Friday 6 July 2012

FRIDAY MORNING RAMBLE: July 4 edition

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The conjunction of last week’s US Supreme Court decision shredding their Constitution with this week’s July 4 celebrations commemorating the commitment at the birth of that country to the protection of individual rights has not been missed by intelligent commentators:
Thoughts For the Next American Revolution – MICHAEL HURD
What to Celebrate on Independence Day – Ari Armstrong, OBJECTIVE STANDARD
U.S. Declaration of Independence (and declaration against government dependence) – Richard Ebeling, MASTER RESOURCE
Our Constitution is too Good for Us - THRUTCH
My Fourth of July Reflections – Tibor Machan
The Eternal Meaning of Independence Day – Scott Johnson, POWERLINE
New at Reason: Nick Gillespie on What Frederick Douglass Teaches Us About American Exceptionalism – REASON

The Green Party claims Amy Adams’s planned amendments to Section 6 of the Resource Management Act are “a major assault on the Act and on sustainable management.” Sadly, they’re not. Not any more than National’s last tinkering, and this like that looks like it only giving even more power to planners—planners like the arsehole below.
Report is major assault on RMA - Greens – VOXY
Eco-Fascism in NZ—the Beginning of the End? – Lindsay Perigo, SOLO
Report of the Minister for the Environment’s RMA Principles Technical Advisory Group – M.F.E
Unsustainable management – NOT PC, 2005
What would 'Party X' do about the environment? - PART 3: Small Consents – NOT PC, 2007
Unaffordable housing? No wonder! – NOT PC, 2012
It's time to drive a stake through the heart of the RMA – Peter Cresswell, FREE RADICAL, 2005

Whose_Bloody_Land_is_it_Anyway

Speaking of “sustainable management” and the ethos behind it, here’s an excellent piece on the recent Colorado wildfires—several responses to which exposed the caustic, anti-man, soul of the environmentalist movement.
Incinerating America’s West – Robert Zubrin, PJ MEDIA

Beware of mere “good intentions” on environmental issues, and run from “deep ecology” like the plague.
Do You Want to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint to Zero? – Diana Hsieh, PHILOSOPHY IN ACTION

Meanwhile, well-meaning big-government environmentalists continue to pick winners losers. (Can someone please tell Russel Norman that in the real world a Green Economy is an oxymoron.)
Yet Another DOE Green Failure as Abound Solar Goes Bankrupt – NLPC

Ahem.
The Miracle that Is the iPhone (or How Capitalism Can Be Good for the Environment)CATO@LIBERTY

And it’s not even trying to become a nuclear threat or anything!
Over the top Aussies liken Christchurch to Iran – THE PRESS

Obviously short of a headline recently, Shane Jones has picked a good issue with which to find it, saying :“We in Maoridom must not buy uncritically into the hostile rhetoric from the Greenies. It’s about time they showed as much concern for the brown kiwis disappearing to Aussie as for the habitat of the brown spotted kiwi.”
Shane Jones on the Greens and mining – WHALE OIL

“There are two types of people in life: those who get on with the business of living, and those who try to get in their way. Politicians and bureaucrats are of course foremost in the latter category, but in this crony-capitalist society we have now it is not uncommon to find those who ought to be in the former category sidling up to those in the latter. Thus the obscene spectacle of NZX, the company that runs New Zealand's stock exchange, announcing a new Diversity Listing Rule, requiring companies listed on the stock exchange "to provide a breakdown of the gender composition of their directors and officers; and, if they have a formal diversity policy, to give an evaluation of their performance with respect to that policy."
NZX Dildoed by MWA – Lindsay Perigo, SOLO

Yes, I agree, we should end fossil fuel subsidies. But…
The Amazing Ignorance of #EndFossilFuelSubsidies – Tim Worstall, FORBES

The Greens' Metiria Turei calls the Accommodation Supplement a "landlord subsidy" and points to it as part of the general problem of housing affordability: it pushes up the price of housing. She’s right, you know.
Accommodation incidence – Eric Crampton, OFFSETTING BEHAVIOUR
Fiddling with Housing Benefit won't solve the cost explosion – Richard Wellings, IEA.ORG

“Primary and secondary school education is in a shambles. Universities are
increasingly in academic decline as they endeavour to make comfortable
environments for the educationally incompetent. Universities should refuse
admission to students who are unprepared to do real university work. That
would not only help reveal shoddy primary and secondary education but also
reduce the number of young people making unwise career choices. Sadly, that
won't happen. University administrators want warm bodies to bring in money.”
- Walter Williams, Too Much University

