tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226464352024-03-14T11:03:33.277-07:00Bloody Mary Breakfast"How have I loved liberty? With the enthusiasm of religion, with the rapture of love, with the conviction of geometry. That is how I have always loved liberty." --LafayetteBloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-64217623775157032862012-01-31T12:59:00.000-08:002012-01-31T13:22:10.210-08:00UpcyclingContinuing the "<a href="http://bloodymarybreakfast.blogspot.com/2012/01/recycling.html">what can you make from these?</a>" theme.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9aPZYxQMWvxhQ9uAn6grdu0dlD87Z568GZjoKDRDrND7D6xU86mvpYxge-MjxY9Lhyphenhyphen8LQYdqRgznBsWdqAMLnPW-6rz7VX0vBKmYSE2cmlEPN4SbFcoEnmR95KAJoZtmsbTIE/s1600/cans.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9aPZYxQMWvxhQ9uAn6grdu0dlD87Z568GZjoKDRDrND7D6xU86mvpYxge-MjxY9Lhyphenhyphen8LQYdqRgznBsWdqAMLnPW-6rz7VX0vBKmYSE2cmlEPN4SbFcoEnmR95KAJoZtmsbTIE/s400/cans.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703903994409757618" border="0" /></a><br />You can also make something like this (on the bottom left) which can be made into the thing in the background:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRycZfV18y2NCm2ttT5nkdU52WmrKTTun_pnh6yzIqCdgPDzhsAMfYfr0Qp-ZC1tJwW_eAOkYKF0lteScr7t1LOm9en4tuZrds6Reyso3y3YH5gvnViU8OYwetk0fH8tXD7zeo/s1600/round_cast_with_core.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 341px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRycZfV18y2NCm2ttT5nkdU52WmrKTTun_pnh6yzIqCdgPDzhsAMfYfr0Qp-ZC1tJwW_eAOkYKF0lteScr7t1LOm9en4tuZrds6Reyso3y3YH5gvnViU8OYwetk0fH8tXD7zeo/s400/round_cast_with_core.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703907673269201426" border="0" /></a><br />Or, this:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsa-nUarklvR-Q24k1aCPAiHX40KoI9TAVNskdCVC-VFMdEjNgxHBlizktY97AvNiw4IcpmA4VSRx1DqE_3wlp1eXlCb77LkXAbif2hIcpc4f3o70Gl3HcHpDcWUJ_32aRp-Om/s1600/nose_cone.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 307px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsa-nUarklvR-Q24k1aCPAiHX40KoI9TAVNskdCVC-VFMdEjNgxHBlizktY97AvNiw4IcpmA4VSRx1DqE_3wlp1eXlCb77LkXAbif2hIcpc4f3o70Gl3HcHpDcWUJ_32aRp-Om/s400/nose_cone.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703908118942330242" border="0" /></a><br />Or, after a bit more machining and some brass bushings, this:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQSRIwjmxEtZ_7xSDK2HDDJup7-izjnbQJJYyv71RTIYbhtx56XFb8oW0dsGIaZs4AtxjqQyinHnk_Um6pR9hja-BDMHkLDULiOy4lxX9NlNj0UsEcYCS0AKVTMnmbHwtBbyE/s1600/cover_with_bushings.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 307px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQSRIwjmxEtZ_7xSDK2HDDJup7-izjnbQJJYyv71RTIYbhtx56XFb8oW0dsGIaZs4AtxjqQyinHnk_Um6pR9hja-BDMHkLDULiOy4lxX9NlNj0UsEcYCS0AKVTMnmbHwtBbyE/s400/cover_with_bushings.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703908484550045650" border="0" /></a><br />All these parts are going to fit together. Any guesses on what I'm making from (decidedly empty) beer cans?<br /><br />One more hint. Here's another part:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiucGLYSPSnkxpQf_WD8iDKY_ZtR4LuKXbqgT-nVcD-hCCxvJQfC-kO2kaP8C9u_zibLU-74b0s8CpoS18yLoz9LZ_uPF1IN465MkcdEV1zKd04XtB7e2bgUDEoP5o_EolawllM/s1600/head_open_valve.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiucGLYSPSnkxpQf_WD8iDKY_ZtR4LuKXbqgT-nVcD-hCCxvJQfC-kO2kaP8C9u_zibLU-74b0s8CpoS18yLoz9LZ_uPF1IN465MkcdEV1zKd04XtB7e2bgUDEoP5o_EolawllM/s400/head_open_valve.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703908911932085522" border="0" /></a>BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-8166155138938962952012-01-18T11:06:00.000-08:002012-01-18T11:09:36.653-08:00RecyclingWhat can you make with a bunch of these?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilvD3QKujUX_VJstqqxIeMJ0udFG-xxnJpamvgMasNClnMGLUMXt2hkcnAxIjLraDYPRHSaxs4t9RtJtaWkLM-qzy5BIX8Ykjn37HZMhBDGz_U6Alccv6UlW-FjUvgnzjfKk2/s1600/cans.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilvD3QKujUX_VJstqqxIeMJ0udFG-xxnJpamvgMasNClnMGLUMXt2hkcnAxIjLraDYPRHSaxs4t9RtJtaWkLM-qzy5BIX8Ykjn37HZMhBDGz_U6Alccv6UlW-FjUvgnzjfKk2/s400/cans.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699050784792588610" border="0" /></a><br />One of these.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSD08F4aQ2YLYynfk4kgu0_6KSpuWTQaJ6Iej4fN-0jMMXElw5q-l633VZzyTrrwpTJSMP-KrO86s6SnT_TakW43x-X4NGdl357Mdbf7B-sRASxAyJuHG47RAaXlaYP6rTTc-/s1600/billet.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSD08F4aQ2YLYynfk4kgu0_6KSpuWTQaJ6Iej4fN-0jMMXElw5q-l633VZzyTrrwpTJSMP-KrO86s6SnT_TakW43x-X4NGdl357Mdbf7B-sRASxAyJuHG47RAaXlaYP6rTTc-/s400/billet.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699050967481635666" border="0" /></a><br />What can you do with that?BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-75473764403626971322011-11-22T15:05:00.001-08:002011-11-22T15:09:20.672-08:00Guide to Western Media TermsAnarchist: someone who is willing to use violence and property destruction to demand additional social programs and handouts from the current government.<br /><br />Freedom Fighter: someone who is willing to use violence and property destruction to demand additional social programs and handouts from a new government<br /><br />Nihilist, kook, crank, radical: someone who verbally advocates a fractional reduction of the second derivative of the government budget with respect to time.BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-87380290820602549152011-10-31T12:06:00.000-07:002011-10-31T12:14:29.419-07:00More Propaganda by Statistics<b>Given:</b><br />A youth basketball league, ages 11 – 15. Every player in the league has been a participant as long as they are eligible. The kids play basketball five days per week, for several hours per day.<br /><br />Annual skills assessments are taken of the players at the beginning and end of each year. Not surprisingly, the mean skills score for each age group is higher than all the younger groups.<br /><br />As the league matures and becomes more competitive, the mean skills score for the entire league increases. The 11-year-olds enter the league with approximately the same mean skill level every year (league participation isn't magically conferred to kids who haven't yet participated).