Friday Morning Ramble - 071016

 

“Man takes a positive hand in creation whenever he puts a building
upon the earth beneath the sun. If he has any birthright at all, it must
consist in this, that he, too, is no less a feature of the landscape than
the rocks, trees, bears or bees of that nature to which he owes his being.” 
~ Frank Lloyd Wright, 1937
(Pic: Bobcat at Wright’s Taliesin West, “where every day is Animal Day”)

 

“When did it become an obligation on an employer to discipline an employee for what could be a fleeting airport toilet shag with a woman not his ‘partner’, thousands of miles from the ‘workplace’ with no evidence (so far) that it could affect workplace performance.”
The Rugby Union’s clerical duties – STEPHEN FRANKS
So what’s going on with *this* couple? – NOT PC

“Condoms are not 100 percent effective, but there are few who would advise that it means abstinence is the only option.”
E-cigarettes could save lives. Let’s make it easier to buy them – Jenesa Jeram, SPINOFF

“David Seymour says it’s time for New Zealand to push for a deal.”
ACT calls for 'free movement' between NZ, Britain, OZ, and Canada - TVNZ

“’…a culture where corruption flourished and was normalised, with no questions asked,’ he said.”
Corruption at council widespread: Crown – HERALD

It’s like old-style journalism has come back!
Journalist who threatened to break Farrar’s legs now works for NZ Herald – WHALE OIL

Does this sound like sober analysis to you, or a threat?
Watching Without Love: The Ominous Implications Of "Hobson's Pledge" – Chris Trotter, BOWALLEY ROAD

“There are three compelling reasons to oppose this attempt to propel New Zealanders into a constitutional debate.”
Sir Geoffrey’s draft constitution – STEPHEN FRANKS

“Could farming and eating these native New Zealand birds actually help protect them?”
Could farming native birds help protect them? – NEWSHUB

Free trade: particularly good for the poor
The cost of protectionism to the poor – Paul Walker, ANTI DISMAL

“Other cities with lower residential property price growth than Auckland were Toronto 12.4%, Melbourne 8.2%, Mumbai 6.8%, Tokyo 4.9%, Brisbane 4.3%, Sydney 3.6% and New York 2.1%.”
House prices in Auckland climbing faster than London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Melbourne or Sydney – INTEREST.CO.NZ

“With many wondering how people could afford what seemed like stratospheric house prices, Ebert said interest rates were ‘the missing piece of the puzzle.’ … Low interest rates are stoking house prices in areas where they fundamentally should fall.”
Mystery of 'unaffordable houses' lies with interest rates: BNZ – STUFF

“In a surprising twist, four very different and diverse organisations are united in the view that the RMA and wider resource management system is not delivering for the environment nor for business… The ground-breaking EDS research found that the RMA had not met the environmental outcomes expected of it, and that the wider issue of how the nation’s resources are managed was suboptimal… ‘The Property Council has always known the RMA is failing cities and our long standing experiences of the housing crisis nationwide confirms this. The report validates that this failure extends to the natural environment as well.’”
How effective is NZ’s resource management system? – EDS, EMA, Property Council - SCOOP
How the RMA continues to protect polluters – NOT PC, 2015
RMA: After 25 years, time to euthanase it – NOT PC, August, 2016
‘Coming to the Nuisance’? What’s that about? – July, 2016
To Don Brash, regarding the RMA – NOT PC, 2011
The 11-point plan to rid us of the RMA – NOT PC, 2015

 

“Many Maori are Maoris of Convenience, like Steve O'Regan.
Maori today is a cross between a religion, like Catholicism, and a social club, like Lions or Freemasons.
It has its own rituals and beliefs, but it is not a race.”
~ John Ansell

 

“We are still left with a seemingly unanswerable question: Why would sane people, even desperate ones, stubbornly get behind a man who is so transparently a clown? … I hesitate to add yet another conjecture to the list of explanations of Trump’s popularity, but I would argue that the answer is that there has been a radical shift in American consciousness over the last few decades. I am not referring to the contents of consciousness, but to its operation.”
Donald Trump and the Age of the Loudmouth – Kurt Keefner, THE SAVVY STREET

“What this editorial shows is that, essentially, we have a choice between two Leftist Democrats, one actual and one dressed up as a Republican. The only debate is over who will expand the welfare state the most, how fast, and in what way.”
Hillary Vs. Trump: Where’s the Opposition to Welfare State Violence? – Michael LaFerrara, PRINCIPLES PERSPECTIVES

“What did we learn [from the ‘debates’] about the candidates’ foreign policies?” About the candidates’ views on the Iran nuclear deal, the Iraq war, ISIS and more…”
Five Takeaways on Foreign Policy from the Presidential Debates – Elan Journo, FACEBOOK

“I’d vote for either Kaine or Pence over either Clinton or Trump. I even found myself wishing for a Pence-Kaine ticket. And I have substantial disagreements with the policies of both men.”
Clinton and Trump Should Both Drop Out for the Good of the Country – ARI ARMSTRONG

“Presidents don't create real jobs. Free people do, when gov’t gets out of our way..”

