Friday Morning Ramble: Edition #465

Another ramble around things I planned to blog about this week but never did…

“The trouble with socialism is eventually you run out of other people’s money.” Episode 67…
Nightmare Brown: Wants a poll tax to pay for his unaffordable trainset – PM of NZ

She’s even sharper than she looks, you know.
"Secretive and incompetent" – KEEPING STOCK

Polls are full of holes. iPredict polls no exception to the rule.
Careful What You iPredict – GONZO FREAKPOWER

“It was reported in yesterday's media that Labour is contemplating the introduction of a "digital content levy" to pay for the production of online content.  This would be the equivalent of the old radio and TV licenses that we had to pay for in order to fund the public broadcasting system.” Thank Libertarianz for getting rid of that one. Who you gonna call now?
An internet content levy? – AARDVARK

Colin Craig’s Conservative Party “are claiming that the media have 'stereotyped' their party as a religious social conservative outfit. But what about its claims to be "fiscally conservative?"”  And how does confiscating land fit with the ‘c’ label?
Clip-On Fiscal Conservatism and the Conservatives – Craig Young, GAY NZ

Yes, Giovanni Tiso is a cock.
Calling Out: Giovanni Tiso – THE LADDER

“Russia has long been a paranoid land power. It's huge, mostly flat, and wide open to invasion. Just to name a few examples, it was invaded by the Mongols in the 13th century, Napoleon in the 19th, Nazi Germany in the 20th, and has been recently squeezed by NATO expansion in the former Soviet bloc. These events seared themselves into the Russian psyche. They breathe better with buffer states.”
Pity the Vassals of Moscow – Michael Totten, WORLD AFFAIRS

How Should the West Respond to Russia? – Alex Berezow, REAL CLEAR POLITICS

“Don’t be fooled by Putin’s façade; the pillars of Russian power are steadily declining.”
Russia Is Doomed – Zachary Keck, THE DIPLOMAT

“Russia is only about 2% of the global economy. They need us a whole lot more than we need them. Moreover, Putin is weak at home…”
How to Kick Putin in the Teeth – TRACINSKI LETTER

How not to do diplomacy. “Obama: ‘This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.’ Medvedev: ‘I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir…’”
Obama “After my election I have more flexibility.” Russian leader “…I stand with you.” – RIO NORTE LINE

“The world is watching – and nowhere are they watching more intently than in Beijing.”
Crimea River – RIO NORTE LINE

“The trouble with socialism is eventually you run out of other people’s money.” Episode 68…“Venezuela may have the world’s second largest oil and gas reserves, as Steve Hanke of the Cato Institute notes, but wrongheaded policies mean production has fallen considerably in the past 15 years — the Chavista era.”
Venezuela’s Economy: Two Charts Worth a Thousand Words – Fergus Hodgson, THE CANAL

This page accompanies historian Tom Woods’ video “No, World War II Did Not Help the Economy…

It describes getting Building Consents too.

This series from Dr Michael Hurd’s Daily Dose of Reason site should interest, if not provoke, a few of you…
Three Persisting Misconceptions About Psychotherapy
Don’t Rush to Label People
DSM-5: Is Psychiatry Rediscovering the Mind?
Drugs vs. Therapy: Which one works?
Bipolar: Valid Label or Excuse?
Neurologist Calls ADHD a Phony Medical Illness
Disorders are not a free pass
Emotions Are Ideas
What Meds Do and Don’t Do for Emotions
Medicating the Mind (Part 1 of 3)
Medicating the Mind (Part 2 of 3)
Medicating the Mind (Part 3 of 3)
Can DNA Kill? Part 1 of 2
Can DNA Kill? Part 2 of 2

“While there's no "typical" creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviours of highly creative people.”
18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently – HUFFINGTON POST

Message to self:

“"To my mind, this embracing of what were unambiguously children's characters at their mid-20th century inception seems to indicate a retreat from the admittedly overwhelming complexities of modern existence," he wrote to Ó Méalóid. "It looks to me very much like a significant section of the public, having given up on attempting to understand the reality they are actually living in…”
Superheroes a 'cultural catastrophe', says comics guru Alan Moore – GUARDIAN

Would you sell your body to pay over-inflated uni fees?
Meet Belle Knox, the Duke Porn Star (As You Might Have Heard) – PLAYBOY SFW

But what about blokes who got into it to pick up posh girls? Won’t someone think of them?
History of art: it's not just a subject for 'posh girls', say teachers – GUARDIAN

"Instinctively and naturally, if you beautify your own life, you beautiful the life of everybody around you."
-Frank Lloyd Wright
(Photo of the #TaliesinWest breezeway by Claudio DiPoce, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation)

“For the last three years I have been looking for the best way to present the body of my art online - now I am happy with it.”
Art of Michael Newberry – MICHAEL NEWBERRY ART

If you like “"Stories the way they used to be," then you should, well, like ClioStory Publishing. ‘Cos they do too, and they’re looking for your love.
ClioStory Publishing – Jeff Perren, FACEBOOK

“Everyone knows how much they struggled to get the right balance between bombast and energy on this song, and in this version you can hear Springsteen's vocals more subdued at the start (and double-tracked), but most interesting is the over-the-top string section which dominated the central passages. And the equally OTT backing vocals.
“The sound is bit wobbly, but you'll get the idea.
“If this had been released would have been a hit, or just another over-Spectorised song ?”
Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run (alternate version, 1975) – Graham Reid, ELSEWHERE

Ayn Rand Institute has a slick new website. Try it out. Easy navigation. Online courses. Cheap digital downloads. What’s not to like
AYN RAND INSTITUTE

Students at Frank Lloyd Wright’s School of Architecture continue the tradition of creating their own desert shelters in line with Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideas…

 

[Hat tips Small Dead Animals, Paul Litterick, Barbro Sörman, East of Brussels, Celia Cobo-Losey]

Thanks for reading,
Have a great weekend.
PC

PS: My beer for the weekend is 8 Wired’s Double IPA SuperConductor. Wow!
I really shouldn’t tell you Galbraith’s have a keg on…