<br /><br />Without putting any numbers to our assessments, we can make several observations about our league.<br /><br />First, year-over-year, the 11-year-olds as a group enter the league at a greater skills deficit compared to the rest of the league than previous groups of 11-year-olds. That is, although the league mean increases year-over-year, the 11-year-old mean score remains static.<br /><br />Second, therefore, year-over-year increases in mean skills scores are skewed towards the older kids. As the league mean increases over time, and each age group's mean is higher than all younger age groups, the 15-year-olds have to increase as much or more (on average) every year than any other age group. The 14-year-olds have to increase as much or more (on average) than the 13, 12, and 11-year-olds, and so forth.<br /><br />Third, although (and because) each group of 11-year-olds enters at a greater skills deficit and the league mean is increasing, each group's mean skills at a given age are increasing at a greater rate than any older group. In other words, this year's 12-year-olds will gain more skills this year than the 13, 14, and 15-year-olds did when they were 12.<br /><br />Fourth, if the entire league was divided into five groups, not by age but by skills assessment, we would expect a strong correlation between the two methods of division. Furthermore, that correlation would be strongest for the top and bottom quintiles.<br /><br />Fifth, as the bottom quintile is strongly correlated with 11-year-olds, and the 11-year-olds enter the league with approximately the same skills every year, the mean skills of the bottom quintile will also be static year-over-year.<br /><br />Sixth, some 11-year-olds may not start out in the bottom quintile, nor may they reach the top quintile of skills by the time they turn 16. However, for the givens to hold true, only strong outliers from the mean could enter the league in the bottom quintile and remain there for the entire five years.<br /><br />Leaving other considerations aside, it would be nonsense to conclude from the scenario given that any of our observations are a priori bad (or a priori good). Rather, they are what they are.<p></p>That's not to say that the other considerations (whatever they are) are negligible. Rather, it's to say that the givens and observations do not support on their own the idea that the other considerations skew the skills distribution and skills increases. The observations are wholly expected and explained by normal league play.<br /><br />Put another way, it is not valid from the information given to make the statement (or inference) that, because the skills of the bottom quintile are static and the skills of the top quintile are increasing at a higher rate than any other quintile:<br /><br />a) the noted increases are due to some consideration other than normal league play; and<br />b) that is a priori bad.<br /><br />Better, more granular data would be required to validly draw those conclusions. This is obvious, I believe, because no matter how large we envision our league to be, we can conceptualize the league and the individual players entering as Gumby-esque 11-year-olds and progressing to 15-year-old league veterans.<br /><br />We would (rightly) recognize and denounce unsupported statements (or inferences) a and b above as feeble attempts at propaganda by statistics.<br /><br />However, that hasn't stopped the propagandists from presenting the front cover of this <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/124xx/doc12485/10-25-HouseholdIncome.pdf">CBO report</a> with inferences a and b, while conveniently ignoring the weak caveats in paragraph 7 of the summary:<br /><blockquote>The growth in average income for different groups over the 1979–2007 period reflects a comparison of average income for those groups at different points in time; it does not reflect the experience of particular households. Individual households may have moved up or down the income scale if their income rose or fell more than the average for their initial group. Thus, the population with income in the lowest 20 percent in 2007 was not necessarily the same as the population in that category in 1979.</blockquote>As it turns out, not only is the <a target="_blank" href="http://cafehayek.com/2011/10/on-the-cbos-income-differences-report.html">population not the same</a>, but what <a target="_blank" href="http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2011/10/real-story-behind-rising-us-income.html">constitutes a household</a> has changed. The aggregation of aggregates into <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.american.com/2011/10/income-inequality-can-be-explained-by-household-demographics/">household income</a> hides other important data as well:<br /><blockquote>American households in the top income quintile have almost five times more family members working on average than the lowest quintile, and individuals in higher-income households are far more likely than lower-income households to be well-educated, married, and working full-time in their prime earning years. In contrast, individuals in low-income households are far more likely to be less-educated, working part-time, either very young or very old, and living in single-parent households.</blockquote>Please note that by making these observations I am not saying the other considerations are trivial and that there aren't real problems concerning private profits and social losses. Neither does my linking to the analyses of others constitute approbation for their possible biases (nor, certainly, any ad hominem attacks). Rather, the time I would spend recreating the work of others and presenting it here wouldn't add to the point of this exercise.<br /><br />The point is, real problems aren't discovered and cannot be solved by witchcraft, propaganda, or any other mysticism. I'm not sure there is any desire to have a meaningful conversation free of preconceptions and propaganda, I just know such a conversation cannot start with unsupported conclusions drawn from meaningless aggregates.BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-20117069575126457022011-09-30T19:49:00.000-07:002011-09-30T21:25:57.538-07:00Gateway NV75S02u Touchpad + Ubuntu NattyUbuntu Natty (2.6.38-11-generic) doesn't seem to embrace the ELAN Smart Pad on the Gateway NV75S02u. This can be confirmed:<br /><br /><code>xinput list</code><br /><br />Under "Virtual core pointer", it lists a "PS/2 wheel mouse" and no touchpad.