Walter Williams provides the details.And it's also noted that NASA has quietly revised their estimates of temperature in the United States, apparently by as much as 0.27F. The result? Well, nobody "in the club" is admitting that uncertainty in temperature estimates might lead to uncertainty about the overall global warming hypothesis, sad to say. It's the same story we hear when it becomes apparent that many temperature monitoring stations are located near thermal anomalies and heat islands; "oh, that's just an inconsequential shift in the data."In short, the researchers are either unable or unwilling to come to grips with the fact that when serious flaws in methodology like this are found, the consequence is not primarily in the shift in data when the flaw is corrected. The consequence is that the credibility of all the data is impaired.
....don't seem so cheap after you've paid $8 for a lead test to make sure that they didn't use lead paint on it, or after you give thousands to Underwriters Laboratories to make sure there are no other obvious hazards. Of course, if you brush your teeth with Chinese toothpaste after putting that bill on credit, you might not have to worry about it.One wonders of Mattel and other companies have ever heard of "supplier quality engineers" who make sure that things like this don't happen.
This weekend, I saw two very interesting articles, and both of them had one thing in common; they were trying to look at #4 on the Pareto chart, more or less. For the uninitiated, the Pareto Principle states that 80% of a given problem can be linked to the top one or two causes. It derives from the fact that across most cultures, 20% of the population controls 80% of the resources.The two cases? First, a study (done here in MN) claimed that a "Head Start Plus" program costing $5000/child-year was a success. Now, I checked the stats, and there is a real difference. However, when you're bragging about 71% high school graduation rates and 17% felony arrest rates (vs. 62%/21%) and such, it suggests that there are some bigger fish to fry.Maybe, just maybe, we need to stop paying people to have children out of wedlock and telling them not to work? Maybe we need to remind kids that there are nasty consequences to unrestrained sexuality?Just a thought or two...Case #2 is a study of life expectancy, where the United States has apparently fallen to 42nd worldwide. The authors predictably discuss access to health insurance, but miss a far bigger issue; the big hitters in life expectancy are smoking, obesity, diet, exercise, and to a lesser extent, abuse of sexuality. It might do far more for life expectancy to stop subsidizing corn, sugar, tobacco, and so on than to get more on medical care.
Might be a decent idea to take a good picture of her with you to work. It's always bothered me at work when I see pictures of a man's children, but not his wife, around his desk.Now certainly there are reasons at times for there to be no picture of his wife. Too many of my colleagues are divorced. That said, I must wonder if part of the reason they're divorced is that they spent too much time not thinking about their wives. I wonder if my married colleagues are doing their marriages a disservice--or showing a lack of respect for their wives--by featuring everything precious to them (children, cars, power tools) in their cubicles except for that which is most precious.So use your best camera and take a few pictures of your best girl. Take some of the best ones and take them to work. It might be worth your time.
News reports lately indicate that the Russians, Americans, Canadians, and others are in a race to claim sovereignty over the North Pole. I guess they're all tired of getting coal and nails for Christmas, and they figure lobbing a few rounds at Santa will remedy the situation. Oops, just kidding. What the contestants really want is full rights to whatever minerals might be there, and quite frankly, I'm perplexed that there is that much fighting to be done over it. Reality is, economically speaking, that whoever might develop whatever resources are there is going to benefit the whole world by developing them.So boys, quit fighting over it and let's figure out how whether it's even possible.And then there is concern that the Chinese might try to "get" our country by having a fire sale of dollars--over a trillion of them--they now own. As if they can outdo the Fed in inflating the dollar. :^)More seriously, what would they achieve? Well, they'd reduce the dollar's value, and in the process throw away several hundred billion dollars in equity they currently possess--causing a deep recession or even a depression in China, because they rely on those dollars to purchase western capital for their new industries.In the short and long run, it would be penny wise and pound foolish, to use another currency as a picture. My hunch is that the saber keeps rattling in the scabbard this time.
