Just deserts

Wilkinson on why the attempted Hayekian argument for you not deserving your income is wrong. Hayek would be pleased.

Great stuff

Satire at its finest. Wait, this guy is serious? You're shitting me. I feel like I'm reading a mediocre imitation of a Rand villain.

Holy crap

New lows in Germany (via Atrios).

Promising

Hopefully, the Iraqi election is a harbinger of good things to come. But I do find the finger thing a little creepy.

Don't make your bed

You'll be healthier that way.

Oh yeah

I was starting to think that maybe I made a mistake not voting Kerry. Now I fully remember why I was against both major candidates.

Pavitr Prabhakar

Adesnik asks if only superpowers have superheroes. I would say it isn't necessarily so, but it is close.

Guess what?

I got a fever, and the only prescription...is more cowbell! (I realize I used the exact same title and text previously, but this time you can find a video of the skit at the link, not just the script like last time).

Confirming the Brady cult...

and somewhat disputing the Manning bashers.

All over the place

Hillary on abortion.

Bush's lack of understanding of the market and freedom.

How to use beer, lots and lots of beer, to save yourself from an avalanche (via Balko)

Also via Balko, The Brett Favre Excuse-o-Matic. Kind of brilliant. I hope Favre retires soon, maybe in one season. He really was great, but no more.

I think this is Zen, but even if not it's cool.

The Aviator as libertarian homage, or essentially a lie? I side with the first more, as the second guy seems to simply have an axe to grind. Some of his points are valid, but a lot miss the point. He criticizes Hughes for buying politicians and getting favors from them, and the movie for not dealing with it. The movie does deal with, perhaps too briefly, but it is in there is put it in context. So the question isn't did he do it, but rather what was the specific nature of it? Did he try to get special favors for himself and his companies, or was he simply countering others doing that? I don't know, and Louis doesn't help us find out. His other criticisms mostly show that he doesn't understand the difference between private and public actions, but that seems to be a typical left-liberal problem, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. His last point does seem valid, but given all the other problems with the review, I don't trust his accuracy.

Gates

Sort of a follow-up on the previous post about Apple and movies, Microsoft and TV.

Evil

Jeff Jacoby with a powerful column on his father and Auschwitz

How to lose weight

Fidget (via the official little sister of ID)

Jobs

Speculation that looks good to me as to what Apple is up to (via the Door).

El Guapo

This is some of the worst news I've heard in a long time. How do you kidnap a 300 lb man?

Please explain

I don't get it, where's the scandal here? Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't see how this is sleazy. Anyone out there know?

Turning

Paul Craig Roberts used to be a big Republican, now he's opposed to almost all of Bush's initiatives. It'd be fun to read his jabs at them, except that they're true and make me kind of sad.

Fuckin' A

Lack of incentives matter.

Kinda cool

Coverville has a bunch of odd covers to download. Some are good, some are (intentionally?) so bad they're funny. Such as some country dude covering Oops I Did it Again. It's worth a look. Also, they say it's all "ASCAP-legal." (via The Agitator)

Championship weekend

Well, last weekend was a nice turnaround for me, putting at 5-3 picking winners, 4-4 against the spread. Nothing special, but no longer bad. Onto the games.
Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles, Eagles favored by 5. Philly was a bit off last weekend and still handled Minnesota pretty easily. Atlanta probably can't play a better game than they did against St Louis. If both teams play as well as they did, Atlanta will win, but I don't see that happening. Philly's main guys hadn't played much in about a month, so they needed one game to get back up to speed, and it seems like whenever a team blows out someone in the playoffs that they are a bit off in the next game. Add in that the Falcons are a warm weather team playing in what should be cold and snowy conditions, and I don't think it will be close. Vick gives them a puncher's chance at victory, but I doubt it will happen. Eagles 23, Falcons 7.
New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers, Patriots favored by 3. A lot of this game's outcome will depend on which Roethlisberger shows up. Will the in-control dangerous Ben from the regular season play and take advantage of the Pats secondary, or will the shaky rookie who nearly blew the game last week? I'm guessing a little bit of both. The Pats will exact their revenge for Pittsburgh ending their win streak by ending Pittsburgh's. Patriots 24, Steelers 17.
I think this makes the third straight year I've predicted the Eagles will win this game, hopefully I'll be right this time. Any of the four possible Superbowl matchups would be interesting, but Philly-New England would be the best, in my opinion. Go Pats.