<br /><br />After much searching, I found a fix. I don't know who to attribute it to or how I'd ever find it again, but it worked like a charm so I'm going to reproduce it and give credit to anyone who speaks up.<br /><a href="https://launchpadlibrarian.net/72674579/touchpad"><br />The original</a>.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Step 1</span><br />IMPORTANT: BACK UP THE EXISTING MODULE FIRST! You can revert to the .backup copy if things go wrong.<br /><br /><code>sudo cp /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/input/mouse/psmouse.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/input/mouse/psmouse.ko.backup</code><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Step 2</span><br />Get the kernel source and headers for your installed kernel along with some prerequisites:<br /><br /><code>sudo apt-get install linux-source linux-headers-`uname -r` build-essential libncurses5 libncurses5-dev kernel-package fakeroot</code><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Step 3</span><br />Now extract the kernel sources to a folder named src in your home directory, where VERSION is the version of your kernel sources. If you aren't sure, just do a ls /usr/src/linux-source*.bz2 to find it:<br /><br /><code>mkdir ~/src<br />cd ~/src<br />tar jxvf /usr/src/linux-source-VERSION.tar.bz2<br />cd linux-source-VERSION</code><br /><br />Then copy your config file in and make oldconfig:<br /><br /><code>cp /boot/config-`uname -r` .config<br />make oldconfig</code><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Step 4</span><br />Make sure that the elantech option is on:<br /><br /><code>grep -i elantech .config</code><br /><br />It should return this if it is set:<br /><code>CONFIG_MOUSE_PS2_ELANTECH=y</code><br /><br />If it is not set it will return:<br /><code># CONFIG_MOUSE_PS2_ELANTECH is not set</code><br /><br />If the elantech option is not set, run make menuconfig and navigate to Device Drivers->Input device support->Mice and press space on the Elantech PS/2 protocol extension so that it has an asterisk like this:[*]. Then press the right arrow and enter repeatedly to back out of the menus, and then answer YES to save your config.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Step 5</span><br />Get and apply the patches:<br /><br /><code>wget -O 01elantech_2.6.38.patch https://launchpadlibrarian.net/71387234/01elantech_2.6.38.patch<br />patch -p1 < 01elantech_2.6.38.patch</code><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Step 6</span><br />Next, build the module:<br /><br /><code>make -C /usr/src/linux-headers-`uname -r` SUBDIRS=`pwd` drivers/input/mouse/psmouse.ko</code><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Step 7</span><br />Try the new module to see if it works:<br /><br /><code>sudo modprobe -r psmouse<br />sudo insmod drivers/input/mouse/psmouse.ko</code><br /><br />If it doesn't work, DO NOT continue to step 8. You can reload the psmouse module and your touchpad will function again:<br /><br /><code>sudo modprobe -r psmouse<br />sudo modprobe psmouse</code><br /><br />There are no permanent changes to your system until step 8 below.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Step 8</span><br />Note: This step will make a persistent change to your system.<br /><br />If the patched module worked, you can move it into its place in /lib/modules/ if you want to keep using it:<br /><br /><code>sudo cp drivers/input/mouse/psmouse.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/input/mouse/psmouse.ko</code><br /><br />It'd be a good idea to try this copy of the module to make sure it works:<br />Code:<br /><br /><code>sudo modprobe -r psmouse<br />sudo modprobe psmouse</code><br /><br />IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG<br />If for some reason your touchpad will not work after following these directions, move the backup back into place and you should be fine:<br /><br /><code>sudo cp /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/input/mouse/psmouse.ko.backup /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/input/mouse/psmouse.ko<br />sudo modprobe -r psmouse<br />sudo modprobe psmouse</code><br /><br />That's it. xinput list now shows an ETPS/2 Elantch ETF1059 Click-Pad.<br /><br />Again, thanks whoever! You're a lifesaver!BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-52558201801219114772011-08-21T19:02:00.000-07:002011-08-21T19:44:33.744-07:00Tripoli Gets New Zoning CommissionFor reasons unknown, pawns of would-be benevolent rulers of the Transitional National Council (they have a president AND a prime minister!) and The Libya Stabilization Committee have stormed a park in Tripoli, spawning victory celebrations throughout the cartographic region known as Libya.
<br />
<br />I fully understand the desire to be rid of their eccentric dictator and his cronies. 41 years is a bit long, even for such a snappy dresser, to be calling the shots.
<br />
<br />What is mystifying, to me anyway, is the rush to forget the past 41 years and rush into a new set of corrupt state actors.
<br />
<br />Oh, and the symbolism! You can't miss that. Flag waving, dancing on Quadffi's posters, taking Green Square (and promptly renaming it Martyrs' Square), chanting. Yee-hee-hee.
<br />
<br />Not content to sit idly by, US talking heads are happy to opine that their own dictator should not now be the target of trial for the high crime of using the Navy and Air Force as his personal goon squad because, you know, he won!
<br />
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipYxw_Xa8ztWj2C8a8q8nw57ypPbqYOKcmFwMQw339adKNADPWT3OreTErs6PPyYowRes0Hv0oQWnND4w4K6PhiahndHxutfOuzUwriu32-xpo3dlkY-KIxU7jSD1UHjYrbte9/s1600/dueling_banjos.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 367px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipYxw_Xa8ztWj2C8a8q8nw57ypPbqYOKcmFwMQw339adKNADPWT3OreTErs6PPyYowRes0Hv0oQWnND4w4K6PhiahndHxutfOuzUwriu32-xpo3dlkY-KIxU7jSD1UHjYrbte9/s400/dueling_banjos.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643505316236816082" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />Except, as we've been repeatedly reassured, he didn't because this was a NATO action. Led by an American. It's all very confusing.
