as a brand. pp. 67-69
11. Soup cans? p. 74
12. Oxidation as art. p. 78

13. High-level theater and marketing to create an aura. Reminds me of the DAK catalog from the 1980s. p. 106
14. Japan, "Rock, Paper, Scissors," twins, and Sotheby's vs. Christie's. p. 116
15. High Dutch taxes drive art sales elsewhere. pp. 172-173

16. What of very convincing forgeries? How common are they? Who knows? pp. 204-205
17. What the heck is a "chandelier" bid?
18. Who wanted to cut his Picasso into once-inch squares? p. 247
19. What colors sell best? What subject matter?

Related links:
6 Greatest Art Fakers in History - Neatorama
A business prof examines excesses of the art market: The Buffalo News
How can a dead, stuffed shark be worth $12 million? - The New York Sun
Canadian Art -- Don Thompson: Stuffed Sharks, Empty Wallets and the Art Market to Come
Why Stuffed Sharks Cost So Damn Much? - Reason Magazine
"THE $12 MILLION STUFFED SHARK" - New York Post
TheStar.com - Books - Damien Hirst shark book lacks teeth
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living

Monday Grab Bag

Architecture / Design. (pic via Trendir)
Luxury Home Designs in California by Marc Canadell
Residence at 23 Oakmont Drive in Los Angeles, California
Bounty Paper Towels Ad Campaign

Style.
Lighten Up: Rediscovering The Summer Suit

Cars.
The F1Showcar simulator is kind of cool
Aston Martin Lagonda Plans In Cold Storage

Fountain Pens / Writing.
The Pen Addict: Ink Links
The Fountain Pen Ink Mixing Kit and Basic Colors
Good Pens: #2 in 2 weeks...Broken Preppy

Watches.
Seiko Velatura Yachting Timer and Women's Chronograph
The Rolex Pre-Daytona Vs. The Original Daytona
Vulcain Nautical Cricket: A Record-Setting, "Perfect" Divers Watch
Diesel Shows Their Bad Ass! Creative Director Wilbert Das Talks With Watchismo

Computers.
10 Gadgets We’d Like to Throw Into a Black Hole

Photography.
39 unbelievable underwater pictures that will blow your mind
Top 5 Free Websites for Quality Stock Photographs

Misc.
Does Soda Taste Different in a Bottle Than a Can?
The Stories Behind Curiously Named Products
10 Things Your Antique Dealer Won't Tell You at SmartMoney.com

Who Decides What Gets Censored On Satellite and Terrestrial Radio?

Spent some time traveling by car yesterday (technically, minivan). Two very popular songs lately are Boom Boom Pow by The Black Eyed Peas and Don't Trust Me by 3OH!3.

When we listen to the songs on satellite radio they are generally not censored for four-letter words and the like. Of course, on traditional or terrestrial radio most expletives are censored out of the song. One notable exception is The Who's Who Are You. For 30 years on the radio I have heart the line "Who The F*ck Are You?!" I still hear it today.

Anyway ... today we were listening to Don't Trust Me by 3OH!3 on one of the Sirius/XM pop stations. One repeated line in the song is:
"Shush girl shut your lips, Do the Hellen Keller and talk with your hips."

Every time the Hellen Keller lyric would have been mentioned, it was censored out? I wonder who decided this was offensive? And on what grounds?

Then later in the day we were listening to The Black Eyed Peas's Boom Boom Pow on terrestrial radio. There are several lyrics with the word "sh!t." These are not surprisingly censored out of the song. But here's the interesting part, there is a single lyric with the literal words "satellite radio.":
"Here we go, here we go Satellite radio"

On every terrestrial radio station we've heard this song on, the "Satellite radio" words are censored out! Are they really that afraid of the concept even being mentioned in a song?! Wow!

Today's Quotes - Property Rights

These first two are a couple of my all-time fav. quotes.