One interesting position taken by many of the Austrian economists is that either a 100% reserve requirement ought to be held by banks, or banks ought to be considered insolvent by definition.Now, I thought about the former idea, and certainly it would tend to prevent monetary inflation--meaning both increase of the money supply and also increasing prices. This would be a good thing.On the other hand, I appreciate the convenience of putting my money in a bank, as well as the interest I get on my accounts. If the bank required 100% reserves, could it loan out any money?Think about it; if it hands out gold, it no longer has 100% reserves. If it hands out notes--my passbook and the debtor's bank notes--it also no longer has 100% reserves. I fail to see how loans would be possible in such a scenario, unless banks were eliminated. Am I missing something here?If I understand this properly, I think the Founding Fathers got it right when they allowed fractional reserve banking. Yes, let's have a reserve requirement (and make it known) to avoid devastating losses with runs on a bank, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater, either.Also, a thought on what commodity/real money does; since gold has other uses besides money, holders of gold can take it elsewhere if its value as money isn't high enough. However, with fiat money, we have a more or less fixed supply at any given time, no matter what it buys.This will tend to exacerbate volatility in prices, as the supply cannot adjust to a shifting demand curve to provide more or less.
by those who claim to "help" was shown in my local paper last night. More or less, the local "affordable housing committee" was telling the world how our city needs more affordable housing with some pictures of housing was become unaffordable for many in our community. Here are a few of them, along with my comments on why this is so appalling:1. A teacher earning starting teacher's pay is currently unable to afford the average two bedroom apartment in our area. (exactly why does a teacher just out of college need a two bedroom apartment all to himself?)2. A policeman earning starting pay is currently unable to afford an average home in our area. (see comments on new teacher)3. A family earning 80% of the median income is unable to get a 100% (no down payment) mortgage on a house of average (mean) price. (two big mistakes here; not having a significant down payment, and buying a house of mean price, not around 80% of median price)In short, those who are trying to "help" the poor with "affordable housing" have completely unrealistic expectations for what kind of housing is appropriate, and if they pass these expectations on to their clients, they're signing them up for a lifetime of debt slavery. This, in turn, may prevent many of them from moving on to higher paying jobs. Some kindness.
All too often, we find ourselves in a place where no amount of evidence will persuade someone of a point, no matter how obvious. Perhaps we ought to consider who is the one being unwilling to consider evidence, and make sure that as we present our positions, we know what kind of evidence would undermine or overturn ours.For example, if it were revealed that hybrid car owners were going to be paid thousands of dollars when their batteries were recycled, it would change my view that hybrid cars are a waste of money for all but inner city taxi drivers and couriers. So would a rise in the price of gasoline to $10 or so.
Just finished Murray Rothbard's America's Great Depression, and it deals what should be a death blow to the idea that DC didn't interfere with the economy during the 1920s, and especially during the Hoover administration. Agree or disagree with the hypothesis that monetary and other intervention caused and sustained the Depression (I tend to agree), any honest man reading the evidence ought to admit that the "roaring 20s" were not a time of laissez-faire in our country.Great work, and free thanks to the Mises Institute.On a similar note, J. Roosh notes that China might respond to American diplomatic bullying by selling dollar reserves, dealing a serious blow to our economy. More or less, many Congressmen (and manufacturers) desire a stronger yuan to make American exports more competitive--much like the monetary manipulations of the 1920s to help manufacturers, farmers, and so on described by Rothbard.The most hilarious thing about this--and it does not make me proud of many of my elected officials--is that the claim is made that China is manipulating its currency to help its exports, when the reality is that China has pegged its currency to the dollar for years. In other words, whatever China is doing, it's not "manipulating" its currency, but has had a consistent policy of "hands off." It's not quite a gold standard, but probably a step in the right direction.
