Friday Morning Ramble, 25.11.16

 

A few things I wanted to talk to you about this week (or disagree with) but ran out of time. So add these interesting and insightful links to your weekend reading pile …

“Geonet have been busy measuring how much the ground moved in this week’s earthquakes…”
Measuring ground movement – YOUR NZ

“Good laws don't require that MPs have perfect information about the industries that they're attempting to regulate, but they should be at least half-way to having a clue.”
Confusion reigns as Uber talks to MPs – NZ HERALD
Uber flexible or Uber confusion? – Eric Crampton, THE SANDPIT
Uber ignorant – Eric Crampton, OFFSETTING BEHAVIOUR
Uber flexible – Eric Crampton, OFFSETTING BEHAVIOUR

Q: So who owns it? Or should?
When the seafloor surges out of the ocean – coastal uplift explained – THE SPINOFF

 

“Socialism, like the ancient ideas from
which it springs, confuses the distinction
between government and society.” 
~ Frederic Bastiat

 

No, Brexit was not a reaction against immigrants. MSM was wrong again: “When polled, only 17 percent of people who voted "Leave" during Brexit said that the main reason for their vote was to curb immigration into the United Kingdom. Everyone else voting that way had a different number-one motivation.
A smooth exit to the EEA is achievable – LIBERTARIAN HOME (UK)

That promise should have been there from day one.
British expats set to be granted right to carry on living in EU [and vice versa] with Theresa May 'close to reciprocal rights deal' – TELEGRAPH

What have those immigrants ever done for us? "Over 50 percent of workers in the United States who have Ph.D.s and are employed in science, technology, engineering, and math-related jobs are foreign born.”
High-Skilled Immigration and the Rise of STEM Occupations in U.S. Employment – NBER

“The Orwellian world of immigration controls.”
Deportation is Freedom! – GOOGLE BOOKS

Bad timing on the metaphor, boys …
The tectonic plates are shifting

“"The top leaders of the [Indian] government are filled with some kind of messianic zeal—they think that it is moral to sacrifice the interests of hundreds of millions of innocent and law-abiding people in the name of some greater good. But they forget that the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
The Immorality of Currency Demonetisation – Anoop Verma, VERMA POST
More War on Cash: Indian Economy Grinds To A Halt After Cash-Ban: "Faith In System Shaken" – AGAINST CRONY CAPITALISM

“Wealth created by foreigners is just as wonderful as wealth created by locals.”
How transactions that raise America’s trade deficit enrich Americans – Don Boudreaux,  LEARN LIBERTY

 

“Build a wall around the welfare
state, not around your country.”
~ William Niskanen

No, New Zealand hasn’t succumbed to yet another American holiday. But the real story of Thanksgiving is such a fantastic story, even the pope couldn’t help but learn something from it. Thanksgiving? “In the early years, the pilgrims of Plymouth Colony had little to be thankful for until they gave up on dreams of utopia and turned to markets instead.”
The Great Thanksgiving Hoax – Robert Maybury, MISES.ORG
Thanks to whom? – Jeff Scialabba, VOICES FOR REASON
Celebrate Thanksgiving the Ayn Rand way: Thank yourself – Debi Ghate, CS MONITOR
Pope Francis shouldn't bite the hand that feeds the Catholic Church – Shikha Dalmia, WASHINGTON EXAMINER

America might never have even got off the ground if those early pilgrims hadn’t thrown off communism. Read the almost unknown early history of those early Pilgrims -- of how private property saved their lives and their colony, so making today’s Thanksgiving celebrations possible.
How Private Property Saved the Pilgrims -  Tom Bethell. HOOVER INSTITUTION
Thanksgiving Was a Triumph of Capitalism over Collectivism – Richard Ebeling, FEE 

By the way, “There are some things that God cares deeply about -- sex, foreskins, menstruation, and animal sacrifice,for example. And food.
Most Christians forget about that. They prepare and eat food on Thanksgiving that God abhors, while thanking him for it.. Don't make that mistake this Thanksgiving.
Here are some suggestions for a biblically correct Thanksgiving dinner.”
All the fat is the Lord's: The Bible's guide to Thanksgiving dinner – DWINDLING IN UNBELIEF

Graphs to be thankful for: Global poverty is plummeting.
23 charts to be thankful for this Thanksgiving – Dylan Matthews, WONK BLOG

“Progress is an unalloyed good thing. That belief is a fairly recent one, and it's always had opponents.”
Progress Isn't Natural – Joel Mokyr, THE ATLANTIC

“By embracing modern technologies, for one.”
How Humans Spare Nature – Linus Blomqvist, PERC

“It’s well into Thanksgiving Day in the US now, and that’s a nice tradition to export. So, today, I’m thankful for geophysics.”
Thanksgiving – Thomas Lumley, STATS CHAT

 

Safety message for our American readers at this time, from William Shatner: “Just remember: ‘Fire, metal, oil, and turkey are glorious when in harmony.’”

 

Q: Is America a Christian nation? Or one nation under a constitution?