No matter how worthy the cause, it is robbery, theft, and injustice to confiscate the property of one person and give it to another to whom it does not belong.
-- Walter Williams

The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not.
-- Fredrich Hayek

Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their death.
-- James Madison

Private property was the original source of freedom. It still is its main bulwark.
-- Walter Lippmann

Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it.
-- G.K. Chesterton

If history could teach us anything, it would be that private property is inextricably linked with civilization.
-- Ludwig von Mises

Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has a right to, but himself.
-- John Locke

A government that sets out to abolish market prices is inevitably driven toward the abolition of private property; it has to recognize that there is no middle way between the system of private property in the means of production combined with free contract, and the system of common ownership of the means of production, or socialism. It is gradually forced toward compulsory production, universal obligation to labor, rationing of consumption, and, finally, official regulation of the whole of production and consumption.
-- Ludwig von Mises

Spacesuits: Fashion and Engineering

New book, bumped right near the top of my queue. ;-)

Smithsonian Expert Amanda Young Celebrates the High Fashion of Spacesuits - washingtonpost.com: "Spacesuits are the ultimate in couture. Think about it: custom-fit garments, dozens of layers deep, made from innovative textiles that can run $5,000 per square foot, with eye-catching accessories. And the footwear? Near impossible to walk in. Often, the outfits are worn just once before becoming fragile artifacts that deteriorate and corrode."

Related Links:
Amazon.com: Spacesuits: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Collection
photo-eye Bookstore - Amanda Young: Spacesuits
Spacesuits: Within the Collections of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

BuzzKill Wives: Killing Swiss Watch Sales?!

Is your wife Buzz Killington when you try to shop for a watch? Apparently, it's become quite a problem. My wife was not amused when she read the story this morning ;-) (pic via FG wiki)

The Art of Selling an Expensive Watch - WSJ.com: "The worst declines for Swiss watches are in the U.S., where sales fell 42% in May from a year earlier, according to the Swiss Watch Federation. The slowdown is visible at watch-collecting events. A lavishly catered party in Los Angeles for Breitling, another watch maker, recently drew fans who dined and sipped champagne, but the table displaying Breitling’s latest models was the loneliest in the place. Breitling, too, is getting creative, experimenting with holding sales events to which wives aren’t invited. “We’re finding they buy more when their wives aren’t there,” says Marie Bodman, chief executive of Breitling USA. ... Because guilt over spending is playing a big role in the sales downturn, he teaches salespeople to suggest a “sorry gift”—of another timepiece—for a wife who might be disappointed that her husband just dropped a sizable sum on his own wrist. On the second day of training, shop manager Arnaud Gouel moved in to welcome a couple. He amiably toured them through the boutique and offered them a coffee from the store’s Nespresso machine. Then he donned black gloves and placed the gentleman’s watch on a tray between two IWC timepieces. He strapped a rugged but elegant Big Pilot on the man’s wrist. Mr. Brücker, hovering nearby, sent Mr. Huynh over to offer the wife a watch. “It’s not to sell her a watch. It’s to occupy her,” he whispered. “She’s bored and she will say, ‘OK, let’s go.’"

Also see:
The Luxury Watch Bust - The Wealth Report - WSJ

Taking The Rest Of The Week Off

See you on Monday.

Though I will try to get in the occasional post. ;-)

Peter Schiff on ObamaCare ...

"... specifically taxing the rich to pay for health care for the uninsured is the wrong way to think about tax policy and is an unconstitutional redistribution of wealth. While the government has the constitutional power to tax to “promote the general welfare,” it does not have the right to tax one group for the sole and specific benefit of another. If the government wishes to finance national health insurance, the burden of paying for it should fall on every American. If that were the case, perhaps Congress would think twice before passing such a monstrosity."
-- Peter Schiff

Obamacare: Good Luck Trying To Keep Your Coverage

But, but, but ... that's not what we've been told?!

Obama health plan would repeal Erisa - WSJ.com: "One by one, President Obama’s health-care promises are being exposed by the details of the actual legislation: Costs will explode, not fall; taxes will have to soar to pay for it; and now we are learning that you won’t be able to “keep your health-care plan” either. ... So when Mr. Obama says that “If you like your health-care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health-care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what,” he’s wrong. Period. What he’s not telling the American people is that the government will so dramatically change the rules of the insurance market that employers will find it impossible to maintain their current coverage, and many will drop it altogether. The more we inspect the House bill, the more it looks to be one of the worst pieces of legislation ever introduced in Congress."