 

“Instead of talking about DonaldTrump's '95 taxes, ask him & Hillary about their awful spending plans. Like the fixation on Gary Johnson's ‘Aleppo moments,’ this stuff stymies serious conversation about first-order concerns like government spending.”
Donald Trump's Billion-Dollar Tax Loss Is a Diversion From More-Serious Matters – REASON

Mind you, I thought it died 102 years ago. Still and all: ”Why both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump represent complementary attacks and threats to liberty, and whatever remaining elements of classical liberalism that may still exist in modern America.”
Will 2016 Be the Year Classical Liberalism Died? – Michael Tanner, NRO

“The [UK] PM’s speech shows that three decades after Reagan and Thatcher free market ideas are in decline.”
Theresa May's speech shows that free-market ideas are in decline – Allister Heath, TELEGRAPH

“Hillary Clinton declared that if she is elected president of the United States, she would make sure that ‘some employers go to jail for wage theft and all the other abuses they engage in.’ Her incendiary comments were obvious ‘red meat’ for the audience, but it also helped to clarify her own economic views and how she would govern if elected.
The Economics of Hillary Clinton – William Anderson, MISES.ORG

“We’ve got the best data. The best.”
If Donald Trump published an academic article – IMGUR

“He's also insulted a lectern, a microphone and New Jersey.”
The complete Trump Twitter Insult List – NEW YORK TIMES

Because you asked…

 

“Creating special economic zones that let refugees own property, have jobs, and create laws could change transient and dangerous camps into economic powerhouses.”
Instead Of Temporary Camps, We Should Let Refugees Build Their Own Flourishing Cities – Mark Lutter, CO.EXIST

Inequality? It’s called regulation.
Regulations Widen Wealth Inequality – Adam Millsap, FEE

“Ultimately though, in broader more subjective terms, it is capitalism itself that is threatened by the ongoing Martingale strategies of central banks. As central bank purchases grow, and negative/zero interest rate policies persist, they will increasingly inhibit capitalism from carrying out its primary function — the effective allocation of resources based upon return relative to risk.”
"This Cannot End Well" Bill Gross Warns – ZERO HEDGE

How strippers get paid.
Why an Exotic Dancer Is (Financially) Just Like Your Hairdresser – BILL FOLD

Remembering some of the most deserving Nobel Prize winners…
James Buchanan's Contributions to Constitutional Political Economy,... Peter Boettke, Liva Palagashvili – MERCATUS

“The field, he asserts, has devolved into a sort of cult in which loyalty to certain figures of authority matters more than the pursuit of the truth. Could this really be true? Well, it certainly has precedents in physics.”
The Dangerous Cult of Academic Macroeconomics – Mark Buchanan, BLOOMBERG

So the biggest correlation with child poverty is … marriage or partnership break ups.

 

“Economists have discovered that productivity growth alone explains the dramatic development of industrial economies. Yet, the causes of productivity growth are unclear, with capital, labor and technological contributions… The present article suggests that there are two main sources of the dramatic declines in productivity growth and TFP in the past decade. First, the U.S. patent system has been substantially degraded. Second, the competitive configuration of the technology industry has become highly concentrated…”
Economic Trends and Productivity Growth Decline in America – Neal Solomon, IP WATCHDOG

It's been done, over and over...
How Roman Central Planners Destroyed Their Economy – Richard Ebeling, FEE

The most thorough refutation yet of Thomas Piketty.
Piketty’s Capital: Wrong Theory/Destructive Program – GEORGE REISMAN’S BLOG

“Insider trading laws restrict people’s ability to buy and sell securities based on “material nonpublic information.” But what the government considers insider trading is often so nebulous that it amounts to ex post facto law: in many cases, it is impossible to know whether you’ve committed a crime until the government says you committed one.”
Insider Trading: The Rule of Unreason – Don Watkins, VOICES FOR REASON

“A lot of good people want to improve the lives of their fellow citizens by entering public service. The last place smart and creative people should be is in the grinding misery of the public sector.”
Public Office Is No Place for Our Best and Brightest – Andrew Zalucky, FEE

