A silly gloat here, about China being dragged down when the overspending stops.
When will the experts understand that Chindia will have the tools and skilled workers to rebuild their fortune, AFTER the Crash? Why on Earth has the East been subsidising the improvident West for so long, if not as part of a plan to extract all the means of production it could?
Do the experts not realize we have been in a state of economic warfare for years?
Showing posts with label experts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label experts. Show all posts
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Financial experts
Commenting on Michael Panzner's scorn for the authoritative pronouncements of some financial experts, I was thinking of a "wizard" story which I've now tracked down. It's been circulating since 1995, but it's worth retelling. Mark Oswald of The New Mexican newspaper reported:
During discussion by the Senate of a serious piece of legislationconcerning the psychology profession last week, Sen. Duncan Scott,R-Albuquerque, proposed an amendment. It says:
"When a psychologist or psychiatrist testifies during a defendant's competency hearing, the psychologist or psychiatrist shall wear a cone-shaped hat that is not less than 2 feet tall. The surface of the hat shall be imprinted with stars and lightning bolts.
"Additionally, a psychologist or psychiatrist shall be required to don a white beard that is not less than 18 inches in length, and shall punctuate crucial elements of his testimony by stabbing the air with a wand. Whenever a psychologist or psychiatrist provides expert testimony regarding the defendant's competency, the bailiff shall contemporaneously dim the courtroom lights and administer two strikes to a Chinese gong."
Usually, anything proposed by Scott - whose hard-core conservatism is like cod liver oil for the Senate's Democratic majority - goes nowhere. But his wizard-hat amendment was warmly received and passed by a voice vote. It is now part of Sen. Richard Romero's psychologist bill, as the measure moves to the House.
Jokes this good usually come with a rider. It was subsequently reported:
The bill, with the wizard amendment, passed the Senate by voice vote and cleared the house by 46-14. Unfortunately, Gov. Gary Johnson vetoed the legislation.
It's extra fun when the authorities play along for a while.
That reminds me... Back in the 1970s, a couple of Oxford undergraduates proposed the building of a full-sized pyramid in one of the University's parks, as a monument to themselves. It went to the University's Hebdomadal Council and the proposal was narrowly defeated (5-4, they say).
During discussion by the Senate of a serious piece of legislationconcerning the psychology profession last week, Sen. Duncan Scott,R-Albuquerque, proposed an amendment. It says:
"When a psychologist or psychiatrist testifies during a defendant's competency hearing, the psychologist or psychiatrist shall wear a cone-shaped hat that is not less than 2 feet tall. The surface of the hat shall be imprinted with stars and lightning bolts.
"Additionally, a psychologist or psychiatrist shall be required to don a white beard that is not less than 18 inches in length, and shall punctuate crucial elements of his testimony by stabbing the air with a wand. Whenever a psychologist or psychiatrist provides expert testimony regarding the defendant's competency, the bailiff shall contemporaneously dim the courtroom lights and administer two strikes to a Chinese gong."
Usually, anything proposed by Scott - whose hard-core conservatism is like cod liver oil for the Senate's Democratic majority - goes nowhere. But his wizard-hat amendment was warmly received and passed by a voice vote. It is now part of Sen. Richard Romero's psychologist bill, as the measure moves to the House.
Jokes this good usually come with a rider. It was subsequently reported:
The bill, with the wizard amendment, passed the Senate by voice vote and cleared the house by 46-14. Unfortunately, Gov. Gary Johnson vetoed the legislation.
It's extra fun when the authorities play along for a while.
That reminds me... Back in the 1970s, a couple of Oxford undergraduates proposed the building of a full-sized pyramid in one of the University's parks, as a monument to themselves. It went to the University's Hebdomadal Council and the proposal was narrowly defeated (5-4, they say).
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