Demonizing life-savers

James DeLong on price vs marginal cost, particularly in drugs (via Cafe Hayek).

Good advice

Paul Graham 'speaks' to high schoolers (via Instapundit).

Firsts

I never thought I'd link to t-shirt folding, but it's awesome.

Nice

Walter Williams surprises me with a good column about how we're misallocating resources. It's not a surprise that he wrote a good column, he's generally very good, but he's usually off on Iraq/WOT.

Ugh

People seem to feel compelled to express their support for Condi Rice even when they know better. Well, there are also people who treat her like an Uncle Tom or worse, but Bush supporters love her and liberals seem to have a hard time opposing someone who is both black and female. Read this and understand how utterly wrong for the job of Secretary of State she is (she was misqualified for NSA, but is misqualified, underqualified, and temperamentally wrong for SoS). Then consider doing something about it.

Like agriculture

Gary North on what's going on with manufacturing. Ask yourself, do you want to work in manufacturing? Some people do, but the vast majority of us don't.

Hmm

Making me reconsider the 'argument' I had with P-Money about what art is. Specifically, she was saying it's in the relationship between the piece of art and either the artist or the...artee, I guess. Viewer works in most cases, but not for music. Consumer could be fine, though it doesn't sound quite right, too commercial. Anyway, I think there's still a difference between her argument and this one, but I don't remember exactly. Care to put your position up on the blog, P?

Bunch o stuff

A great response to people who think 75 years is a sufficient way to analyze Social Security.

Revisiting the intelligence 'failures' of the administration.

A different take on religious-plurality in Iraq.

This is, like, exactly how my friends and I reacted. OMG. (via The Door)

Possibly the funniest weapon ever.

And, finally, probably the best news I've heard in quite a while. This site is being to my link list.

Round 2

Well, round 1 of the playoffs went just about as they should have, I was wrong often. Always remember, use the Costanza Theory when looking at my predictions for the NFL, especially the playoffs, for betting purposes (not that I condone or encourage gambling here, cough, cough). Anyway...
NY Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers, Steelers favored by 8.5. The Jets are a pretty good team, pretty well balanced, and they have a very good QB. Of course, he has the flu and they were barely able to win last week against Mr. Playoff Choke, Marty Schottenheimer, even though they played near their best. The only thing that makes me a little nervous is that Big Ben is a rookie, so the Steelers QB is starting his first playoff game ever. But because they rely on the run so much and they're a good team all-around, I think they'll be okay. Steelers 21, Jets 14.
St Louis Rams at Atlanta Falcons, Falcons favored by 7. I have questions about the Falcons' coach and I think they rely on Vick too much, but I have qualms about the Rams' QB and don't have any faith in their coach, especially on the road. Falcons 31, Rams 21.
Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles, Eagles favored by 8.5. Minnesota apparently wasn't done like I thought, and they have enough firepower that I wouldn't be shocked if they won this. But I think Philly's D is plenty strong enough and the whole team has something to prove. Plus Reid is a much better coach than Tice. Eagles 24, Vikings 17.
Indianapolis Colts at NE Patriots, Patriots favored by 2. The top game of the weekend. The record-breaking QB against the defensive guru. The defending champs against the team that thinks that it was better last year and is still better this year. If Ty Law and Richard Seymour were healthy, I'd take the Patriots by a huge margin. They won last year by 10 with a running game nowhere near this good, and this time Coach B has had an extra week to prepare. I'm really waffling on this one; will the Pats win by 3, or by 6? I'm going to go with 3. Patriots 24, Colts 21.

Win-win

Want to help people suffering from the tsunami or other such problems? Give them something truly useful (via Balko).

Soc Sec

I don't know yet if I support the administration's plans for Social Security. They haven't really said what they want to do, so far what we've heard has been mostly speculation. And I am wary of trusting them to be honest about it. But don't trust the NY Times, either.

Saving the free-market from its supposed defenders

Radley with yet another example of businessmen getting in the way of free trade.

