“First they hike rates, then they put on a transport levy, now they want to toll existing motorways! They have more than enough for the City Rail Loop - sign our petition here.”
Tell Len Brown and Phil Goff that enough's enough with new taxes – ACTION SPROUT via JO HOLMES
No Tolls on Existing Motorways – Stephen Berry, AFFORDABLE AUCKLAND
My answer: yes. Should you have the right to tell me no?
Euthanasia: Should we be able to choose when to die? – NZ HERALD
[NB: Questions about Assisted Dying or David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill? He'll be doing a live chat/Ask Me Anything on Stuff today at 12:30. UPDATE: Actually on the 27th. Oops. Archived here. ]
“Every Labour Leader from the 23 years of 1990 to 2013 supports the TPP. Andrew Little is trying to dictate the union position of opposition and may have to sack his own foreign affairs spokesperson…”
Labour leaders on TPP – David Farrar, KIWIBLOG
“Who said this? ‘... State support cannot and does not replace the love and care of a supportive family.’"
News more important than truth – LINDSAY MITCHELL
“Home buyers need to spend 10 times annual income. I wonder who ends up with all the money?...”
Today’s good news.
Life expectancy at birth over the last hundred years – UTOPIA – YOU ARE STANDING IN IT
Yesterday’s incomprehensible news.
Saudi abattoir deal will proceed – PM
How school choice raises the quality of schooling.
What You Should Know About School Choice – Angel Dills, LIBERTARIANISM
Yes, really.
School choice could improve life for teachers—here's how – DAILY SIGNAL
“We’ve lowered the speed and alcohol tolerance for drivers, yet the road toll has risen.”
Honk for a speed camera – LISTENER
“It's also worth noting that the Credit Suisse report has 453,000 Kiwis in the world's top 1% by wealth. Just owning your own home in Auckland will get you pretty close to the line. And about half of all kiwis are in the world's top 10% by wealth. If you want to hate on the top 10%, or the top 1%, you might want to look in the mirror.”
The Poverty of Inequality Reports – Eric Crampton, OFFSETTING BEHAVIOUR
Old dead Greek guys (mis)inform Australian political debate today.
Australia's Leading Thucydiot – Tim Blair, TELEGRAPH
What makes war inevitable – Steve Kates, CATALLAXY FILES
“How to Judge a Political Candidate:
1. A candidate’s overall philosophy isn’t as important as their political philosophy
2. They’re being elected for a specific job, not philosopher King
3. A vote for a candidate is an endorsement only of their basic principles
4. The essential issue: statism VS freedom
5. “If a candidate evades, equivocates and hides his stand under a junk-heap of random concretes, we must add up those concretes and judge him accordingly”
6. “An election campaign is not the time to teach people the fundamentals of political theory, and a candidate is not a teacher…”
Ayn Rand’s Advice On How to Pick a President – Michael Hausum, HAUS RULES
"Trump is the price we’re paying for Palin and Coulter and for every other media celebrity on the Right who made a career out of being “outrageous” rather than being ideologically coherent. This is what we get for putting personality over ideology."
Donald Trump Is The Price We Pay For Sarah Palin – Robert Tracincki, THE FEDERALIST
“When Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe arrived in New York in the 19th century, they were even poorer than blacks from the South who arrived in Harlem in the 20th century. But the Jews crowded into public libraries because books had been part of their culture for centuries. New York’s elite public high schools and outstanding free colleges were practically tailor-made for them.
”Groups differ from other groups all over the world, for all sorts of reasons, ranging from geography to demography, history and culture. There is not much we can do about geography and nothing we can do about the past. But we can stop looking for villains every time we see differences.
The Demand for Villains – Thomas Sowell, CAPITALISM MAGAZINE
“Sarah Skwire reminds us that the good old days were terrible – and, in doing so, she also exposes an historian’s grotesque misunderstanding of commerce and, of all things, also of history.” ~ Don Boudreaux
The Good Old Days of Poverty and Filth – Sarak Skwire, THE FREEMAN
“Last week marked the first anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.
The atrocity was a brutal attack not just on human life but also on the principle of free speech, one of the pillars of human civilisation. In the aftermath of the killings, people across the world united to express their support for that essential liberty.
Yet today, freedom of speech in British universities is under heavier assault than ever before.”
Facing Down Islamist Bullies – THE PENSIVE QUILL
The failures of progressive education, and how classical education fails to counter them.
The False Promise of Classical Education – Lisa Van Damme, OBJECTIVE STANDARD
“Do ‘soft skills matter to you and for your child? How do they manifest at home or in the classroom?”
