Friday 12 December 2014

Friday Morning Ramble…

Left-wing loon and failed/failing/failingest political pundit Martin/Martyn Bradbury still hasn’t got over the election trouncing.
2014 – Year of the angry white knuckle – Martyn/Martin Bradbury, DAILY BLOG

Mind you, some National supporters are still thankful for the support of Martyn/Martin’s little helpers.
Mana planning to stand in 2017 – David Farrar, KIWIBLOG

“Whenever a small country gets mentioned specifically in an international report, that report there gets noticed… A new OECD working paper claims that income inequality hurts economic growth, and particularly hurt New Zealand growth… The set of results is then a little surprising….”
OECD on inequality – Eric Crampton, OFFSETTING BEHAVIOUR   [BONUS: Eric guests at the usually dreary Interest-Co.NZ with a decidedly un-dreary Top Ten.)

“All in all, the OECD has gone into the dragon’s den by backing the accumulation of human capital as its mechanism to link inequality with lower growth. No matter how you spin it, this linking of lower economic growth to greater inequality through financial constraints on the accumulation of human capital by the lower middle class was a bold hypothesis.” Interesting use of the world “bold.”
Charles Murray and the OECD’s Trends in Income Inequality and its Impact on Economic Growth – IQ, signalling, over-education and plain bad career advice – Jim Rose, UTOPIA – YOU ARE STANDING IN IT

Mind you, it’s not like the OECD has a clue.
The Only Thing More Bullish For The Economy Than Lower Oil Prices Is ... Higher Oil Prices - OECD

And ours.
Blame America's Housing Woes on Zoning Laws – ARCHITECTURE LAB

“The whole question of when the State should be able to step in to stop people going overseas to act on their moral principles - in particular, by fighting for them - is a quite fraught one.”
Kurdish bombs over Kobane – Andrew Geddis, PUNDIT

“90% of rental houses failed the warrant, yet the Dom Post wants it made compulsory. That’s a great way to make rental housing far more scarce and expensive.”
Dom Post calls for 90% of rental houses to be banned – David Farrar, KIWIBOG

Waterview Connection September and October Time-lapse

“Distinguish between the non-problem of inequality and any legitimate issues… Make them justify their proposed solutions… Reject the premise that successful people don’t count.”
How to Disarm the Inequality Alarmists – Don Watkins, VOICES FOR REASON

“In this case, underneath our current weak protection of property rights is an ethical belief that persons don’t have a right to what they’ve earned or inherited. Sentiments such as ‘you didn’t build that,’ and ‘it takes a village,’ hold much cultural sway. This is a significant philosophical change from the 19th century, when people had strong convictions that they deserved what they earned.”
The Surging Tide of Resentment – Marsha Enright, THE SAVVY STREET

And people say scientists sit in ivory towers…  “"Heels don't subordinate women - they empower them in romance," said Kaufmann.”
Study proves high heels do have power over men – ASSOCIATED PRESS

“This rather inconspicuous speech, on an anniversary occasion in the ancient Moravian town of Olomouc, contains perhaps the most comprehensive outline of the ‘Havel Doctrine’ of humanitarian intervention. It is striking in its simplicity. It emphasizes the shared responsibility of people to stand up to evil wherever and whenever it is being committed, and the unacceptable nature of appeasement, inaction, or indifference in the face of evil. It is cognate to the maxim attributed to Edmund Burke, ‘All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’”
In Search of Allies: Vaclav Havel and the Expansion of NATO – Michael Zantovsky, WORLD AFFAIRS

“It probably makes you more productive.”
Does Working from Home Work? – APARTMENT THERAPY

“In the great fiscal scheme of things, October 22, 1981 seems like only yesterday. That’s the day the US public debt crossed the $1 trillion mark for the first time. It had taken the nation 74,984 days to get there (205 years) … ; and the last trillion was added in hardly 365 days.
How US Govt Debt Went From $1 Trillion To $18 Trillion in 33 Years David Stockman, ECONOMIC POLICY JOURNAL

We never cease to be amazed what can make it through peer review and several levels of editing …”
Overly honest references: “Should we cite the crappy Gabor paper here?” – RETRACTION WATCH

“According to [warmism], getting rid of fossil fuels is a free lunch. The wise will roll their eyes at [warmism’s] wishful thinking.  But no one exposes its sheer absurdity better than Alex Epstein in The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.  You cannot have modern civilisation without abundant energy.  And despite decades of government favouritism, alternative fuels have yet to deliver.  As global wealth has skyrocketed, energy use has risen 80%, thanks almost entirely to increased production of fossil fuels… Haven't alternative fuels played a big role, too?  No.”
The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels: We Owe Civilization to Fossil Fuels – Bryan Caplan, ECON LOG

“We're marking the fifth anniversary of Climategate here at SteynOnline, in part because the upcoming Mann vs Steyn trial of the century is in some ways a bit of unfinished business arising from [Climategate].”
The Emperor's New Carbon Credits – Mark Steyn, STEYN ONLINE