<br />
<br />Maybe Quadaffi's spokes-bureaucrats could get together with Obama's spokes-bureaucrats and let us know what the official line is. Baghdad Bob can consult. NATO spokes-bureaucrats are already distancing themselves from the charge of being the rebels' personal air force.
<br />
<br />Meanwhile the International Criminal Court burst the bubble in Benghazi, somewhat, by announcing the Libyan Transitional Stablization Whatever cannot be trusted to conduct their own criminal trials, but must turn over Quadaffi's kids for an international show trial.
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<br />Still no word on when the ICC will demand George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the CIA torturers stand trial. Hunh.
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<br />Well, congratulations, I guess, go to the rebels demanding more of the same in Libya. It's too late for August elections like in Egypt (oh, wait...) but I'm sure you know what you want and will eventually get it good and hard.
<br />BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-518611060303414352011-06-18T00:41:00.000-07:002011-06-18T00:44:24.742-07:00Knappster<blockquote>The purpose of government is to screw us all, <em>en masse</em>. It's a wholesaler, and no wholesaler likes its employees moonlighting in discount retail.</blockquote><a href="http://knappster.blogspot.com/2011/06/weiners-true-offense.html">Heh</a>.BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-47838573892399509402011-04-17T08:33:00.001-07:002011-04-17T09:27:09.613-07:00Central Planning has Failed. Long Live Central PlanningH.T. <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2011/03/japans_compound_crisis?fsrc=scn">writes</a> in The Economist Banyan column:<br /><br /><span><blockquote>As seen during 17-hour drives to and from the tsunami-hit north-east of Japan this week, the country appears to have ground to a halt, hit by a mystifying shortage of fuel. Added to rolling power cuts, I predict the consequences for this quarter's growth will be severe. From Tokyo northwards, drivers turn off their engines and park in single file for hours, waiting for their 20-litre rations.</blockquote><br /><br />Ooh! Ooh! I know the answer to this one!<br /><br />As supply stocks fall, pump prices rise as a flashing neon signal to producers to load up tankers and steam full speed to the northern prefectures, right?<br /><br /></span><span lang="EN-GB"></span><blockquote><span lang="EN-GB">It was only on March 21st that the first seaborne petrol-tanker since the tsunami reached the area. What’s more, only this week have the railways been able to ship fuel up north.</span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Yet the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which handles fuel distribution from its darkened offices in Tokyo (the lights are switched off to save energy), acknowledges there has never been a supply shortage in Japan as a whole. Refineries in western Japan have increased output to make up for the shortfall further north. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">About a week ago, officials dispatched 200 lorries with fuel to the stricken areas, but another 100 appear to be waiting in reserve.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></p>Hunh. Well, if I knew a bunch of local producers actually have the supply, they are just being prevented by unpredictable bureaucracies from distributing it, I wouldn't be in a hurry to send tankers, either.<br /><br />I suppose it makes sense. If producers were able to respond in a rational fashion to price signals, what would be the point of a Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry? I'm sure the people waiting in gas lines, instead of working to get their lives and livelihoods back on track appreciate the need for central planning and the inevitable results it brings.<br /><br />Of course I'm being sarcastic. Once again, the settled science of how central planning must fail is illustrated. How many human tragedies must be suffered before The Economist shrugs its central planning fetishism?<br /><blockquote><br /><span lang="EN-GB">If Japan’s establishment were not so bunker-headed and convinced that it knows all the answers, it would have created a war room, brought in experts from the real world, and declared a state of emergency to get the fuel up north.</span></blockquote><span lang="EN-GB"><br /><br />I guess at least one more.<br /></span>BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-70695204780552308062011-02-10T12:14:00.000-08:002011-02-10T12:49:08.773-08:00Real American HeroesInspired by Don Boudreaux's "<a href="http://cafehayek.com/cleaned-by-capitalism">Cleaned by Capitalism</a>" series and an unfortunate remark delivered by John McCain during the 2008 Republican presidential debates, I've posted the first installment of what I hope to be a fun series of articles on Freedom's Phoenix, Real American Heroes.<br /><br />The first installment features one of America's lynchpins that I have never seen given a fraction of the recognition they deserve, <a href="http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Article/083611-2011-02-10-real-american-hero-the-grocer.htm">grocers</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrrbyEohNRt13YSzN6w_LFG6RbNzKsPJsORWQLRGzyE2RfmPPcHI7Amsia7AgRwXiBpESk2t3oaiHe4_pTazj0Kph9dteB03uE-VakpYvqmANsxmUWg143ojZGSaqEI8AvR3v/s1600/grocer_hero.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrrbyEohNRt13YSzN6w_LFG6RbNzKsPJsORWQLRGzyE2RfmPPcHI7Amsia7AgRwXiBpESk2t3oaiHe4_pTazj0Kph9dteB03uE-VakpYvqmANsxmUWg143ojZGSaqEI8AvR3v/s400/grocer_hero.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572159553573189938" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote>The grocer, a Real American Hero, is the public face of a long line of millions of strangers from around the world who, pursuing their own self interests, truly enable the American standard of living.<br /><br />...<br /><br />All this is done to satisfy customers from every class, color, creed and occupation who, in turn, freed from the necessity to hunt, fish and farm to provide a basic, precarious level of sustenance for their families, can spend their precious time in pursuit of their own self self interests.</blockquote><br /></div>Unlike McCain, I find the idea of measuring success by "patriotism, not profit" to be ideologically disgusting and practically nonsensical. Say all you want about displacement and buoyancy, the only thing that makes an aircraft carrier float is the profit generated by productive Americans.BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-62759465025046983932011-01-31T22:44:00.000-08:002011-01-31T22:47:24.537-08:00Raiders of the Last Mubarak<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.myotherkids.com/Images/squidoo/egypt_rev.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 594px; height: 6500px;" src="http://www.myotherkids.com/Images/squidoo/egypt_rev.