Tuesday Grab Bag

Architecture. (pic via HomeDesignFind)
Is This How to Design for Privacy?
Hearn House - Lloyd Wright, Los Angeles 1952
ODOS Architects House, Co. Wicklow
Stunning Photographs of City Skylines Around the World

Photography.
Our muddy world - The Big Picture
The Frame: Diving and swimming championships in Rome

NASA.
Omega keeps time in moonwalk history
NASA - Apollo 11's 40th Anniversary
The Suits That Carried Our Heroes To The Moon
Videos: The 40th anniversary of the Moon landing edition

Cars.
Brampton Classic Cars Parade - Part ONE (parts 2, 3, and 4)

Liberty.
The Bush-Obama Spying Regime
Lobbies Ate Bobby’s Hobbies by Robert G. (Bobby) Hill

Healthcare.
Prescription for Disaster by Peter Schiff
What's Up, Docs? - WSJ.com
Massachusetts Health Reform in Several Steps
Congressman Ron Paul - Healthcare is a Good, Not a Right

Style.
A Tailored Suit Custom Shirts
BBC NEWS - New Doctor Who costume revealed
YouTube - Mitchell and Webb on Style

Computers.
Big Blue Meets Big Green With Its Supercomputers

Fountain Pens / Writing.
PicoCool - The Brand New Sketchbook
The SureFire Pen II - Uncrate
Lanbitou 866 - The Fountain Pen Network

Mayor Ray Nagin Is Just Playing The Game

Would it even be worth the effort if there weren't so much in the way of ill-gotten gains at stake? Of course Nagin is trying it, it's really just a rational move given the rules of the game.

New Orleans Wants Ex-Residents Counted - WSJ.com: "New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is calling on former residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to claim their old city addresses in next year's census, drawing criticism for trying to circumvent rules for winning federal funds. The mayor -- encouraged that New Orleans has thrown off its post-Katrina malaise to become the U.S.'s fastest-growing big city by percentage -- wants the U.S. Census Bureau to grant an exception for its former residents, currently living elsewhere, who want to rebuild homes in New Orleans. There's one problem: The mayor's plan is illegal, according to the Census Bureau. Federal law requires the Census Bureau to count all U.S. residents where they reside as of April 1, 2010, when the nationwide tally will begin."

Book Review: The Quest For Cosmic Justice by Thomas Sowell

I read this book maybe 3-4 years ago. But after a few more years of reading, study, and reflection, it seemed like a good time to take another look at it. The Quest For Cosmic Justice, by Dr. Thomas Sowell was published in 1999.

Paperback details from Amazon:
# Paperback: 224 pages
# Publisher: Free Press; 1st edition (February 5, 2002)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0684864630
# ISBN-13: 978-0684864631
# Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches

In this very readable book Dr. Sowell discusses the morality and practicality of trying to "right the wrongs" that were dealt to us at different times. His analysis is cogent and is a wonderful catalyst for further contemplation. Several times after putting the book down for a bit I found myself thinking more about points made in the book.

Dr. Sowell famously noted: "There are no solutions...there are only trade-offs." This theme is repeated throughout the book. Also, the book takes a tough look at self-important elites who are convinced that they know what is better for third-parties than they do for themselves. Liberty and prosperity are almost always victims when these scenarios play out.

Let's take a look at some specific items of note:
1. "A society that puts equality - in the sense of equality of outcome - ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom." p. 6
2. "Social justice vs. cosmic justice." (very important section) pp. 8-9
3. Cosmic justice, and what is "fair?" p. 12

4. Adam Smith vs. John Rawls. p. 29
5. Slavery reparations and righting past wrongs. (very important section) pp. 29-31
6. Mortage applicants: white, black, and Asian. p. 34


7. Quest for Cosmic Justice: Self-flattery, sense of superiority, arrogance. p. 43
8. Poor and rich. 1996 study, four-fifths of all American millionaires, studied earned their fortunes within their own lifetimes. p. 55
9. Are income and and property "distributed?" p. 70

10. "Just" prices, wages, comparable worth, and exchange. p. 72
11. Respectable poor vs. disreputable poor. p. 89
12. Are the poor exploited by the rich? p. 119