Soft Skills – MARIA MONTESSORI.COM
Now the Lexicon is fully integrated with the ARI Campus website. … ”
Ayn Rand’s Essential Ideas at Your Fingertips – ARI CAMPUS
“Precious. Beautiful. One of the few most important initiatives for mankind in recent times. Each and every policy is explained almost poetically.” ~ Rani ShriVidya
Policies – AMERICAN CAPITALIST PARTY
“The idea that rights come from God is particularly popular among conservatives and Republicans. According to this theory, an all-powerful, infallible, all-good being makes moral law and gives man rights; thus rights exist prior to and apart from any man-made law and cannot be granted or repealed by government..."
Atheist Takes Up Rubio Challenge, Explains Rights Without God – Craig Biddle, PJ MEDIA
Yes, is Stephen Hicks's answer to the question he poses.
Is a Secular Morality Inherently Superior to a Religious Morality? – SAVVY STREET
"Beginning with its title, Atlas Shrugged is rife with mythological parallels. To understand the significance of these parallels, however, it is important to identify where they end. Some myths uphold heroes who act altruistically: Atlas holds the world on his shoulders and Prometheus suffers horribly for giving mankind the gift of fire. Other myths focus on the demise of heroes who use their gifts in selfish or “antisocial” ways: Phaethon’s ambition almost sets the world on fire; Aesclepius’ skills in medicine threaten to put Hades out of business. John Galt transcends the myths in that he does not act altruistically, he does not let society punish him for his selfishness, and he successfully deprives society of its victims." ~ John Thorpe in his winning Atlas Shrugged essay.
“Who Is John Galt?” Law Student John Thorpe Answers and Wins $20,000 – VOICES FOR REASON
"Who can forget Al Gore predicting the North Pole would be ice-free by 2014, and starring in the environmental catastrophe film 'An Inconvenient Truth,' all while racking up an electric bill 20 times the national average for his 20-room house and pool house?"
Why Leo DiCaprio is just another climate hypocrite - Karol Markowicz, NEW YORK POST
“A blizzard! The hottest year ever! More signs that global warming and its extreme effects are beyond debate, right? Not even close.”
The Climate Snow Job – Patrick Michaels, WALL STREET JOURNAL
“What’s lost in a lot of the discussion about human-caused climate change is not that the sum of human activities is leading to some warming of the earth’s temperature, but that the observed rate of warming (both at the earth’s surface and throughout the lower atmosphere) is considerably less than has been anticipated by the collection of climate models upon whose projections climate alarm …”
You ought to have a look at 2015 temperatures, climate sensitivity, and the warming hiatus – Patrick Michaels & Chip Knappenberger, CATO AT LIBERTY
“The strong El Nino has obviously caused great excitement in the warmist community. It should also cause any honest skeptic/lukewarmer to re-examine whether observations remain inconsistent with models… There are now over 440 months of data and these discrepancies will not vanish with a few months of El Nino.”
Update of Model-Observation Comparisons – Steve McIntyre, CLIMATE AUDIT
“Steve McIntyre always told us to ‘watch the pea under the thimble’ when it comes to climate change pronouncements, this is one of those cases. [Last week], to much media fanfare, wailing, and gnashing of teeth NOAA pronounced that 2015 was the hottest year on record, ever! There’s only one problem with that…the Internet never forgets.”
Failed Math: In 1997, NOAA claimed that the Earth was 3.83 degrees warmer than today – WATTS UP WITH THAT
“A record El Nino resulting in less-than-record temperatures is another sign that global warming is not all that activists crack it up to be. Indeed, if a record strong El Nino cannot bring global temperatures back to the warmth of 1998, what can – and when will that be? 18 years after 1998, global warming still has not created the runaway warming we were told to expect.”
2015 Was Not Even Close To Hottest Year On Record – James Taylor, FORBES
“What do you do when it's cooling? Change the data.”
Smoking Gun Of NASA/NOAA Temperature Fraud – Steven Goddard, REAL SCIENCE
“There isn't any climate crisis. there is a fraud crisis at the White House.”
The Fraud Couldn’t Be Clearer – Steven Goddard, REAL SCIENCE
“NASA and NOAA today proclaimed that 2015 was the ‘hottest year’ on record. … Meanwhile, satellite data shows an 18 plus year standstill in global temperatures.”
MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Richard Lindzen on ‘hottest year’ claim: ‘Why lend credibility to this dishonesty?’ – CLIMATE DEPOT
“The whole concept of the ‘living wage’ was once a benchmark used to evaluate the worth of a human being. That is, if you couldn't earn a living wage, you were ripe for sterilisation. The minimum wage was thus a convenient way of weeding out the undesirables from the more valuable human beings. In other words, in puruit of the Progressive ideal of ‘racial hygiene,’ the minimum wage was a key part of the agenda.”