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />via Boing Boing and the (apparently) awesome FurrygirlBloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-83212870389602221462011-01-31T11:03:00.000-08:002011-01-31T11:06:41.026-08:00A Question for White House PressI've only seen Robert Gibbs speak a handful of times and feel the need to take a long shower and scrub with brillo pads every time.<br /><br />As you are actually in the room with him, I have to ask. Is there a stench of burning flesh to accompany his slime?BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-50192840936822232722011-01-31T10:46:00.000-08:002011-01-31T10:51:50.283-08:00Suleiman the WizardThe falling Egyptian dictator, Mubarak, has appointed a new vice president and has directed him to "provide jobs, preserve subsidies, and control inflation."<br /><br />When I heard that, I was struck by two thoughts:<br /><br />1) Sulieman is a wizard!<br />2) How amazing that Barack Obama could continue support someone so obviously delusional.<br /><br />Oh, wait...BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-12916876169378208222011-01-04T08:22:00.000-08:002011-01-04T09:12:58.272-08:00Hokey ReligionThe "profession" of economics is broken. The peer review process doesn't work, the majority of the schools teach numerology and mythology as religious dogma, reward is given to crass, disfigured scientism, while beautiful, descriptive, self-evident science is regarded as magical.<br /><br /><a href="http://cafehayek.com/2011/01/the-test.html">Russ Roberts</a> has a string of questions offered as a litmus test. The science of economics cannot answer these questions definitively; only "economic" religion and its mystics will offer final answers.<br /><br /><blockquote>Suppose the economy does well this year–growth is robust and unemployment falls. What is the reason for the improvement? Will it be because of the natural rebound of an economy after a downturn that has lasted longer than people thought? The impact of the stimulus finally kicking in? The psychological or real impact of extending the Bush tax cuts? The psychological or real impact of the November election results? The steady hand of Obama at the tiller? All of the above? Can any model of the economy pass the test and answer these questions?<br /><br />The reason macroeconomics is not a science and not even scientific is that the question I pose above is not answerable. If the economy improves, there will be much talk about the reason. Data and evidence will be trotted out in support of the speaker’s viewpoint. But that is not science. We don’t have a way of distinguishing between those different theories or of giving them weights to measure their independent contribution.</blockquote><br /><br />I know other sciences have their kooks and cranks. I know there are political games played within their peer review, also. I realize that science is not perfect (or else it wouldn't be science).<br /><br />My question is, though, how do the other sciences protect the kooks and cranks from dogma, while protecting the science from being overrun with kooks and cranks? How is the bright line between conclusion and opinion enforced? How do they punish games of three-card-monty being played with the data and math?<br /><br />Or, do they?BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-6683422598826427192010-12-28T10:19:00.000-08:002010-12-28T10:21:59.072-08:00Government WorkNew depths of lazy and stupid:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kt_r-jO3lKE?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kt_r-jO3lKE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-80567281040749203552010-11-30T12:37:00.000-08:002010-11-30T12:43:35.162-08:00Feeling Gassy<p>Have you ever heard an elder reminisce about 25-cent gas? Silver's at $28 per ounce.</p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u32/combatflyer222/coins_to_gas.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 558px;" src="http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u32/combatflyer222/coins_to_gas.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-90579688123030662022010-11-28T09:44:00.000-08:002010-11-28T10:05:16.718-08:00Wikileaks Threatens the State Dept's Ability to Continuously Operate in Exigency Mode<p>It's no fun when bureaucrats <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AR1E420101128">don't even try</a> anymore.</p><br /><blockquote>Publication of documents of this nature at a minimum would:<span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_5"></span><p>* Place at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals -- from journalists to human rights activists and bloggers to soldiers to individuals providing information to further peace and security;</p><span id="midArticle_6"></span><p>* Place at risk on-going military operations, including operations to stop terrorists, traffickers in human beings and illicit arms, violent criminal enterprises and other actors that threaten global security; and,</p><span id="midArticle_7"></span><p>* Place at risk on-going cooperation between countries - partners, allies and common stakeholders -- to confront common challenges from terrorism to pandemic diseases to nuclear proliferation that threaten global stability.</p></span></blockquote><span id="articleText"><p>Why? Because the information to be released is supposedly <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AP06Z20101128">frank</a> about bureaucratic and political corruption.</p></span><br /><blockquote><p>Anticipating the fallout from the latest publication, U.S. Ambassador to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/places/germany" title="Full coverage of Germany">Germany</a> Philip Murphy wrote a letter to the German Sunday weekly Bild am Sonntag that the WikiLeaks revelations would be an embarrassment.</p><span id="midArticle_11"></span><p>"Regrettably we will soon have something new to see: alleged confidential diplomatic messages from U.S. embassies around the world, including mine. It's hard to say what effect it will have, but it will at the very least be uncomfortable -- for my government, for those mentioned in the reports, and for me personally as American Ambassador to Germany."</p><span id="midArticle_12"></span><p>The newspaper reported that some German politicians were severely judged in the reports.</p><span id="midArticle_13"></span><p>On Friday, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey told reporters he was worried about the documents coming out.</p><span id="midArticle_14"></span><p>"WikiLeaks are an absolutely awful impediment to my business, which is to be able to have discussions in confidence with people," he said.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Just so the score is straight here, to fight people who would use violence to achieve political and economic goals, people who use violence to achieve political and economic goals have to work with other people who use violence to achieve political and economic goals, but in secret. And, with corruption. And, your money.</p><p>Otherwise H1N1 will be unleashed.<br /></p>BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-41586710196544402692010-11-26T09:31:00.000-08:002010-11-26T10:05:50.608-08:00Now Call me a Whore!