13. N.B. The rich are not rich because the poor are poor. p. 126
14. " ... more Indochinese people were killed in the first two years of the Communist peace than had been killed on all sides in a decade of the Anti-Communist war." Note that this is not necessarily a defense of the U.S. action in Vietnam, but rather a sober look at history. p. 138

15. "Rules equally applicable to all are not the same as rules with equal impact on all." p. 152
16. Property rights, liberty, and prosperity for all. (very important section) p. 164
17. Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. p. 180.
18. The origins, state, and future of the U.S. Constitution. p. 186

The Quest For Cosmic Justice by Thomas Sowell is a wonderful book that is worth owning, and definitely worth sharing with others. Dr. Sowell explains the realities of the issues surrounding "justice" and the various ways the term is used.

Related Links:
Thomas Sowell - Home
Book Review ~ The Quest for Cosmic Justice by Thomas Sowell (by Dr. Boudreaux!)
Book Review - The Quest for Cosmic Justice
Hoover Institution - Hoover Digest - The Quest for Cosmic Justice
Thomas Sowell - Speech "The Quest for Cosmic Justice"

Monday Grab Bag

Architecture. (pic via Trendir)
Contemporary Mountain Home in Brazil
12 Unusual and Creative Hotels
Luxury Living for Pets: Creative Portable Dog Houses
Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi by Halcrow
Blairgowrie Court Residence by Frank Macchia
Modern All-Wooden Home in the Forest

Real-Estate.
Auctions Scheduled For Condos In Disney Town

Fountain Pens / Writing.
The Pen Addict: Ink Links
Lamy Vista EF in Noodler's Eternal Luxury Blue
Review: Pen and Paper Test in a Small Markings Notebook

Computers.
Feds Finally Admit Chipped Passports Aren’t Secure
Gizmodo 79 - Gizmodo
HP iPhone Calculators - Uncrate
Five Best GPS Devices - GPS - Lifehacker
8 Tips To Effectively Boost Your Wireless Router Signal
Your CPU Came From Sand - Picture Story

Cars.
The 10 Most Dangerous Foods to Eat While Driving
AC Schnitzer BMW K 1200 R Sport (more)
Deubel/Horner BMW sidecar
1934 BMW R7

Animals.
ZooBorns: Marmots!

Signs of The Times.
20 Brands & Products that Died in 2009

Watches.
1970s Heuer Camaro in Black: Our Favorite Heuer
Some of the most beautiful watches ever invented and made...
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Rubens Barrichello II
YouTube - Escapement of a mechanical watch

Misc.
Salt Might Be 'Nature's Antidepressant'
Spectacular Radio Telescopes Around the World
American Beer Consumption Per Capita: By State
Extreme Marathons Around The World
Learn the Economical Art of Wet Shaving

Obamacare: Not Good Enough For Our Overlords

Not surprising a bit.

Their Own Medicine - WSJ.com: "In the health debate, liberals sing Hari Krishnas to the 'public option' -- a new federal insurance program like Medicare -- but if it's good enough for the middle class, then surely it's good enough for the political class too? As it happens, more than a few Democrats disagree. On Tuesday, the Senate health committee voted 12-11 in favor of a two-page amendment courtesy of Republican Tom Coburn that would require all Members and their staffs to enroll in any new government-run health plan. Yet all Democrats -- with the exceptions of acting chairman Chris Dodd, Barbara Mikulski and Ted Kennedy via proxy -- voted nay. In other words, Sherrod Brown and Sheldon Whitehouse won't themselves join a plan that 'will offer benefits that are as good as those available through private insurance plans -- or better,' as the Ohio and Rhode Island liberals put it in a recent op-ed. And even a self-described socialist like Vermont's Bernie Sanders, who supports a government-only system, wouldn't sign himself up. ... No doubt Mr. Dodd acceded to the Coburn amendment to blunt such objections, and in any case he'll strip it out later in some backroom."

Why the Rush on Health Care?

Great point.

