Friday Morning Ramble: “He hit me with a flower”

It’s the end of the week, and Lou Reed is still dead. But we can still talk about him.

• PC on Lou Reed, "Like Jenny said, my life was saved by Rock & Roll" – Peter Cresswell, NOT PC
• Vaclav Havel & Lou Reed: “The True Story Of How Lou Reed Helped Overthrow Communism In Eastern Europe” – Rob Wile, BUSINESS INSIDER
• Neil Gaiman on Lou Reed:  “His songs were the soundtrack to my life” – GUARDIAN
• Penn Jillette on Lou Reed:  "...so he just punched me in the face." [99 min. podcast] – PENN’S SUNDAY SCHOOL
• “In his two opening sentences, Peter Alan Ross nails Lou Reed.” – Peter Alan Ross,  THE SCOTSMAN
• Middle-of-the-road obituarists: leave Lou Reed alone! – Andrew Calcutt, SPIKED
• Read Laurie Anderson's Heartbreaking Letter About Lou Reed's Last Days – Laurie Anderson, SPIN.COM
• John Cale on Lou Reed: "We Have the Best of Our Fury Laid Out on Vinyl" – SPIN.COM
• David Byrne on Lou Reed: “"His work and that of the Velvets was a big reason I moved to NY … We wanted to be in a city that nurtured and fed that kind of talent.” – ROLLING STONE
• Patti Smith on Lou Reed: “We all owe him a debt. Most of us that owe a debt are not very happy to own up to it.” -  HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
• Lou Reed; the last photo shoot by Jean Baptiste Mondino...

A week when the scales fell further from Americans’ eyes.

• Video: What We Saw At The Anti-NSA "Stop Watching Us" Rally – HIT & RUN
• “High government spending increases unemployment and slows economic recovery” – Arthur Laffer, SPECTATOR
• 25 Stats That Prove That The American Dream Is Being Systematically Destroyed – Michael Snyder, AMERICAN DREAM
• Obamacare Meant to Fail in 5-10 Yrs, Not Instantly – Robert Tracinski, DAILY DEBATE
• Five Reasons You May Not Get To Keep Your Health Plan, Even If the President Says You Can – CONSUMER AFFAIRS
• Why We Need a Healthcare.gov Witch Hunt: It is the only way we have a shot of settling a big debate: Can government do big things? – John Dickerson, SLATE
• Progressive Government Fails – Daniel Henninger, WALL STREET JOURNAL

So let me be clear
I didn't know that you'd know
That I really knew
- Charlie Johnson, #ObamfuscatoryHaiku

A week in which, when the UK wasn’t being attacked by nature, it was busy attacking itself:

• Press found guilty of being too free – Mick Hume, SPIKED
• Blow, blow, warmist myths of contemporary climate exceptionalism.
  The UK Saint Jude's Day Storm - another fall storm in a long line of many – Paul Homewood, WATTS UP WITH THAT
• It’s all over for the monarchy
  Future of the monarchy rocked as fox kills Tower of London's 'guardian' ravens – TELEGRAPH

In which the future of news gathering itself was up for debate…
DEBATE: Is Glenn Greenwald the Future of News? – NEW YORK TIMES

Meanwhile … in New Zealand, nanny banned a beer tent. Why? Because she could.

Cartoon by Simon Letch, Sydney Morning Herald

And in news elsewhere …

“Sweden often gets held up as an example of how socialism can work better than markets. But, as Norberg shows, Sweden's history in fact points to the opposite conclusion.”
How Laissez-Faire Made Sweden Rich – Johan Noberg, LIBERTARIANISM.ORG

If you concede your position is a necessary evil, then in any specific battle, who is going to have the advantage?
Ayn Rand rewrote the story of capitalism to show that it is a necessary good – Yaron Brook and Don Watkins, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

For folk who talk up their ability to predict the future to three decimal places …
Economists do a terrible job of predicting the future of the economy – ON LIBERTY STREET

“A number of people have asked me to expand on how the rapid expansion of money supply leads to an effect the opposite of that intended: a fall in economic activity.”
The adverse effects of monetary stimulation – Alasdair Macleod, COBDEN CENTRE

John Butler gave a great presentation in Auckland last week, it was only a shame more people weren’t there to see him.
John Butler in Auckland: “Remonetisation of gold is inevitable” – GOLD PRICES

European youth unemployment just continues to get worse, with a whole generation being wiped out of the workforce. Mind you, they do have aggressive central bankers and the bests minimum-wage laws in the world.

