Back in the good olde days I used to really enjoy visiting the Onion. The sarcasm was so good that many of the articles required a moment of reading before you were convinced that it was a joke. However several years back the site lost some of its quality as the jokes became more obvious and sophomoric. It seems they have regained their stride just take a look at this headline.

The full story can be found here. Be warned you will laugh your ass off.

In reference to my previous post Bettina emails:

you know what that is? reminds me of your rather lyrical entry (which, in turn, reminds me of some of Jeremy’s previous posts back when he used to have a blog). This is called a “Hexenhaus” (witches’ house), a German Christmas tradition.

She sends me this picture which i agree has strong elements with my post.

The best incomplete song I have heard comes at the end of the last track on the Dave Matthews Band third album Before These Crowded Streets. The song has been called the Last Stop Reprised.

The music evokes the imagery of a small cottage absconded in the mountains. I’m cocooned in the accoutrement needed to stay warm when plodding through large snow drifts and single digit temperatures. The snow falls heavy as the wind capriciously whips flakes all around me. As I come around a snow bank I vaguely make out a small cottage covered in sheets of snow. It welcomes me with a golden glow emanating from the windows and the scent of burning wood. As I get closer my friend opens the door and greets me with a smile and a hearty hug. He says:

Come in from the cold for a while

Protected from the harsh cold winter night the warmth of both fire and friendship makes me feel safe and cozy. I forgot about the daily rigmarole and enjoy breaking bread over good conversation with an old trusted friend. And when the evening comes to an end and I must face the cold winter again I say to my friend:

For now, goodbye, friend,

Via, instapundit, the Washtington Post compare Pinochet and Castro. Sure Pinochet was not the best ruler but at least he picked the right economic pony and desipte his tyrannical nature Chilie has grown into a economicaly strong country as compared to most of S0uth America.

He wiped out the socalists, was vilified, and brought captialism to the country. Fifteen years later that country is better off than any of the other countries that embrace socialism.

I am a night owl after all. I wonder how creative thinkers do on the GRE?

I don’t even understand why private journalists go to Iraq. They always get beat out by the MSM superb coverage of Iraq.

I’m not intelligent enough for graduate school at the upper echelon.

Verbal: 610

Quantitative: 670

This video about the Black NASSA space program is remarkable for several reasons.

1. Its satire done right thereby making it extremely funny.

2. Its seems to be made specifically for the purpose of finding an audience on the internet. This will probably mark the beginning in which more original professional work starts to be made specifically for video hosting sites. In other words, this looks to be the future for a much of video entertainment. Its much like that lonelygirl15 phenomenon in which a web cast of a high schooler was intentionally produced as a form of internet entertainment.

When looking at systems of distribution one must ask the question as to how is value going to be determined within that system. Planned economies have value determined by bureaucrats normally with some input from citizens. Unions and monopolies through their own machinations fabricate value as well. In this way one might say that value is generated by explicit concerted effort. On the other hand, free markets make no attempt at determining value. Free markets leave value determination up to randomness which I think is one source of consternation for those who oppose free markets.

However, as an advocator of free markets I feel that it’s incumbent on me to give some rationale as to why value determination should be left to arbitrariness instead of being controlled. Typically I argue that value determination left to randomness prevents the consolidation of the power to determine value in the hands of just a few. Its preferable to have value randomly determined than planned when manipulating value leads to the consolidation of power and with it the ability to coerce.

Upon further reflection I think there might be a better explanation. As a consumer, healthy free markets maximize the amount of value one will give for an item without forcing them to pay for value they feel the item is not worth. This work in opposition as well, in the sense that the vendor will not sell an item for a value less then what they think it’s worth. In this way, free markets determine the most precise value for any item without coercing the either individual. Thus, the reason free market arbitrariness is preferable is because it maximizes precision value determination without coercion. Free markets enable one to determine value for them self.

While free markets may determine value capriciously such arbitrariness allows for the maximization of value without coercion. When a comparable planned economy is compared to a free market the free market will have significantly more value because things in a planned economy that would not be considered valuable can find value in the whimsical nature of the free market. This leads to an robust economy defined by an abundance of items that allow each individual to enrich their lives as they see fit. The free market arbitrariness generates much more wealth and accomplishes it without even forcing individuals to pay for value they don’t ascribe to an item.

I would take free markets for their lack of coercion. Its just a bonus that it generate more value then a comparable system were value determination is more constrained.

The Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002 is a fine example of how government protects us from evil corporations. This act was passed as a way of preventing corporate wrong doing from occuring. As one should expect this has a had a beneficial effect on bussiness.

Goverment. Is there anything it can’t ruin?