Why the Rush on Health Care? - Anything Peaceful: "Why is Obama so eager to have his healthcare “reform” voted on before members of Congress go home for their August recess? Because this advocate of “representative government,” like many others, is a big fraud. He wants the vote to occur before the members go home and get an earful from their “constituents” about how intrusive and costly the “reform” will be. In other words, he fears he will lose votes over the recess. This is not the first time this kind of thing has happened. Wouldn’t a true democrat insist that congressmen consult with the people they allegedly represent back home before voting?"

Related links:
More Demagoguery in the Healthcare Debate
Massachusetts Health Reform in Several Steps
CBO deals another blow to House health plan

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd Largest Aquarium Tank In The World

Absolutely beautiful.



More:
Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
The fish tank that's so big it can hold FOUR whale sharks

1984, In Recursive Fashion

Kind of funny, kind of unsettling.

Some E-Books Are More Equal Than Others - Pogue’s Posts Blog - NYTimes.com: "This morning, hundreds of Amazon Kindle owners awoke to discover that books by a certain famous author had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for—thought they owned. ... As one of my readers noted, it’s like Barnes & Noble sneaking into our homes in the middle of the night, taking some books that we’ve been reading off our nightstands, and leaving us a check on the coffee table. You want to know the best part? The juicy, plump, dripping irony? The author who was the victim of this Big Brotherish plot was none other than George Orwell. And the books were '1984' and 'Animal Farm.'"

Healthcare Updates: Stossel, Jillette, and Budget Estimates

I'm not a Beck fan, but I love Stossel and Jillette, they do good job here.


I know nothing about Coburn, but I like this move. ;-)
A Prescription for the Goose… - WSJ.com

Heed the lessons.
Investor's Business Daily -- Bay State Rationing: "Health Care: Massachusetts' universal medical program is no longer universal. Coverage is being dropped for 30,000 because not enough money is around to pay for everyone. There's a lesson in this for Congress."

Change we can believe in.
David Harsanyi: Pay Up! Utopia Ain't Free, Ya Know: "The number is sure to ratchet up in the future. As Myron Magnet at the Manhattan Institute recently pointed out, in New York City only 1.2 percent of the taxpayers will pay 50 percent of the income taxes, while half the households will pay no income tax at all."

Some ugly numbers.
Michelle Malkin: Inside the Monstrous Obamacare Bureaucracy: "In 1966, the Office of Management and Budget put the total taxpayer costs for Medicare at $64 million. In 2011, Medicare costs are expected to balloon to nearly $500 billion. Medicaid cost $770 million in 1966. By 2011, that program will cost taxpayers an estimated $264 billion."

Where Is U.S. Education Headed?

Not in the right direction. Another must-read piece.

Investors.com - Time To End The Monopoly In Education: "To boost the economy out of the recession, President Obama has chosen to spend an additional $100 billion on public schooling over the next two years. His education secretary, Arne Duncan, is touring the nation to promote this education 'stimulus.' However well-intentioned, their effort isn't just futile; it's also counterproductive. Far from being an engine of wealth creation, the education system is bleeding the economy to death. The U.S. spends 2.3 times as much per pupil in real, inflation-adjusted dollars as it spent in 1970, but the return on this ballooning investment has been less than nothing." (addendum)

Saturday Grab Bag

Architecture. (pic via StyleCrave)
$4.4MM Portland Home Is More Than Mountainous
Modern Swiss Prefab with a Tilting Wood Frame
Julius Shulman dies at 98; celebrated architecture photog
Julius Shulman: 1910-2009

Cars.
Crudely streamlined Honda Civic reduces drag
Audi A5 Sportback Details Revealed

Travel.
Bizarre and unusual destinations around the world

Photography.
In Afghanistan, Part One - The Big Picture
In Afghanistan, Part Two - The Big Picture

Watches.
Tapestry of Time: taking my finger off the trigger...
DualTow - Christophe Claret-ahci
Life Lessons in a Watch
Bamford & Sons and Black-Out concept Fill a Niche

Fountain Pens / Writing.
NEW! Introducing the Moleskine Newsletter
Field Notes report new Moleskine diaries down under!