Let’s not get too excited about China’s continuing ability to keep our economic heads above water.
China’s Economic Policy of Denial – Greg Canavan, DAILY RECKONING
The Question China Has To Answer Fast to Save it’s Economy – Callum Newman, DAILY RECKONING

Don’t think Germany is immune either.
Germany’s economy is only king in the blind valley of the Eurozone – Detlev Schlicter, PAPER MONEY COLLAPSE

The crash is speeding up. Will the Europeans manage to spend the last of Germany's money? Will it make any difference?
The greatest financial collapse the world has ever seen – Egon von Greyerz, KING WORLD NEWS

This story illustrates yet another of the moral hazards of a government-controlled paper-money system.
Bank of England dragged into rate-rigging row – TELEGRAPH
RBS & Lloyds drawn into rates-rigging scandal – TELEGRAPH
LIBOR: When Bankers Try to Shift the Blame – Murray Dawes, MONEY MORNING AUSTRALIA

On Monday, July 2, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a program on the gold standard as part of their Analysis series. Detlev Schlicter was one of the interviewees.
BBC Radio 4 – Analysis: The Gold Standard – BBC AUDIO

It’s happening, just quietly.
Gold reentering the monetary system – COBDEN CENTRE
How the Gold Standard is Returning Through the Back DoorMONEY MORNING AUSTRALIA

Mind you, it’s not a proper gold coin standard they’re talking about—one that leaves gold coins in the hands of workers.
A cross of gold, part 5 of 5 – Edwin Viera, TO THE POINT

“One of the things that separates good thinkers from not-so-good thinkers is the attention they give to terminology.”
To Discredit The Anti-Capitalists, Pro-Capitalists Need To Learn How To Use Words 
- Harry Binswanger, FORBES

Our favourite motelier had a strangely unsatisfied guest last week.
Unsatisfied Motel Guest – MOTELLA

 

Is Washington’s libertarian CATO Institute undergoing an Objectivist takeover? And why the hate from The New Yorker?
Who Is John...Allison? A Randian, Libertarian Business Icon Takes Over the Cato Institute – FORBES
The Kochs vs. Cato: Winners & Losers – NEW YORKER
Cato, Koch Brothers Settle Suits Over Control Of Think Tank – BLOOMBERG

Are formerly active blog comments sections losing out to Twitter and Facebook? But how meaningful a debate can you really have with 140 characters?
Blogging and Facebook- ROBERTO SARRIONANDIA

Here’s a topical question answered:
How much were the original Olympics like the modern Games? – HISTORY NEWS NETWORK

Yes, it’s true.
Your E-Book Is Reading You – WSJ

And now for the important stuff…
Formula 1 design evolution visualised – ROBIN’S CAD BLOG

There are some facts you really need to know. This is one of them:
Random Facts #2: Merkins – EROSOPHIA

Artist Michael Newberry has created a new video section on his website. “Cool time-lapse of wip paintings, lectures, presentations, and a few friends chiming in about art related stuff. All of it,” he says, “shares my love of figurative art and the road ahead with knowledge and innovation.”
Videos – MICHAEL NEWBERRY, ARTIST

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And another artist friend, Auckland artist Jesper Sundwall, has just won a Highly Commended Award in the highly regarded Art Renewal Center 2012 Salon for the piece below, ‘Sven and I.’ Congratulations, Jesper.
International 2011-2012 A.R.C SALON – ART RENEWAL CENTER

You can catch up witH Jesper and his equally-talented artist wife Jasmine Kamante at their Newmarket exhibition next Friday, and public lecture Sunday week.
Exhibition "Florence to Auckland" – JESPER SUNDWALL
Artist's Talk on Sunday July 15th, bookings available now – JASMINE KAMANTE

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If you’re living anywhere near Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch, then you’re in luck! Because at the end of this month the NZSO with Simon O’Neill, Edith Haller, John Wegner, Margaret Medlyn and other stellar singer will be presenting Richard Wagner’s opera ‘The Valkyrie’ as an “Opera In Concert.” Don’t miss out!
Here’s New York’s Met Opera giving the famous Ride of the Valkyries earlier this year:

A brief history of rock music100 guitar riffs in 12 minutes!

It’s a bit of a spotty presentation, but it does tell the story of my favourite album by my favourite 20th-century composer:

[Hat tips to Hugh Pavletich, Thrutch, Don Watkins, Geek Press, Julian D.  And thanks for cartoons to Bosch Fawstin and Nick Kim]

Thanks for reading…

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