You’re right. It shouldn’t be news, should it.
New review paper finds Medieval and Roman Warm Periods were worldwide and warmer than the present – THE HOCKEY SCHTICK

Bjorn Lomborg: ‘It is official: the planet’s temperature is running lower than pretty much *all* simulations, according to UN IPCC’ – FACEBOOK

Not just the IPCC. ‘Population Bomber’ Paul Erlich has been wrong for so long he’s worse than a monkey on a typewriter.  But did you know he did once get something right? (Can you guess what it was?)
Wrong constantly for 45 years – KIWIBLOG 
The hobgoblins have arrived – NOT PC, 2009
Selling disaster: The four horsemen of modern apocalypse – NOT PC, 2006

“The Age, a bible of the global warming faith, said it was ‘keen’ to get a piece from Dr David Evans on global warming and the NSW fires. When he sent it, the paper suddenly couldn’t find room to run it.”
Fuel Loads Not Climate Change Are Making Bushfires More Severe – David Evans, JO NOVA

So if the Arctic melts when recorded temperatures are low, and freezes when recorded temperatures are high, d’you think there might be something wrong with how temperatures are recorded? (Or adjusted?)
Smoking Gun That The Temperature Record Is Fraudulent – Steven Goddard, REAL SCIENCE

Advertisers do optical illusions. (And check out their “how to” vid.)

“But the nasty effect isn’t new, or unique to the Internet.”
The Psychology of Online Comments – THE NEW YORKER

The next rung up on the acting ladder must be playing “the vic” in flashbacks.
He's not dead, he just plays it on TV – TODAY

Why reading will always be more satisfying than watching TV.
Why I Like Books Better Than TV – Sarah Wendell, KIRKUS

When timing is everything.
What Is the Exactly Perfect Time to Drink Your Coffee? – SMITHSONIAN BLOG

When playground mantras are wrong.
Sticks and Stones Will Break My Bones...and Names Are Just as Bad? – DR MICHAEL HURD

“It is old news by now that large numbers of students suffer from low self-esteem and major depression.”
Reclaiming the “Self” in Self-Esteem – Veronica Ryan, THE UNDERCURRENT

The Australian nanny state and the slippery slope.
Nanny's drinking problem – Christian Kerr, THE AUSTRALIAN

Hey, the Mini Moke is coming back!

Celebrity graffiti provocateur has the answer to the mediocre replacement for the Twin Towers: “Build a better building in front of it.”
The biggest eyesore in New York is not the graffiti, argues Banksy, it's under construction at Ground Zero – BANKSY

“For architects, as opposed to rappers, it’s not as easy to sell out.”
Keep Talking Kanye: An Architect’s Defense of Kanye West – ARCH DAILY

So what’s wrong with housing the homeless in shipping containers?
The concept sounds ghastly until you know the difference it can make, says Brighton Housing Trust's chief executive – Andy Winter, GUARDIAN

When the planners said you can’t build up, London’s billionaires started expanding their homes below ground. But now the planners want to stop that too.
Is it the end for millionaire mega-basements? – GUARDIAN

Bye, Lou.

[Hat tips Catallaxy Files, Geek Press, Marginal Revolution, Volokh Conspiracy, Charlie Johnson, Christopher Snowdon, The Anti Al Gore, Patrick Reynolds, Andrew Wimsatt, Robert Tracinski, Catotheyounger, Martyn McLaughlin, Taylor Davidson, TheEconomicCollapse, Kirkus Reviews]

Thanks for reading,
and have a great weekend.
See you at the Dave McArtney Tribute.
PC

PS: Did you know Epic is the number one New Zealand beer brand in Sweden, well ahead of Lion, “whose Steinlager Pure in slimline cans have failed to catch the Swedes imagination.”  I know how I’ll be celebrating this weekend.