Computers.
Google Wants You To Know A Google Docs Redesign Is Coming

Style.
The Great Bespoke Artisans of Paris

NASA.
Lunar Vehicles - Moon-Landing Merch
For Mars Rover, Roadside Assistance - WSJ.com
NASA Marks Apollo 11 Anniversary With Restored Video

Misc.
Cafe Hayek: Moon Struck
10 Things Health Food Stores Won't Tell You
How To Kill a Lobster Humanely
How Electronic “20 Questions” Games Work
July 17, 1902: An Invention to Beat the Heat, Humidity
Game Crafter Lets You Build And Sell Your Own Custom Board Games

Govt. At Work: Aral Sea, America's Future, and Indian Biometrics

Your govt. at work.

I disagree with Buchanan on trade, immigration, and a few other things. But this is an EXCELLENT column.
Socialist America Sinking by Patrick J. Buchanan

It's always worth reading every word that Judge Napolitano writes.
Liberty and Safety by Andrew P. Napolitano

Not good.
India to Issue Biometric ID Cards to All 1.2 Billion Citizens

What govt. does to the environment.
Will a Planned Economy Save the Environment?

Taxes, taxes, taxes.
A Reckless Congress: Health-care bill to impose new taxes, welfare state - WSJ.com

George Will: Unions, FedEx, and Rent-Seeking

There's an excellent lesson in this column on rent-seeking behavior. Well-worth the time to read.

George F. Will - UPS-FedEx Dispute Shows Labor's Control Over the White House - washingtonpost.com: "How does the Obama administration love organized labor? Let us count the ways it uses power to repay unions for helping to put it in power. It has given the United Auto Workers majority ownership of Chrysler. It has sent $135 billion of supposed stimulus money to state governments to protect unionized public-sector employees from layoffs and other sacrifices that private-sector workers are making. It has sedated the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards, which protects workers against misbehavior by union leaders. Cap-and-trade legislation might please unions with protectionism -- tariffs on imports from countries not foolish enough to similarly burden their manufacturers. If Congress, seeking money for more socialized medicine, decides that some employer-paid health insurance should be taxed as employees' compensation -- which it obviously is -- generous union-negotiated benefits might be exempted. "

NASA, Apollo 11 Video, and Speedmasters

I love this stuff.

Models.
oobject - Top 10 Moon Rocket Models: "The Saturn V rocket was something the size of a skyscraper could survive being thrown into orbit, undamaged. 40 years after the Saturn V powered trip to the moon, nothing as powerful exists today."

Collectibles.
Louis Vuitton “Malle Mars” Apollo 11 Commemoration Trunk

Photographs.
Remembering Apollo 11 - The Big Picture

More on the Omega Speedmaster Professional.
40 Years After Apollo 11's Launch, We Look At Our Space Watches
Celebrating Apollo 11; Lets see those Speedmasters! (modem burner)
Omega: Gerard Butler filming in NYC - Speedy
Omega: No single space project was more impressive…

History.
NASA - Wide Awake in the Sea of Tranquillity

Found and Restored Video.
Newly Restored Video of Apollo 11 Moonwalk

Healthcare: Choice, Reform, and Indian Reservations

A few goodies.

A short column, and absolutely dead-on!!.
Econ 101: Health Care Reform: "Nearly 90 years ago Ludwig von Mises, one of the founders of the Austrian school of economics, pointed out that once government intervenes in a market it creates unintended consequences that lead to further government intervention. This process continues until the government attempts to control the entire market."

Shouldn't be a surprise, you've been warned.
Investor's Business Daily -- It's Not An Option: "It didn't take long to run into an 'uh-oh' moment when reading the House's 'health care for all Americans' bill. Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal."

200 years of experience.
"Don't get sick after June!" - John Stossel's Take: "'The U.S. has an obligation, based on a 1787 agreement between tribes and the government, to provide American Indians with free health care on reservations.'"

Yup.
Socialize medical care? - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "If the high and rising costs for medical care were caused by fee-for-service, then this method of provision should also cause high and rising costs for almost everything else in our economy. The reason is that the vast bulk of the private sector operates according to fee-for-service."

Worried yet? ;-)
More Health Care Charts! - Cato @ Liberty: "he U.S. Chamber of Commerce has two charts showing what health care regulation looks like now…"

Are you prepared?