What a language

Volokh points out that data is both singular and plural. Recently it was pointed out to me that bimonthly can be used to mean twice a month, and to mean every other month. Basically, it doesn't mean anything. At least it's better than speaking engrish.

Context

I am in complete agreement that the idea of death squads and the like is repugnant. What I've come to realize is that the problem isn't Bush (other than that he got us into this situation, and seems to unable to remove us from it), it's the situation. Given the situation in Iraq, death squads are completely logical. In civilized life, you have to think long-term. In law-of-the-jungle Iraq, thinking past the range of the moment will probably get you killed. The problem isn't the (in)competence of the administration (though that doesn't help), it's that the immoral is becoming the necessary over there. Wars involve atrocities. Occupations involve atrocities. We need to get out of Iraq as soon as possible.

Hidden costs

Two excellent economics pieces. It's hard for me to say whether this one is accessible to the lay reader or not, but the second one definitely is and is highly recommended (both via Palmer).

Subtle, yet screamingly obvious

Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley are well known to NBA fans as very tight friends. They were teammates in Houston for 5 years and were traded together to Orlando this offseason. Orlando just traded Mobley to Sacramento, and some of the ensuing quotes are quite revealing. Anyone who doubted it when I said, via my source at ESPN (ok, it was Seth), that they were a couple, read the stories about the trade and tell me I was wrong. Just to be clear, I'm not saying anything's wrong with it, it's that I find the whole situation to be interesting and amusing. The money quote:

I can't put it into words. Playing with a guy, living with a guy, just knowing that every day when I wake up that's something I can count on, that I'm going to be in practice or in a game with Cuttino. Him not being here is going to be tough for me. I don't know what I'm going to wake up for.

Yikes

Gotta admire those Kennedys.

It took me way too long to read this book, but I liked this quote

Are you so easily turned from your design? Did you not call this a glorious expedition? And wherefore was it glorious? Not because the way was smooth and placid as a southern sea, but because it was full of dangers and terror; because, at every new incident, your fortitude was to be called forth, and your courage exhibited; because danger and death surrounded it, and these you were to brave and overcome. For this was it a glorious, for this was it an honourable undertaking. You were hereafter to be hailed as the benefactors of your species; your names adored, as belonging to brave men who encountered death for honour, and the benefit of mankind. And now, behold, with the first mighty and terrific trial of your courage, you shrink away, and are content to be handed down as men who had not strength enough to endure cold and peril; and so, poor souls, they were chilly, and returned to their warm firesides....Be men, or be more than men. Be steady to your purposes, and firm as a rock....Do not return to your families with the stigma of disgrace marked on your brows. Return, as heroes who fought and conquered, and who know not what it is to turn their backs on the foe.

You learn something new every year

100 things we didn't know this time last year (via MR). I'm guessing the 'we' is for the people who wrote the column, or it's a royal we.
My favorite: The word "sex", used to mean sexual intercourse, was first used in 1929.
That was after the previous Red Sox World Championship.

Betrayal

Required reading. Well, maybe not required, since I have no power over you, but highly recommended.

24

The new season starts tonight. I'm kind of hoping this is the last season of it, so that they don't ruin it with weaker plots and rehashed ideas, but perhaps I'm being too pessimistic. Hollywood would never put out anything other than their best right? Anyway, here's an interesting reaction to a Kiefer Sutherland interview, comparing him to Kennedy.

Playoff time

The NFL playoffs start today. Here are my quick predictions for round one.
St Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks, Seahawks favored by 4. Even though I picked Seattle before the season to make the Super Bowl, like everyone else I have little confidence in them at this point. But while Holmgren isn't a great coach, and Hasselbeck isn't a great QB, they are better than Martz and Bulger. Plus there's the revenge factor from losing both regular season games to St Louis.
Seattle 24, St Louis 17
NY Jets at San Diego Chargers, Chargers favored by 7. I didn't watch SD play at all this year, so I can't talk about them with much certainty, but I suspect that they're not this good. But NY is only decent, and it's in SD. I could see either team win this, so I'll take the Jets covering and losing.
Chargers 23, Jets 20
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers, Packers favored by 6. Stick a fork in Minnesota they're done.
Packers 31, Vikings 10
Denver Broncos at Indianapolis Colts, Colts favored by 10. The Broncos won't blow out the Colts, but they have a better chance to win than most people seem to think. I don't like Plummer in a road playoff game, but Manning and Dungy have horrible playoff reps too, and Denver will be looking for revenge for last year. Being overly specific, Colts win on a bad Plummer interception near the end of the game.
Colts 31, Broncos 27

Hayek

Not Salma, Friedrich. Reason interviews Bruce Caldwell on the classic The Road to Serfdom.