<a href="http://exiledonline.com/the-rally-to-restore-vanity-generation-x-celebrates-its-homeric-struggle-against-lameness/">Mark Ames</a>:<br /><blockquote>Anytime anyone says anything libertarian, spit on them.</blockquote> Anything libertarian like this? "I will not initiate force or fraud against any person or property."<br /><br />FYI, Mark, that means that no matter how wrong, hurtful, or hate-filled you are, I will never advocate for or condone any attempt to silence you. I will condemn any attempt by anyone else to silence you.<br /><br />Now, spit on me so we can begin the lesson on a libertarian response to initiation of force.<br /><blockquote><br />Libertarians are by definition enemies of the state</blockquote><br />True and false. The vast majority of people who call themselves libertarians are actually very big promoters of the state.<br /><br /><blockquote>[Libertarians] are against promoting American citizens’ general welfare</blockquote>False. Libertarians are for promoting everyone's general welfare. To the extent that everyone includes "American citizens" (whatever that is) libertarians are for promoting their welfare also.<br /><blockquote>[Libertarians are] against policies that create a perfect union.</blockquote>A perfect union of what? Royalty? No. Voluntary human cooperatives? Libertarians are very much in favor of those policies.<br /><blockquote>Like Communists before them, they are actively subverting the Constitution and the American Dream, and replacing it with a Kleptocratic Nightmare.</blockquote>If the non-initiation of violence entails subversion of "the Constitution and the American Dream" (whatever those are) and replaces them with a kleptocracy, so be it. This very much assumes facts not in evidence, but, as such an outcome is self-defeating, not alarming in the least. What is alarming is the thought of someone with your brand of authoritarian sociopathy initiating force against your political and ideological enemies.<br /><br />[HT to Glenn Greenwald]BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-56183201059124526792010-11-25T07:21:00.000-08:002010-11-25T07:25:09.928-08:00YepUnderstatement:<br /><br /><blockquote>Once bureaucrats get the bit in their teeth they take absurdity to its logical conclusion. - <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/71281.html">Paul Craig Roberts</a></blockquote>BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-80710424105304681402010-11-16T13:58:00.000-08:002010-11-16T14:05:53.027-08:00Junk ManI'm sure there are a lot of reasons to like John Tyner in addition to his outstanding poise when dealing with officious bureaucrats.<br /><br />But, I'm going to say the best thing about Tyner is his ability to get the entire country talking about touching their junk in nationwide media outlets.BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-55370897184259017952010-11-06T13:45:00.000-07:002010-11-06T13:50:19.295-07:00Immature PunksNow that all the seasonal political attention whores have gone home, or their caves, or wherever it is they go when they are not making post-season baseball a sickening experience to watch, the news has turned to more substantive subjects: cat fights between full-time political attention whores.<br /><br />Really? There's nothing better to talk about than what this state mouthpiece said about that state mouthpiece?BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-70215759202703237872010-09-09T08:13:00.000-07:002010-09-09T08:48:42.893-07:009 Principles of EconomicsArt Carden <a href="http://blog.mises.org/13693/nine-principles-of-economics/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MisesBlog+%28Mises+Economics+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader">boils down</a> the first chapter of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0136039855?ie=UTF8&tag=myotki-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0136039855">The Economic Way of Thinking</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=myotki-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0136039855" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> into nine principles:<br /><br />1) People act.<br />2) Every action has a cost.<br />3) People respond to incentives.<br />4) People make decisions at the margin.<br />5) Trade makes people better off.<br />6) People are rational.<br />7) Using markets is costly, but using governments can be costlier still.<br />8) Profits tell businesses they are helping others, while losses tell businesses they are wasting resources.<br />9) We shouldn't ignore the long-term and unintended consequences of policies and actions.<br /><br />Carden amplifies the list a bit, there are full-course seminars that basically follow this outline, and there are books written on each of these principles individually, showing that this list can be the basis for just about any project you want to do in economics, big or small.<br /><br />Three projects spring to mind: a one-hour "intro to econ" lecture, a series of one-page abstracts on each of the principles, and a bibliography encompassing the principles.<br /><br />Of course, all that work's already been done. It's just a matter of arranging it into a nice, neat package and making it accessible to folks tasked with explaining econ to non-economists.BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-58957741764733439102010-08-24T10:30:00.000-07:002010-08-24T10:32:32.866-07:00Talk About Missing the Object Lesson<p>NRO's Jason Lee Stoerts <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/244381/greatly-ghastly-rand-jason-lee-steorts">quit re-reading</a> Atlas Shrugged about two-thirds of the way through. Reaching the point of the novel where the Comet is sent into the tunnel behind a coal-fired locomotive and 300 people died, “it got too painful to look any longer, and so, exercising the right of any self-interested reader, I simply closed the book.”</p><p>I can't imagine the type of reader that wouldn't find that scene horrifying, for many, many reasons. The looter Kip Chalmers is insisting the train go through the tunnel immediately. The railroad employees and managers, who know better, are faced with the black-and-white choice of sending the train through the tunnel and condemning the passengers to death, or holding the train until a diesel locomotive can be found, thereby condemning their families to death.</p><p>Ultimately, the train is sent through the tunnel with the coal-fired engine and a drunk crew; everyone on-board died.</p><p>But, that's not the part that bothered Stoerts. No, he was willing to read on. What bothered Stoerts is Ayn Rand's insinuation that the passengers shared some sort of moral culpability in their own demise.</p><p>What Stoerts leaves out of his description of the scene is that, when apprised of the lethal danger of proceeding through the tunnel, Kip Chalmers dismisses the danger as “just theory.” It can't be proven that they will all die in the tunnel, so any notion of risk is conjecture.