James has posted on liberty recently - an issue that underlies and will outlast all the economic turmoil of the recent and soon to come years. The prophets foretold this a century and more ago - the langorous and progressively enfolding embrace of the octopus...
Would it even be possible to hold the American revolution today? The Boston Tea Party? Imagine if George III had been able to sit in his palace across the ocean, look at the security-camera footage, press a button, and freeze the bank accounts of everyone there. Oh, well, we won’t be needing another revolt, will we? But the consequence of funding the metastasization of government through the confiscation of the fruits of the citizen’s labor is the remorseless shriveling of liberty.
Read more from the excellent and usually sharply funny Mark Steyn.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
History Revisited?
I have just finished re-watching Jacob Bronowski's wonderful 'The Ascent of Man' series, which I first saw as a teenager.
In his segment on Isaac Newton, he notes that Newton couldn't get the attention of the rich and influential in his middle years. The reason was that there was little interest in science and technology, since so many were making fortunes in the South Sea Bubble scam.
It struck me at that moment that the disinvestment in science and technology in the US and UK for the past 30 years may be due to a similar set of cicumstances, since so much money was being conjured out of thin air, first in the dotcom bubble, and then in artificial housing prices.
In his segment on Isaac Newton, he notes that Newton couldn't get the attention of the rich and influential in his middle years. The reason was that there was little interest in science and technology, since so many were making fortunes in the South Sea Bubble scam.
It struck me at that moment that the disinvestment in science and technology in the US and UK for the past 30 years may be due to a similar set of cicumstances, since so much money was being conjured out of thin air, first in the dotcom bubble, and then in artificial housing prices.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Welcome, the Gurkhas
If we're not a country fit for heroes, we're a country fit for nothing. By righting this injustice, we have recovered a little of our honour.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The biggest bubble: human population
I've been watching BBC1's "Countryfile" and there was a reference to some CO2 reduction target, required because the world's population will be 9 billion by some date.
This is cart before horse. If we don't want the world to become composed solely of (a) people (b) things we need for food and drink c) weapons and (d) radioactive and otherwise polluted and barren desert, we need to:
1. limit human population growth...
2. ... without creating demographic gender imbalance
3. ... or demographic age imbalance
I read "Blueprint for Survival" in a Penguin edition in the 70s. One point it discussed, which had not occurred to me, was that the deceleration - population stabilisation/reduction - has to be slow and planned, otherwise we will develop serious imbalances that will destroy the economy and trigger a crash - a real, lethal one, not just the loss of some savings.
Time - time long overdue - for a plan to tackle this super-bubble. Wind farms and CO2 targets are near-irrelevancies.
This is cart before horse. If we don't want the world to become composed solely of (a) people (b) things we need for food and drink c) weapons and (d) radioactive and otherwise polluted and barren desert, we need to:
1. limit human population growth...
2. ... without creating demographic gender imbalance
3. ... or demographic age imbalance
I read "Blueprint for Survival" in a Penguin edition in the 70s. One point it discussed, which had not occurred to me, was that the deceleration - population stabilisation/reduction - has to be slow and planned, otherwise we will develop serious imbalances that will destroy the economy and trigger a crash - a real, lethal one, not just the loss of some savings.
Time - time long overdue - for a plan to tackle this super-bubble. Wind farms and CO2 targets are near-irrelevancies.
Friday, May 15, 2009
The memory hole
From The Grumbler, but strangely, on page 9 in the dead tree version, rather than the front page:
Tony Blair dodged possible fire over his housing deals after hundreds of expenses claims were 'accidentally' shredded.
Documents itemising some of the then Prime Minister's receipts for 2001-02 were destroyed by Commons officials 'by mistake'.
Raising his voice above the shredders' roar, a source close to a former Prime Minister bawled that he was a pretty straight kind of a guy. Your correspondent made his excuses and left, pursued by an alcoholic pugilist making dark references to discoveries in woods.
Tony Blair dodged possible fire over his housing deals after hundreds of expenses claims were 'accidentally' shredded.
Documents itemising some of the then Prime Minister's receipts for 2001-02 were destroyed by Commons officials 'by mistake'.
Raising his voice above the shredders' roar, a source close to a former Prime Minister bawled that he was a pretty straight kind of a guy. Your correspondent made his excuses and left, pursued by an alcoholic pugilist making dark references to discoveries in woods.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Still stuck on the 'B' Ark
At the university where I work, we have a few good science programs, and a well-respected engineering college.
In the past few years, we have seen significant increases in enrollment. I attribute that to:
a) the fact that there are fewer good jobs out there
and
b) while the typical 18-year-old is lazy and ignorant, they are not stupid. Consequently, they are flocking to the analytical fields (where the jobs are), including mathematics and science education.
However, our student services people are convinced that it is because of the advertisements, 'student appreciation days', and the like, not the teaching that we do.
Accordingly, they recently brought in management experts to help us in recruitment and retention efforts.
And where did these experts come from, to help out academia? The Disney corporation!
I must really work for a Mickey Mouse operation.
In the past few years, we have seen significant increases in enrollment. I attribute that to:
a) the fact that there are fewer good jobs out there
and
b) while the typical 18-year-old is lazy and ignorant, they are not stupid. Consequently, they are flocking to the analytical fields (where the jobs are), including mathematics and science education.
However, our student services people are convinced that it is because of the advertisements, 'student appreciation days', and the like, not the teaching that we do.
Accordingly, they recently brought in management experts to help us in recruitment and retention efforts.
And where did these experts come from, to help out academia? The Disney corporation!
I must really work for a Mickey Mouse operation.
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