Friday Afternoon Ramble: ‘Halloween’ Edition

For years now Halloween has been eclipsing Guy Fawkes night in popularity, and it’s not just because of creeping Americanism: it’s because for years now we've been banned from buying anything that goes BANG!
    These days –if you can get them -- they all, by law, just let out a gentle 'poof.'
    No wonder kids would rather dress up and celebrate an age-old pagan ritual by heading out and bludging sweets and chocolate instead.
    Enjoy it before that’s banned too. And in the meantime…

The lowdown on…
Tolling Auckland motorways – LIBERTY SCOTT

May I again recommend to Aucklanders my Don’t-Spend-So-Goddamned-Much Plan?
"About 116,000 Auckland households face a rates increase of more than 10 per cent under a rating formula released by Mayor Len Brown yesterday." – NZ HERALD

Speaking of losing money…
KiwiRail lost $250m - boss picked up extra $80k – NZ HERALD

They grey ones do listen sometimes, you know.
Feedback douses council fireplace ban – NZ HERALD

“In the last six years National has done more to address working-age welfare dependence than Labour did in the prior nine.” Which is not great competition.
Douglas Wrong About National – Lindsay Mitchell, WHALE OIL

On this evidence, it would be the bland leading the blind.
”Yesterday Labour leadership contender Nanaia Mahuta had a Q & A at The Standard…” – YOUR NZ

And the Greens were calling Colin Craig loony!
Green MP promotes antidote to Ebola: 0.625 of SFA – PM of NZ
The idiot – DIM POST

The flip side of police speed claims based on too little data:
No discernable link between road toll and reduced speed tolerance – WHALE OIL

Minimum-wage legislation harms the very people its well-meaning proponents mean to help…

“A poll released last week by the Washington Institute suggests the Islamic State may be more popular in Europe than in the Middle East.”
Michael J Totten: The Twisted Appeal of ISIS – BLAZING CAT FUR

If it doesn't work, we'll just keep doing it.
Punitive drug law enforcement failing, says Home Office study – GUARDIAN

The American left would rather forget its old slogan, “Bush lied, thousands died.”
The Biggest Lie – Victor Davis Hanson, N.R.O.

Is she really stupid enough to believe it?
Hillary Clinton: "Don't Let Anyone Tell You It's Corporations and Businesses that Create Jobs"; Ten Spectacular Failures – MISH’S GLOBAL ECONOMIC TREND ANALYSIS
Clintonomics, where costs don’t count and business don’t make work – ANDREW BOLT

“Unlike most astrologers who just mess up the lives of a few ordinary people with their phony mumbo-jumbo, Quigley had the ear of Nancy Reagan during most of the years of the Reagan Administration. For seven years, Quigley had extraordinary power over the events of the Reagan White House.”
Woo in the White House – Donald Prothero, SKEPTIC.COM

When properly understood, privacy rules will be an essential and valuable part of our digital future. Do it now, or it will be too damn late.
The right to privacy in a big data world: When properly understood, privacy rules essential, experts say – SCIENCE DAILY

Why is modern art so bad?

Go on, see if you can spot a connection.
UK wind power sets new summer record – BUSINESS GREEN
Britain Announces Emergency Measures To Prevent Winter Blackouts – WATTS UP WITH THAT

Yep, there certainly is a lot of money out there paying for climate lies…
The climate industry wall of money – JO NOVA
Billionaires club fund Green Blob “Climate Works” – JO NOVA

No, the Walrus’s aren’t going away, any more than the polar bears.
New Paper Refutes Walrus-Climate Scare – GWPF
Desperate Wildlife Extinction Claims are Part of the Warming Hoax – Alan Caruba, SOMEWHAT REASONABLE

Oh, just so you know…
Sea Ice Extent – Day 297 – Global Sea Ice Higher Than 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1997, and more – SUNSHINE HOURS

“With the end of QE3 coming that stock market bulls need to take a note of caution because the Austrian measure of the money supply is already falling. This is typically a sign of trouble for stock markets.”
The End of QE3, Trouble Ahead for the Bulls? – Michael Pollaro, CIRCLE BASTIAT

“Given the current environment of low growth and politically challenging fiscal adjustments, it bears asking if the unconventional strategy [for government debt reduction] is feasible.”
Advanced economies’ sovereign debt: 100 years of data – VOX E.U.

Oh yes, he’s very bold now he hasn’t got the big job.
Alan Greenspan: QE Failed To Help The Economy, The Unwind Will Be Painful, "Buy Gold" – ZERO HEDGE

“On October 13th, the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics was announced in Stockholm, Sweden, with French economist, Jean Tirole, the recipient for his work on developing models to better assist governments in regulating private enterprise.
The Austrian Economist Who Should Have Received Nobel Prize – Richard Ebeling, EPIC  TIMES

Kowloon Walled City is gone, but has not lost its fascination for folk.
Detailed Cross-section of the Kowloon Walled City Created by Japanese Researchers – SPOON & TOMAGO
Kowloon Walled City--Proof for Anarchy? – DEBATE.ORG

“China now has over 140 cities of more than one million people; America has nine.”
China's obsession with vertical cities – GUARDIAN

“Architects design buildings that will characterize cities for decades or even centuries to come. How difficult is it to design buildings for an unknown future?”
Lord Foster: The role of architecture in today’s society  - THE EUROPEAN

Starchitect describes 98% of modern architecture as ‘pure shit.’
Frank Gehry (right) gives journalist the finger – GUARDIAN

It’s life-threatening being a popstar.
The 27 Club Is a Myth, But Rock Stars Do Die Younger – WALL STREET JOURNAL

You can overdo a headline … but this does look promising.
The End of Cancer in Your Lifetime? One Picture Has the Answer – LAISSEZ FAIRE TODAY

“With a degree of seriousness that has yet to be determined, the city authorities have designated a 30 metre (100ft) “cellphone lane” for people who use their phones while walking…”

New art blog from an old business.
It's My Blog and I'll Brag If I Want To! – ROMANTIC REALIST

Vale Jack Bruce.

Okay, bring out the brunch.

It’s amazing what you can do with a cello.

I said, it’s amazing what you can do with a cello!