</p><p>Conjecture won't stand scrutiny before the Board of Equalization, so the railroad employees who might have erred on the side of caution faced the certain knowledge of dismissal and their families starving in the streets. In this way, the job of risk management is transferred from workers who know the risk to politicians and looters who know absolutely nothing about running a railroad.</p><p>Stoerts doesn't bother to mention that the entire novel, up to this point, describes in excruciating detail how the notion of competence was so completely turned upside down. In a nutshell, the lure of the mystics' woo and propaganda had turned vast swathes of the populace into enablers; the politicization of life and death decisions was not what the Comet's passengers wanted, but – to a person - it is exactly what they demanded and enabled.</p><p>In fact, Rand could have saved countless trees and innumerable hours of her readers' time by composing Atlas Shrugged as a one-page pamphlet that read simply, “be careful what you wish for.”</p><p>Stoerts describes Rand as “ghastly” for suggesting the Comet's passengers may have deserved what came to them but seems completely non-plussed by the ghastly societal order that had emerged as a direct result of the actions of the Comet's manifest.</p><p>It's as if he looked into the lighted window of the literary train wreck waiting to happen and saw himself staring back.</p>BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-73466392986410816852010-06-25T09:27:00.000-07:002010-06-25T09:35:19.508-07:00Weird, Completely Nonpredictable ResultsSo, let me get this straight. The US government destroys the Iraqi infrastructure, enforces 13 years of sanctions, invades (destroying the remaining infrastructure), and begins a reconstruction effort.<br /><br />Oil fields, which could have made the average Iraqi healthy and wealthy, are given to the new Iraqi government, with the expectation that the revenues will be used for security and reconstruction. Additionally, the US government pours $4.6 billion into the effort to build a new electrical grid.<br /><br />7 years later, Baghdad residents enjoy <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LF26Ak01.html">less than two hours of electricity per day</a> and pay $100 per month for the privilege.<br /><br />Whoodathunk?BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-24015596452503949532010-05-25T08:24:00.000-07:002010-05-25T08:27:49.495-07:00When is Your Birthday This Year?Completely for national security reasons, and having nothing to do with decreasing the incidents of driving while brown, to get a driver's license the state now requires proof of birth (I'm not kidding) and two proofs of residence as indicated by bills that happen to indicate the same address.<br /><br />Since I don't have a birth certificate, I was happy to see on the DMV website that a US passport was sufficient for proving birth. I grabbed my expired passport and the mail and headed off to the local branch.<br /><br />The way it works here is you get in a single-file line to have your documents checked. The document-checking bureaucrat then issues you a "now serving" number. It's not as good as the appointment system in California, but it sure beats the CA method of handling walk-ins.<br /><br />After standing in the document check line for an hour, it was finally my turn to spin the take-a-number wheel. First thing, the bureaucrat opened my passport and, mournfully, noted that it is expired.<br /><br />"Yeah, but it's still me," I said. "I didn't expire with it."<br /><br />"Yeah, but it's expired,” she explained patiently. “We have no way of knowing if any of the information has changed. Don't you have a birth certificate?"<br /><br />"There's the rub. I can't get a birth certificate without a driver's license," I said. "But, how would a certificate from the '70s, with no identifying information about me, give you better information than a passport from the '90s with my picture?"<br /><br />"Your name might have changed. Then we would have copies of the court order changing it."<br /><br />I could see where she was going, but the route she's chosen has a bridge out. "But, I'm applying for a license under this name. If my name has changed since that passport was issued, I'm not going to give you those court orders, am I?"<br /><br />Unconvinced, the bureaucrat delivered, I kid you not, the master stroke. "Well," she said in that grasping-for-justification tone, "your birthday might have changed."BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22646435.post-47911453456211403512009-12-27T10:11:00.000-08:002009-12-27T10:15:17.152-08:00An Agorist Manifesto in 95 ThesesFrom Fr33Agents / <a href="http://fr33agents.ning.com/profiles/blogs/an-agorist-manifesto-in-95">Kyle Bennett</a>, a work of art "suitable for nailing to an appropriate door near you..."<br /><br /> <i>agora (1) - n. A place of congregation, an ancient Greek marketplace.</i><br /><i>agora (2) - n. A market free of forceable regulation, taxation, and government</i><br /><i>(The) Agora - The aggregate of all such markets of any size.</i><br /><br /> 95 Theses<br /> 1. Free, unregulated, untaxed, and unmonitored trade is the natural right of all human beings<br />2. In a voluntary trade, both parties receive more than they give up, otherwise neither would trade.<br />3. Nobody gets taken advantage of through mutually voluntary trade.<br />4. Taxation forces people to pay for things that aren't worth the cost<br />5. Government regulation forces people to abstain from trades they would otherwise voluntarily make.<br /><br />6. Markets collect, organize, and distribute information more rapidly, accurately, fairly, and efficiently than any central authority could ever do, even with superior resources.<br />7. Prices are information.<br />8. Force distorts market information.<br />9. Governments' only means of action is force.<br />10. Governments operate blindly because they only see information distorted by force. The more information they gather, the less clear their vision becomes.<br />11. Aggression is a reaction to unpleasant or unwanted information. It's motto is "kill the messenger".<br />12. A market is smarter than any of it's participants. A government is stupider than most of it's participants.<br /><br />13. Governments require markets for their survival; markets thrive in the absence of government.<br />14. The more efficient a government is, the more dangerous it is.<br />15. Markets improve the material well-being of all people. Governments improve the material well-being of some people at the expense of other people.<br />16. Markets are more powerful than governments.<br />17. Human survival and well-being require free markets.<br />18. Human survival and well-being require the absence of government.<br />19. The best humanitarian aid that can be brought to impoverished people is to allow them access to the Agora, usually by removing their governments.<br /><br />20. Productivity is the application of intelligence to labor for creating something of value to someone.<br />21. Labor is equivalent to value in the same way crude oil is equivalent to a vacation.