Friday Morning Ramble: The Christmas Edition

An old favourite every year here at NOT PC Towers:
The reason for the season? – NOT PC

And…

Christmas Myth #1: Introduction, and The Miraculous Birth
Christmas Myth#2: The Star of Bethlehem
Christmas Myth #3:  The Song of the Heavenly Host
Christmas Myth #4: The Birthplace and Surroundings of the Little Baby Jesus
Christmas Myth #5: So, What’s With All That Frankincense?
Christmas Myth #6: The Slaughter of the Innocents
Christmas Myth #7: Why December 25?

And…

“In answer to the question of whether it is appropriate for an atheist to celebrate Christmas…”
Christmas – AYN RAND LEXICON
Why Christmas Should Be More Commercial – Leonard Peikoff, PEIKOFF.COM

“For a welfare statist, though, your happiness is not a morally legitimate goal. What is?”
How The Welfare State Stole Christmas – Don Watkins & Yaron Brook, FORBES

Michelle Boag “is trying to get her mates Paula Bennett and Simon Bridges to NATIONALISE the Auckland Electricity Consumer Trust, the outfit that holds shares in trust for the people of Auckland and South Auckland and gives every family in Auckland and South Auckland a $335 Christmas dividend cheque each September.”
Christmas Countdown: The Boagan Whow Wants to Steal Christmas (and her Ten Dwarves) – WHALE OIL

Taxes, regulations & welfare lead to…
Down and out: the French flee a nation in despair – Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, TELEGRAPH

“Our most accurate global temperatures are from satellites, and they show little or no warming. Temperatures are far below climate model forecasts.”
State Of The Climate Report – CLIMATISM

What he said.
Putin's insane-sounding quote about bears is essential for understanding Russia today – Max Fisher, VOX

Two views.
President Obama Didn’t Tell The Whole Story About Cuba – Mike Gonzalez, THE FEDERALIST
President Obama Right To Call For Trade With Cuba: Half Century Of Failed Embargo Is Enough – Doug Bandow, FORBES

“A way to measure the potential of the Cuban market is to ask: how many people have even a land line, like the one Raul Castro used to chat with Barack Obama today?”
The starkness of Cuba’s technology gap, charted – Jim Rose, UTOPIA, YOU’RE STANDING IN IT

“At least 10 catastrophic failings by federal and state agencies led to the Martin Place atrocity, which Tony Abbott admitted could have been "preventable.”
Man Haron Monis: The 10 fatal failures – HERALD SUN

“SYDNEY'S chief Islamic ­funeral director yesterday declared no Muslim funeral home would accept the body of terrorist Man Haron Monis.”
Muslim leaders: Just dump his body at sea – HERALD SUN

“Truth is, there are basic steps that anyone can take to safeguard privacy and protect against theft of emails, identity, and financial information.” Even Sony.
What we can learn from the Sony hacking scandal – Simon Black, SOVEREIGN MAN

“Everything I've written about The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, my favourite book this year… a great Christmas present, all the way down to the festive cover.”
The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels: Recap – Bryan Caplan

“And what, Socrates, is the food of the soul?
Surely, I said, knowledge is the food of the soul.”
- Plato, Protagoras

“With $185 trillion dollars’ worth of exposure to interest rate contracts, it is no wonder the Big Four Wall Street banks want US tax payers to pick up the tab.”
The Coming Greater Depression – Vern Gowdie, DAILY RECKONING

“As Russia has deployed its reserves to (so far unsuccessfully) stop the currency collapse, it has made traders betting against the ruble richer while leaving the Russian government poorer. Poorer by $80 billion, to be precise.
The Russian rouble – Tyler Cowen, MARGINAL REVOLUTION

“Regulators forced up capital requirements up after the Global Crisis – triggering fears in the industry of dire effects…the capital increases had little impact [however] on anything but bank profitability. Lending spreads and interest margins are nearly unchanged, while credit growth remains robust everywhere but in Europe. Perhaps the requirements should be raised further.” Why not 100%?
The jury is in – Stephen G. Cecchetti, CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC POLICY RESEARCH
Has Fractional-Reserve Banking Really Passed the Market Test? – Jorg Guido Hülsmann, INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE
Confusing Capitalism with Fractional Reserve Banking – Frank Hollenbeck, MISES DAILY

“To better understand the current economic environment, financial analyst, historian, journalist, and value investor James Grant, who is informed by both Austrian economics and the value investing theory of the late Benjamin Graham, analyzes the Depression of 1920–1921 in his latest work, The Forgotten Depression: 1921 — The Crash That Cured Itself.”
James Grant Explains "The Forgotten Depression" – Joseph Calandro, MISES DAILY

“Poetry is something more philosophic & serious than history; for poetry
speaks of what is universal, history of what is particular.”
- Aristotle, The Poetics

Had to happen.

Sultry Julie London sells Christmas underwear like they’re hotcakes.

More champagne?

Oh, okay.

And finally.