Just another Brick in the wall

Over on Cherokee Gothic yesterday, I wrote about a factory in Russia that was paying its workers in bricks.

I claimed that bricks were not a very good medium of exchange.

It was pointed out to me on social media by Alex Tabarrok and Larry White that James Buchanan had mooted exactly a brick standard for money!

As Larry put it,  "Bank reserves wouldn't be in the vault, they would BE the vault."

There's a discussion of Buchananian monetary musings in Chapter 2 of a recent book put out by Cato. The chapter is written by Hugh Rockoff.

Buchanan also discussed a labor standard, where you could pedal a stationary bike to get cash from an ATM.

In both cases he wanted the monetary system to be "the employer of last resort".

Stupid Is as Stupid Does

Pick your favorite stupid part of this act....

Several obvious possibilities:

A.  There were skid marks UNDER the ice.  A mystery that would require Sherlock Holmes to figure out....not.

B.  The guy already had his shirt off, in case he was going to be on C*O*P*S.  In spite of the 15 degree F wind chill.  So, the only thing he actually planned was the shirt-off thing.

C.  They kept the buckets in the back seat of the other car.

D.  The friend, who showed up later, was ALSO drunk and was also charged with drunk driving.

E.  The artificial black ice could quite possibly have caused another car to run into the guy who had faked the accident.  Perhaps it wasn't C*O*P*S, but a Darwin Award, that he was going for all along.

F.  For reasons that escape, women seem to LIKE this kind of guy (hey, he was creative, and he had a BMW until he wrecked it, faked an accident, and had to go to jail!).  So maybe it's not even a Darwin Award, but a highly effective redneck mating dance.  Leaving me to draw the conclusion that, once again, women are the very hardest thing to understand or explain.

Gendered

I don't know.  This seems a little facile.



On the other hand....it is surely true that at least some, and perhaps most, of our expectations about gender roles really are socially constructed.  And if someone wants to "identify" differently, that's okay with me.

I'm not so sure this is okay, with me.  That's a lot to keep track of.  And it's all made up.  I understand, that's the point, that ALL genders and roles are made up, or "socially constructed," and so why not make up better ones.  But I really think that any parent who has been around little boys and little girls will have some doubts about the claim that gender roles are 100% socially constructed.

The culture that is Korea / MIE

People, the R.O.K. is the men's make-up capital of the world.

Over 21% of global sales happen there and gross sales for 2012 are expected to exceed $850,000,000.

Men wear lipstick and foundation!

What has happened to the rough and tumble Korean male?

Theories abound, but as always in Asia, cherchez the Japanese:

Things began to change in the late 1990s, when the South Korean government relaxed a ban on Japanese cultural goods, exposing South Koreans to different ideas on male beauty, including popular comics featuring pretty, effeminate men.

Up His Nose!

It's the classic story, almost trite because you hear it so often.  Boy meets Lego Tire.  Boy shoves Lego Tire up his nose.  Lego Tire stays there three years, in his sinus cavity.  Lego Tire is covered with mold, causes near constant illness.  Doctor removes Lego Tire.  Dad says "gross!" but secretly thinks, "cool!"

Boy and Lego Tire are reunited.

Everyone is happy.  Three years?  Yikes.  Mom and Dad are a little embarrassed.  But I'm sure Dad really is secretly proud.  I would be!

Reminds me of Cheech and Chong's "Up His Nose..."

"We can't go out on the street without the yunkies and schvartzes....Keep the change!" Sure, yes, offensive. It was the '70s.

IPaidABrive

If you paid a bribe.... did you pay too much?

I hate it when that happens.

Pretty interesting "corruption quotient" quiz. Fascinating, in fact. It turns out I am a...

Buffalo! Your corruption quotient is down in the dump. Corruption is such an important part of your daily life that you see no difference between corruption and honesty. In our opinion you need to take a step back and review your take on corruption. In a corrupt instance, your philosophy will definitely have you rolling in the muck. You are a BUFFALO

Thanks to Chateau, for the link.

Best.Title.Ever

"You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations"

Published in Organization Studies. paper available here.

Science marches on!

Farting as a Defence Against Unspeakable Dread. Journal of Analytical Psychology

In the paper Fordham's views of development and Anzieu's concept of psychic envelopes constitute the theoretical underpinning. Bion's concepts of beta- and alpha-elements are discussed in relation to Jung's views on symbolic development and psychological containment.

The Effect of Country Music on Suicide. Social Forces

In this article, we explore the link between a particular form of popular music (country music) and metropolitan suicide rates. We contend that the themes found in country music foster a suicidal mood among people already at risk of suicide and that it is thereby associated with a high suicide rate. The effect is buttressed by the country subculture and a link between this subculture and a racial status related to an increased suicide risk.

No nod to KL, I did this all by myself!

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time

Police were called to a Colorado school where a student "had just thrown a TV and chairs and was now trying to use a cart to bust through a door to an office where teachers had taken some young students for safety...

The officers found him with a foot-long piece of wood trim with a knife-like point in one hand and a cardboard box in the other.

"Come get me, f-----," he said.

When they couldn't calm him down, one squirted Aidan with pepper spray. He blocked it with the cardboard box.

A second squirt hit the youngster in the side of the head, and down he went.

The kicker is that the miscreant was 8 YEARS OLD!

Yikes!

He turns out to be kind of a stand up kid though:

When asked about the pepper spray and what he did, Aidan said: "I kind of deserved it."

And then some, little man, and then some.

Official toothpaste of the Mount Pelerin Society

proven 98% effective in stopping partial differentiation!!

What I've been reading

Red Plenty by Francis Spuford. At its core, it's a narrative of the rise and fall of linear programming as the salvation of the Soviet system! It is funny, sarcastic, insightful and highly recommended, though I have to say it is a very weird book.

The Impenetrable Forest by Thor Hanson. A peace corp volunteer gets assigned to gorilla habituation in Uganda in the early 1990s. I started it because we are going to Uganda this summer, I finished it because it is a fantastic book!

Werewolves of Montpellier, by Jason. On Will W's recommendation I tried this graphic novella, something I'd never had read on my own. I have since bought 3 more of Jason's "books".

The Big Short, by Michael Lewis. If you only read one book on the crisis, or even if you only read one book all year, this should be the one!

Here's another tip for you all....

...the walrus ain't Paul.

And I can prove it!

Click the pic for a more glorious image. Source is here.