<br />22. The non-productive have always and will always try to live off the value created by the productive.<br />23. The productive will by right decide how much, if any, to allow it.<br />24. Charity is offered and received face-to-face, or it is no longer charity.<br /><br />25. Wealth is the natural and honorable reward from trading value for value.<br />26. Wealth is a store of productivity, not a store of value.<br />27. In the Agora, the rich have already given back far more than they received. That's the only way to get rich in the Agora.<br />28. Those who get rich outside the Agora could never give back all they have taken.<br /><br />29. Money laundering is an invented crime, the concept cannot exist in the Agora.<br />30. Price gouging is an invented crime, the concept cannot exist in the Agora.<br />31. Unfair competition is either not one, or not the other, or not in the Agora.<br /><br />32. Market price is an observation of history.<br />33. Market price is related to value in the same way news photographs are related to current events.<br />34. "Intrinsic value" is a lie told by parasites to try to steal from producers.<br />35. Companies advertising their product as "an $XX value" are lying to you.<br /><br />36. Fiat currency is theft by fraud.<br />37. Gold and silver are usually the bases for real money because they have properties that best serve that purpose.<br />38. Paper is the basis for fiat currency because it has properties that best serve that purpose.<br /><br />39. Communication strengthens markets and undermines governments.<br />40. Markets are the way communities stay organized when they are too large for face-to-face interaction.<br /><br />41. All resources are human. The term "human resources" is demeaning to the nature of both humans and resources.<br />42. Competition is not the purpose of a market, it is one of its methods.<br />43. Natural selection in the Agora is more Lamarckian than Darwinian.<br />44. Natural selection in the Agora does not destroy resources, it reallocates them.<br />45. Natural selection in the Agora does not kill people, it frees them to be more productive.<br />46. "Dog eat dog" is a feature of governments, not of markets.<br />47. Monopolies can only be created and sustained by governments.<br /><br />48. Freedom to fail is every bit as important as freedom to succeed.<br />49. The Agora guarantees neither, and resists the perpetuation of both.<br />50. Markets don't have goals, values, or ambitions. Markets are a tool for human beings to pursue those things.<br />51. "Market Failure" is an oxymoron. People sometimes fail to use markets properly.<br /><br />52. Innovation is an inherently Agorist activity, even when it happens outside the Agora.<br />53. A primary goal of government is to restrain innovation.<br /><br />54. Raw materials in the ground are not resources until they are brought to market.<br />55. The owners of private property tend not to destroy it. Commons are routinely destroyed or exhaustively consumed.<br />56. Agorist exploitation of the environment increases resources, and protects the environment. Government "protection" of the environment reduces resources, and harms the environment.<br />57. No species is endangered when it is owned. The best way to keep a species from extinction is to allow it to be property in the Agora.<br /><br />58. "Public property" is an oxymoron, and privatization of profits is not privatization.<br />59. Property is authority. It's not a market without private property and private authority.<br />60. Where there is private property authority, there is an agora..<br />61. Private property let open to the public is not a commons.<br /><br />62. Shortages do not exist in the free market, government obfuscation of price information is the only way to acheive a general shortage.<br />63. Being unable to buy something at the price you want to pay is not a shortage.<br />64. Markets are, in part, a process of voluntary rationing.<br /><br />65. Corporations are evil only to the extent they rely on government power. Corporations with a monopoly are branches of government.<br />66. Markets rely on trust. Markets rely on suspicion.<br />67. Individuals in the Agora expect suspicion and earn trust. Governments demand trust, and earn suspicion.<br />68. A government truly of the people, by the people, and for the people would have no powers whatsoever.<br />69. If the measure of virtue for a society is how it treats the least among it, then the Agora is the most virtuous society ever known to man.<br /><br />70. Governments thrive on opposition, antagonism, provocation, confrontation, and defiance. What they cannot tolerate is to be ignored.<br />71. The central idea behind the Agora, and one of the things it does best, is to ignore governments.<br />72. The effectiveness of the Agora's self-regulation is proportional to the extent to which external regulation is absent.<br />73. The Agora cannot be managed, controlled, regulated, or destroyed. It can only be interfered with.<br />74. Voting is nothing more than an expression of the voter's preferred way to interfere with the Agora.<br />75. The Agora is a network, and like all networks, it routes around damage.<br />76. Government is damage.<br /><br />77. Public education is an oxymoron.<br />78. One of government education's primary functions is to instill fear of the Agora.<br />79. The Agora is all around you. It's nothing to be afraid of.<br />80. The Agora is peaceful. Violence and war are results of failure to embrace the Agora.<br />81. Guns are often required to deal with people who operate outside the Agora, because guns are the primary way people outside the Agora operate.<br /><br />82. The Agora does not require permission.<br />83. Anyone with the power and inclination to grant the Agora permission is a threat to all honest men.<br />84. Anyone offering the Agora permission will be ignored.<br />85. Most true heroes end up in prison or murdered. This is even more true for Agorist heroes.<br /><br />86. The Agora ignores creed and color.<br />87. When it comes to markets, black is beautiful.<br />88. Wherever there are human beings, there is an agora. It may be hiding, but it is there.<br />89. The Agora is a select community - the strict qualification for membership is to want it. Most people don't.<br />90. The Agora does not recognize borders or artificial boundaries. It is everywhere, and it is no where.<br />91. The Agora welcomes you, but does not need you.<br />92. You need the Agora. Even if you oppose it, you benefit from it.<br />93. An Agorist movement is an oxymoron. Agorism is the natural state of humanity.<br />94. Practicing agorism is the only way to achieve agorism. Isolated networks will eventually find each other.<br /><br />95. Governments are on notice the world over: your days are numbered.<p style="text-align: left;"><img style="width: 300px; height: 423px;" src="http://api.ning.com/files/QxGNiS*kqCyYXK3HBGfDy2-xL-XUVbrivZmpdI3GQNWTgWyFst41DljwBPIRFbTn/a3woodcut.jpg" /></p>BloodyMaryBreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08911573149284544763noreply@blogger.com0