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“As it says next to my picture, I defend laissez-faire capitalism. ‘Anti-government’ is the term Leftists use to smear this position. And, amazingly, some calling themselves ‘libertarians’ are indeed anti-government across the board; they argue for what they call ‘anarcho-capitalism.’  ‘Free competition works so well for everything else,’ these anarchists say, ‘why not for governmental services, too?’  But that argument comes from an anti-capitalist premise….”
Sorry Libertarian Anarchists, Capitalism Requires Government – Harry Binswanger, FORBES

“Here’s an excerpt: “You may notice that there is something striking about the way we define this ‘illness’ — that is, by its symptoms, rather than its cause. If we were to define a heart attack by the chest pain, then the appropriate cure would be painkillers, rather than repair of the heart. Other examples are easy to find…”
ADHD: the Party’s Over – DR HURD.COM

We dare not brush aside unexplained a horror such as Nazism...

cause hitler's germanyThe re-issue of the classic book answers the question so often-asked, and so rarely answered.  “How could it happen? How could ordinary people, seemingly decent Germans, turn into goose-stepping, Sieg-Heil-ing robots, eager to obey any orders, even to administer the ‘final solution’–the Holocaust? Leonard Peikoff’s answer to ‘How could it have happened?’ is: ‘The land of poets and philosophers was brought down by its poets and philosophers.”
Makes the rise of the Nazis finally intelligible – THE CAUSE OF HITLER’S GERMANY

“The connection between violence, particularly violence against women, and Islam is too clear to be ignored. We do no favours to students, faculty, nonbelievers and people of faith when we shut our eyes to this link, when we excuse rather than reflect.
    “So I ask: Is the concept of holy war compatible with our ideal of religious toleration? Is it blasphemy—punishable by death—to question the applicability of certain seventh-century doctrines to our own era? Both Christianity and Judaism have had their eras of reform. I would argue that the time has come for a Muslim Reformation.”
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Time For A Muslim Reformation. – REASON VS. FAITH

Objectivist podcasts on the philosophy of religion? That will excite some of you…
Resuming My Podcasts on Philosophy of Religion – Diana Hsieh, NOODLE FOOD

“Heather Wilhelm explains why she left feminism … I think the article is a fine snapshot of what this movement means for women in practice. Here's an example…”
Philosophical Rohypnol – GUS VAN HORN

Mockingjay - Part One is an uncomfortable movie. I suspect this is why it has not been greeted with the praise that was heaped on The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. But I’m glad this first part of Mockingjay isn’t comfortable. It’s not supposed to be.”
Mockingjay: Are You Uncomfortable? – THE FREEMAN

How to maximise small rooms.
Small Space Solutions: IKEA's Idea-Packed Videos – APARTMENT THERAPY

“Humanity's quest for knowledge has taken us back in time to the early stages of the universe — well before the first grains of dust clumped together to form our home planet, Earth. To accomplish this, we use powerful instruments high above Earth's atmosphere to collect particles of light that are more than 13 billion years old.”
These 3 Images Changed Our Understanding Of The Universe Forever – TROVE

What’s wrong with the visuals in the Tintin movie is what Rembrandt got so right!
Fatal Flaw: Showing the Light Source: A Lesson to Learn from Spielberg's Tintin – Michael Newberry, OBSERVATIONS IN VISUAL ART

An atheist Christmas carol….

Duke Ellington’s Best Album—One of the Best in Jazz—Is Also One of His Least-Known

“… If there were nothing on this album but Mood Indigo, if there was nothing in the Ellington canon but this [extended concert-version] arrangement of Mood Indigo, it—and he—would deserve a special spot in the annals of 20th-century music. But then the album’s new song, The Tattooed Bride, which Ellington and Strayhorn wrote shortly before the session (and which afterward entered their vast repertoire of classics), delves deep into greatness….”

It took hundreds of years for British pub culture to develop. And only a few years of nannying government to destroy.
The real reasons for the tragic demise of the British pub industry- Allister Heath, TELEGRAPH

“Epic @Roger_Kerrison comment after NBR's Yeastie Boys story is a mini manifesto for NZ craft beer scene.”
Yeastie Boys will seek $500K crowdfunded equity through PledgeMe – NBR

How could you not like an Auckland brewer’s Beers of Auckland Advent Calendar 2014

Oh, and …

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[Hat tips Christopher Chinchilla, Kaila Geary Halling]

Thanks for reading,
Have a great weekend,
PC

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I keep meaning to delve into Ellington. As it is the only album of his I have is Francis A. & Edward K., a late-sixties collaboration with Frank Sinatra. It has its moments, but is generally considered a minor item in both discographies.

Actually PC, I'm curious as to your opinion on Sinatra. Unless I've missed something, I've never read anything on here about him one way or another. Are you a fan?

Frankie Lee

Peter Cresswell said...

@Frankie Lee: I'm afraid my opinion on Sinatra is not high. His singing does very little for me. (And on some otherwise great Tommy Dorsey tunes, he just gets in the way!)

But I can highly recommend Ellington! Depending on your tastes, if you do want to delve you could start with either his 'Far East Suite,' 'And His Mother Called Him Bill,' 'Never no Lament,' or 'The Okeh Ellington.' Or a good compilation like 'Beyond Category.' You won't regret it.