Monday, January 27, 2014

Monday's Child

1.  Interesting, though highly circumstantial, pictures on minimum wage.  It is striking.

2.  North Carolina proves that those economistic haters like Dennis Coates actually know what they are talking about.

3.  Wow!  No more PAT?  If they go straight to commercial after a TD, there won't be any instant replays.  Not sure this works.

4.  Interesting and not terribly flattering snapshot of BHO.   I think most politicians end up feeling sorry for themselves, because they don't get much respect.  GW Bush could never feel sorry for himself this way, however, because he wasn't poor and he isn't black.  BHO really is convinced people dislike him for illegitimate reasons; he can't face the fact that he is an unusually incompetent leader and a truly awful manager.  He just likes to read vague speeches from a teleprompter and then go watch football.  Why is everybody so MAD at him?  Ooh, look, a touchdown.

5.  Which is a greater infringement on my rights and human dignity:  Having to show an ID before I vote, or having to pass a program of state indoctrination before I am allowed to marry?  Apparently, the program of state indoctrination thing is just fine, at least in Colorado.

MOREMOREMORE



6.  Wall Street roots for Seahawks.  Maybe.

7.  Is ACA (a) a universal health insurance plan, or (b) a payoff to interest groups that support the Democratic party?  (HINT:  The answer is NOT (a))
 
8.  When good people do bad things to good people, the original good people are....not good?


9.  Headline:  "Five Tons of Dried Cary Poop Mysteriously Burns!"

10.  What could possibly be the problem with this?  Lots of governments own all the media that is supposed to keep those governments honest....

11.  Wow.  You could get "anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant (exceptin' Alice)."  Well, at the Apple Store you can get anything from the Jetson's House you want (exceptin' Rosie, the Robot).  Ths is pretty amazing stuff.

12.  I think Ayn Rand already did this movie.

13.  The very essence of MSNBC.  The wife of the former Fed Chair interrupts a discussion of the NSA, and perfidy of the BHO administration, to distract us all with the "breaking" story about Justin Bieber.  Yes, I understand that Fox is no better.  That's because it's essentially no different.  "Here, look at this bright shiny object!  Pay no attention to how corrupt and incompetent (insert favorite elected official or party here) is!" (I don't blame Andrea Mitchell; she just works there.  And in a way it's not fair to blame MSNBC; they are absolutely right that people want to be distracted from things that make them dislike Obama, because if they like him they feel better about themselves.)

14.  Religious liberty and economic development, from my man T-Gill.

15.  Wow.  You might want to control for constituency better than this.  But on the subject, phone call for my friend Nick Carnes.

16.  Interesting story.  But the photo made me wonder, "Where's Waldo?"

17.  On the plus side, with a drone you can get pix like these.

18.  Like a video game, they just hit "restart" on their previous marriages.

19.  I don't think I understand this result.

20.  I literally could not understand the argument this fellow was making.  I think it is (a) income inequality if bad; (b) climate change is bad; (c) therefore, income inequliaty caused climate change.

21.  This is a 4 minute video about a machine that randomly sorts marbles.  It is 4 minutes long.  And I watched the whole thing.  And I may watch it again.  I am easily amused.

22.  This may be unfair.  But I don't think it's unfair.  The wrong PHONE NUMBER?

23.  U.S. has made it increasingly difficult to start a new business.  Is this just perverse?  No, existing businesses are willing to pay legislators to do this.  SarbOx, Dodd-Frank, ACA, OSHA, EEOC, EPA, ....all these things make it nearly impossible to start a new business.  Protecting the profits of existing business.  I wish Prof. Stigler were not quite so right.

24.  Headline:  Driver Did Not See Me Stuck in His Windshield.  Wow.   I like where the guy talks to the driver.  Nice.

25.  Facebook makes police "work" easier.  You have to "like" that.

26.  Some UNC athletes were upset by these allegations. At least, they THINK they were upset.  They couldn't actualy READ the allegations, so...

27.  Lots of people believe this:  Lying is fine if it reveals the truth.  So, not only is lying permitted; it may be required.  My proposal would be to use the truth to reveal the truth, but I'm old-fashioned.

28.  WWI:  How America made the world safe for...WWII.

29.  Carden and Horowitz do a nice job with this.




5 comments:

John Thacker said...

Assuming for #2 you meant to link to this article about the money Charlotte wasted on the NASCAR HOF.

Anonymous said...

link to 21 is wrong, it gives the link to 20

Mungowitz said...

Both fixed now, thanks!

AD said...

#4. Great quote on the NSA leaks:

"The coverage of the leaks, Obama complained, paints “a picture of a rogue agency out there running around and breaking a whole bunch of laws and engaging in a ‘domestic spying program’ that isn’t accurate. But what that does is it synchs up with a public imagination that sees Big Brother looming everywhere.”"

Not sure why his explanation that NSA was just doing what the politicians had intended it to do should make us feel like Big Brother isn't looming everywhere.

Jon P said...

Marriage is a bit like drinking, driving, flying aircraft, and owning firearms - society pays a heavy toll when people do it badly. You might call it indoctrination when people are told they should wear a hat when they go out in a snowstorm (why? not wearing a hat is a victimless crime - leave my freedom alone man!), but nudges great and small have their place.