....many out there are probably eager for the start of football season. So here's George Will's perspective on that sport:"Football combines the two worst features in American life; it is violence punctuated by committee meetings."Add "rampant crime and fathering of illegitimate children by players at all levels" and "theft of private funds for lavish temples to this idol", and yes, Will is right. For all its faults, soccer at least gets rid of most of the violence (except by the fans) and the committee meetings.
Someone tried to tell me that the hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic (Germany between WWI and WWII) is a powerful argument for fiat currency and central banking. (what actually happened; the central bank of Germany ran the printing presses red hot and moved the decimal points producing fiat money so fast you could trade a wheelbarrow full of the stuff for a loaf of bread...not exactly a decent argument for either fiat money or central banking)
H/T FratersLibertas. It'll be interesting to see what KingDavid makes of this one! Apparently, officials in Iran have captured four dangerous agents serving the "Great Satan," specifically four squirrels which had been outfitted with espionage devices.I take it that there are regularly squirrels in attendance at Mahmoud Ahmadinnejab's (sp?) cabinet meetings, so our spies could sneak in undetected? And that our evil CIA is so effective, they can not only put a listening device on a squirrel, but also get a dumb rodent to find its way into Ahmadi-nut-job's offices?At least we know, though, that some of the rodents are on our side.
The HSLDA has been warning parents about an interesting trend in charter schools; the government provides texts and a bit of teacher consultation to those who otherwise might homeschool. What are the results? Well, they're not exactly pretty.How is this possible? After all, most other studies reveal that home education decisively beats the government schools in virtually every measure. The answer is simple; government sponsored "homeschooling" takes the weaknesses of both methods and combines them. Take "whole language" reading texts, "new math" mathematics texts, and then provide them to an instructor who doesn't know how to instruct with these methods, and let things come out as they will. But, but, but...you might argue, isn't it a fact that home education succeeds despite the training, or lack of training, of the parent? Absolutely, but the vast majority of home educators use phonics reading instruction and real math based on drill in arithmetic. The ugly reality here is that whole language reading instruction is not used because it is more effective, but rather because it requires a degreed teacher to implement it.My great aunt taught school very effectively in the 1930s with a high school diploma because the right methods were used. Teachers today have difficulty with a master's degree because the methods used go against the nature of the subject at hand.As Ronald Reagan noted, the scariest words in the English language are "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you." Parents beware.
Not that my status as a Michigan State alumnus has anything to do with this, but my new favorite Michigan grad is Jim Harbaugh, current coach of Stanford. What did he do? He pointed out that the University of Michigan keeps its football players eligible by enrolling them in lightweight courses.Now it's not surprising that Michigan players and administrators today would take offense to this, but the ugly reality is that it's true. When I was at State, everyone knew that football players who couldn't make it academically went to Comm. Arts, and Michigan players went into "general studies." Neither group was especially likely to get a decent job upon graduation. Or graduate at all, for that matter. Read the article carefully. They're not arguing the allegations are false. They're arguing that it's somehow "elitist" to refuse to give someone a useless "general studies" degree. They're arguing that telling the truth about Division 1 football is somehow a betrayal.Pathetic. You would figure that a university that likes to call itself the "Ivy League of the Midwest" would teach enough logic to let them know that they're engaging in base personal attacks. However, it appears that "logic" is not offered in the "College of General Studies."Thanks, Jim. This makes up for a lot of what I saw when you were playing for Da Bears.
Now that I hope someone has had fun with ways we can avoid understanding genre in literature and music, howzabout some ways of learning genre?Suggestion #1; heed C.S. Lewis' admonition that we do well to read a large number of older books, not just the ones of today; he who is wed to the spirit of this age soon finds himself widowed, or something like that. Apply the same to music. Suggestion #2; read Douglas Wilson's comments on satire. If you don't get a good belly laugh--or even if you do--you need to go back to suggestion #1. He draws (IMO) a beautiful picture of what Christian communication should be, even though the direct comments are about satire and a review of one of his books.