 

“The placement of socialism and fascism at opposite ends of a political spectrum serves a nefarious purpose, according to Rand. It serves to buttress the case that we must avoid ‘extremism’ and choose the sensible middle course of a ‘mixed economy’.”
Ayn Rand Predicted an American Slide toward Fascism – George Smith, FEE

“As Gordon Tullock was fond of pointing out, while government protection is not a factor of production, it can be a factor of profit.”
How Do You Solve Crony Capitalism? – James Rogers, LIBRARY OF LAW

“Ominous in all sorts of ways.”
White Nationalists Celebrate ‘an Awakening’ After Donald Trump’s Victory – NY TIMES

But how can it be a "smear" when it's their own label, under which they've adopted all the grossness of which the left accuses the right.
The Smearing of The Alt-Right by The Leftists – Anoop Verma, FOR THE NEW INTELLECTUALS
An Honest Look at the Alt Right – ‘Sargon of Akkad,’ YOU TUBE
7 differences between the alt-right and libertarians – NOT PC
Who is Milo Yiannopolous? – NOT PC
Who is Steve Bannon? – NOT PC

“"The concept of identity, when not employed on an exclusively individual scale, is inherently reductionist and dehumanizing, a collectivist and ideological abstraction of all that is original and creative in the human being, of all that has not been imposed by inheritance, geography, or social pressure."
Identity politics on the Left eventually triggers identity politics on the Right – Ronald Bailey, REASON

“Despite Donald Trump’s recent victory, he and the GOP have no mandate whatsoever to violate the rights of Americans citizens and foreigners alike, no matter how many people voted for them to do so.”
My Freedom Trumps Your Fake Mandate – Joey Clark, FEE

 

 

Trump was like a piece of blotting paper on which his supporters imprinted all their hopes and dreams. What now then, now he begins backtracking on all of them.
Donald Trump will NOT pursue investigations into Hillary Clinton – MAIL ONLINE
Donald Trump’s threat to prosecute Hillary Clinton was always hollow – WASHINGTON POST
Trump on waterboarding: Gen. Mattis might have talked me out of it – HOT AIR
Donald Trump just completely changed his mind on climate change – INDEPENDENT (UK)
How long before the white working class realizes Trump was just scamming them? – WASHINGTON POST

Not all bad though. “Dedicated to school choice, apparently against Common Core, and unknown on higher ed. Lots of questions--and guarded optimism--about the next U.S. Secretary of Education.”
It's DeVos for Boss! Hopefully, Just of the Education Department – CATO

Failed first test.
Potential Trump cabinet security pick accidentally reveals Homeland Security plans in photo – THE HILL

“President Trump will have to choose between candidate Trump’s promises. He can embrace international trade and contribute to making America great, or he can follow his protectionist rhetoric at the expense of American greatness. But he can’t have it both ways.”
Protectionism Will Make America Poor, Not Great – Benjamin Powell, FEE

“A Donald Trump spokesman caused concern by citing World War II-era Japanese-American internment camps as a ‘precedent’ for a registry of Muslims and immigrants.”
America's Concentration Camps Are a Warning, Not a Model – Gary McGrath, FEE

“No influence left to buy...”
Foreign Donors Begin Pulling Out From Clinton Foundation – OBSERVER

 

“Scarcity is not a fundamental of economics;
rather, man’s creation of value with his mind is.”
~ Yaron Brook, ‘Radical Capitalist Episode 73: Is Silicon
Valley America’s Hope or Demise? [audio]’

 

“The operators of the pipeline are being jerked around by the government, environmentalists, and the Standing Rock Sioux, all of whom are acting in varying degrees of bad faith.”
The Real Dakota Access Pipeline Victim Is the Construction Company – William Yeatman, FEE 

So Bitcoin keeps you safe from the grey ones? “The Internal Revenue Service has filed a ‘John Doe’ summons seeking to require U.S. Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to turn over records about every transaction of every user from 2013 to 2015.”
The IRS Just Declared War on Bitcoin Privacy – Jim Harper, FEE

Is foreign trade really like an invasion?
War metaphors and trade — Bastiat – STEPHEN HICKS

“The Left has done far more than the Right to set back progress. … The danger from the Left does not arise from stupidity or dishonesty; those failings are bipartisan… But two huge threats to science are peculiar to the Left—and they’re getting worse… The first threat is confirmation bias. …  the second great threat from the Left: its long tradition of mixing science and politics.”
The Real War on Science – John Tierney, CITY JOURNAL

“The battle for freedom is not primarily a political in nature, but educational: we must educate the public about the history, economics and, most importantly, morality of capitalism.”
Why You Can’t Get Rid of Leviathan — So You’d Better Reform It [Video] – Yaron Brook, VOICES FOR REASON

So I’m Martin Luther King. How about you?
QUIZ: Which Famous Revolutionary Are You? – QUIZONY

“Experts were concerned that ice at the South Pole had declined significantly since the 1950s, which they feared was driven by man-made climate change.”
Scott and Shackleton log proves Antarctic sea ice is not shrinking 100 years after expeditions – TELEGRAPH

 

The great Thomas Sowell …

 

“In his famous work, The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explores the components of friendship, love, and companionship. One section, entitled ‘Of Loving and Being Loved,’ provides several ways in which we can fight loneliness and make ourselves more loveable.”
3 Tips from Aristotle on Fighting Loneliness – Annie Holmquist, INTELLECTUAL TAKEOUT

“Occasionally I meet people who have an obsessive need to keep themselves and their kids busy. Every spare moment must be filled!” Why?
Under Pressure: The Frantic Need to Keep Kids Busy – Dr Michael Hurd, LIVING RESOURCES CENTER

“As we approach that busy time of the year - it could be timely to contemplate whether we may just be the cause of our child's behaviour?”
'Gentle parenting' explainer: no rewards, no punishments, no misbehaving kids – THE CONVERSATION

 

The structural ingeniuty behind this 3-ton. 4.6m diameter, award-winning stair …

 

And the photo Time magazine selected as “one of the most influential in history” is …

 

[Hat tips and quoted quips … Climate Realists, Elan Journo, George Machen, Ben Thomas, James Valliant, Jae Alexander, Mark Tammett, Bosch Fawstin, Tom Burroughes, Stuart Hayashi, Phil Oliver, Daniel Aguilar, Donald Kilmer, Cato Center for Educational Freedom, Stephen Hicks, Andrew Bates, Nelson Brackin]

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