The Minimum Wage and Progressive Eugenics, Again – MISES DAILY
“"The iron law of economics is that you must produce first, in order to consume. The Fed produces nothing when it drives up the price of your assets, and neither do you by simply holding them in the meantime."
The Bull Market in Stocks May Be Done – Keith Weiner, SPROTT MONEY
“If all this sounds familiar, it is. For White's diagnosis of the current monetary and financial scene incorporates central elements of the Austrian theory of the business cycle, with which he has shown a heart-warming familiarity in his recent publications.” ~ Joseph Salerno
Central Banker Warns of Coming Financial Collapse – MISES WIRE
“Excellent case study of how central banks were formed largely for the purpose of financing government spending. A government-granted monopoly on note issue gives the central bank the financial resources to provide what would otherwise be untenable financing to government.”
One Sentence, or, Unpacking the Truth about the Founding of the Bank of France – ALT-M
“Central banks can't even predict the interest rates they themselves set. But of course they should ‘steer’ the economy.” ~ Per Bylund
“When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion–when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing–when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors–when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you–when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed." ~ from Francisco d'Anconia's ‘Money’ speech in Atlas Shrugged.
"Francisco's Money Speech" – Ayn Rand, CAPITALISM MAGAZINE
“Proponents of state intervention in markets (managed markets) unfailingly assert the legitimacy of their stance by pointing to “market failure.” Yes, yes, they admit, markets are great at delivering goods and services to people, but, sometimes they inexplicably fail and this consequently requires men with guns (the state) to “fix” them. To put it simply, market failure is a myth. There is a failure however, not of the market, but of their own ability to comprehend the complexities of a natural system whose chaos is brought to order through feedback.”
Market Failure is not an option; it’s not even possible – Greg Morin, PORCUPINE MUSINGS
The magic of market prices.
Everything Can Be Measured in Anything – Don Boudreaux, ANYTHING PEACEFUL
“Starving artists have been affected by more than just piracy and streaming royalties…”
The Devaluation of Music: It’s Worse Than You Think – Craig Havinghurst, CUEPOINT
“Our proclamation prompted the question, “How do we save rock and roll?” While the answer is overwhelmingly complex, the question deserves serious consideration. To imagine that the industry will self-correct is magical thinking. If there was ever a time for revolution, it’s now.”
If Music Is Worth Listening to, It's Worth Paying For – HOUSTON PRESS
“In recent years, there have been some attempts to characterise copyright as a government subsidy…”
In re Tam: Copyright is not a Government Subsidy – COPY HYPE
“Despite the massive success of Adele's album 25, which sold a whopping 7.4 million copies in only six weeks, 2015 marked the first time in U.S. history that new releases were outsold by [albums released more than 18 months ago]. Seems like everyone's been feeling extra nostalgic lately.” Or maybe now almost all music is available, all music of all ages and places can begin compete on an even basis with all other music?
Old music is outselling new music for the first time in history – Adam Pugsley, CHART ATTACK
“It is always refreshing to see someone enjoying Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West for the first time. Check out this passionate blog.”
Taliesin West - Visiting Frank Lloyd Wright’s Winter Home – MISADVENTURES WITH ANDI
“Actually, Civil Society -- private charity, for-profit commerce
-- is what we choose to do together . . . peacefully.
“‘Government’ is what gets involved when people decide,
rightly or wrongly, that they must threaten violence in
order to have their way.”
~ Stuart Hayashi
Motorist and pedestrians are far more likely to suffer head injuries than cyclists.
Mandatory helmets for Motorist and pedestrians?
Why it makes sense to bike without a helmet – HOWIE CHONG
“In the early 1950s, a young lieutenant realized the fatal flaw in the cockpit design of U.S. air force jets. Todd Rose explains in an excerpt from his book, The End of Average.”
When U.S. air force discovered the flaw of averages – TORONTO STAR
Clickbait title. But cool gadget.
A Rude Son Refused To Eat His Dinner. So Dad Taught Him A Great Lesson! I Can’t Stop Laughing! – GLOBE TODAY
“People on Reddit were asked: "What's the most simple thing you've ever had to explain to a fully competent adult?" Some of these answers are shocking.”
22 People Were Asked: 'What's The Dumbest Thing You've Ever Corrected Someone On?' – KNOWABLE
"I was brought up as a Catholic. I've got A-level guilt."
Billy Connolly: 34 great quotes – TELEGRAPH
From Auckland to Otago: Where to drink beer.
2015 SOBA Awards Recipients – SOCIETY OF BEER ADVOCATES (SOBA)
NB: No music vids this week. Instead, check out my classy-as-hell classical music selections here:
The intelligent truckdriver’s classical music starter pack–Cresswell edition [now with playlist!] – NOT PC
Oh, okay, maybe just one . . .
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