 

 

“While ecos and wind farm proponents tried to blame the blackout on downed powerlines, a detailed report from AEMO shows it was actually wind farms that were the cause.”
Australian Energy Market Operator report says wind farms were the ultimate cause of blackout, network withstood pylon downings – WATTS UP WITH THAT

“Australia's Senate on Thursday voted 39-32 to repeal a politically divisive carbon emissions price that contributed to the fall from power of three Australian leaders since it was first suggested in 2007.”
Australia Becomes First Developed Nation to Repeal Carbon Tax – WSJ

“Climate change pioneer: ‘It's a religion... totally unscientific.’"
James Lovelock on Climate Prediction: “I’ve grown up a bit since then.” – WATTS UP WITH THAT

“"...[W]e have reached a turning point, where the pollution of modern science is now an accepted truth."
Is Modern Science Polluted? – INVESTORS.COM

“Documentary exposes 'silent challenges' facing those who abandon their Muslim faith.”
The 'tsunami of atheism' in Islamic communities, and the ex-Muslims living in fear of revenge – INPEDENDENT (UK)

“The arguments are done and dusted. Now the question that remains is whether the West will elect to political office men and women of courage and resolve, or lay down and surrender…”
How to Actually Fight Terrorism—In Six Simple Steps – Vinay Kolhatkar, SAVVY STREET

“By a razor-thin margin of less than half a percentage point, Colombian voters narrowly rejected a proposed peace plan that would have formally ended the longest-running war in the Western Hemisphere.”
What Just Happened in Colombia? – Michael Totten, WORLD AFFAIRS JOURNAL

Some British students are growing balls.
Students are fighting back against the PC creed – Brendan O’Neill, SPECTATOR

“An Australian high school student reflects upon their transition to conventional secondary education and how their Montessori education prepared them for what lay ahead.”
How Montessori has set me up for life – Zander, MONTESSORI COMMUNITY EDUCATION

“The summer holiday is more than a quaint tradition. Along with family time, mealtime and weekends, it is an important way that we can make the most of our beautiful brains.”
Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain – NEW YORK TIMES

“Ever wonder how a city with such a rich and fascinating history as London came to be the modern metropolis it is today?”
Witness 2,000 Years of London's Urban Development in a Single Video - ARCHITIZER

 

Top list this. My favourite local is a thoroughly deserved inclusion at number two.
5 of Auckland's best cocktail bars – STUFF

“The secret sauce in their new method is cavitation, the formation of small bubbles of vapour within a liquid and their subsequent collapse. This is usually done by reducing the pressure within a liquid so that it boils and then increasing it again so that the vapour condenses… The rapid collapse of one of these tiny bubbles can create temperatures of more than 1,000 Kelvin and produce pressures some 5,000 times greater than atmospheric pressure.”
This Technology Is About to Revolutionise Beer-Making – MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

 

‘The Tent 1’ by a21 studio, Natural Heritage Area Trang, Vietnam

Woah! Nice stairs, bro. Shame they’d all be illegal in New Zealand. (Thanks Mr Building Code.)
Walking on Air: 10 Floating Staircases That Rise Above the Rest – Eric Baldwin, ARCHITIZER

 

Larkin Buiding, 1903, by Frank Lloyd Wright
Computer model and rendering by Hooked on the Past, 2016

FrankLloyd Wright's long demolished 1903 Larkin Buildng returns to life as a computer model ... and it's stunning!
Images here – FLICKR
Explanation of the project here – HOOKED ON THE PAST
Discussion here – SAVE WRIGHT

“…then this is the essay for you, wherein I beat off ‘Onan's Greatest Hits’ and provide a more feminine, poptimistic landscape.”
Perfect Sound Forever: Why was mid 1970s music so orgasmic? – George Evans Light, FURIOUS.COM

If you’ve never experience Dvorak’s brilliant New World Symphony, “I doubt you could hear a better performance.” Moreover, “Bates must be thrilled to have Meyers championing his work as she is out of this world, scampering around the instrument, up to the dizzy heights with ease and flying around like a whirlwind – breathtaking.”
Concert Review: NZSO, Bold Worlds: New Frontiers – STUFF
Bold Worlds – NZSO

Nice riff boys.

 

Simple but effective. You can almost taste the martini.

 

Describes a lot of places currently …

 

To be continued …

[Hat tips, quips etc. Reason Matters, Louise Lamontagne, Geek Press, Tyler Cowen, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Kenneth MacKenzie]

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