The ball

So there's a minor controversy about the ball used to record the final out of the World Series. Doug Mientkiewicz says the ball is his, the Red Sox say it's theirs, and a lot of people are siding with the Sox. Eugene Volokh does some cursory legal analysis, but pretty much shows that he doesn't know much about the game. He's a very smart guy, but not a baseball fan. Once a ball is no longer in play, possession isn't nine-tenths of the law, it is the law. Minky had the ball at the moment the game ended, he owns it. The ball most definitely doesn't belong to my Sox, if it belonged to anyone besides Minky it would be the Cardinals, as they provided the balls used in the game. But that's irrelevant, as the rule is very clear as to who owns a ball. Minky did say some stupid things, like how he's been to hell and back (um, look at Indonesia or Iraq, then reconsider that statement), but whatever. It's his, and that's that.

The candidate and the monkey

FAD tells a long story with no purpose.

Materialism

Boudreaux on who the real materialists are. A well-articulated post that reflects how I feel when I hear most lefties speak.

Not sure how to react

A disturbing abortion story which may have convinced me the idea of requiring parental consent is not a good one.

The big one

Uncomfortable about abortion? So are many pro-choice advocates. I'd really love to see some well-written, nuanced-but-still-in-plain-language, relatively short pieces explaining the different sides to the issue, where the writers are actually trying to convince people that their position is the correct one and not just sounding shrill. I'm not the one to do it, but I know there are people out there who could, and I'd like to think reading the pieces would help people find common ground. Probably wouldn't solve anything once and for all, but it might help move us in a good direction.

NFL regular season

It's time to look back at my predictions for the NFL regular season. My predictions were off by an average of 2.3 wins per team, with 15 teams plus or minus 1 win of my prediction, and one more team (Washington) exactly at it. Not bad. My worst prediction was definitely Pittsburgh, who I thought would win 6 games. They won 15. Ouch. San Diego was also a bad miss, projected for 5 wins, ending with 12. Back to the bright side, I was three times more likely to predict the trend in wins correctly than not, 15 times predicted an increase and the team improved (or vice versa), against 5 times having them go opposite of the direction I thought they would go.
As for the playoffs, I got 8 out of 12 teams correct, not too shabby.

An idea who's time has come

Allow people to buy and sell organs.

Cultural decline and basketball

Is our culture declining? Possibily, but as Boudreaux points out, we have a tendency to remember the best of yesteryears and compare them to the average of today. This parallels a point I've made before about people who complain about the current state of the NBA. I don't dispute that there has been a decline in many aspects of how the game of basketball is played today; most significantly, the up tempo, team-oriented game has faded almost away. However, I hear people say things like,"I was watching the Celtics and Lakers play on ESPN Classic, and it made me sick comparing it to today's game." The game you were watching was on ESPN Classic! It was one of the best games of the era, we can be pretty sure it was not a normal game. I'm with you that there are problems, but have a little perspective, and try to appreciate the ways in which the games today are superior.

Stars and systems

How not to build an organization. Great stuff. (via MR, in a roundabout way)

Smackdown

Boudreaux on Diamond.

Symptoms vs underlying problems

Wallace compares Bush's Middle East policies to A Clockwork Orange. Are we trying to deal with the problems, or just dealing with the symptoms? Whatever we're doing we're not doing particularly well, but it's still a relevant question.
On a related topic, I love it when people say we can't pull out of Iraq because it will become a terrorist hotbed. What do these people think it is now? I'm pretty sure I support staying through the election since it's so close and offers some hope, but pulling out 6 months ago or two months from now would have been/would be very good ideas. The longer we stay, the more we're hitting a beehive with a stick.

Being upbeat

I think I have a tendency on this site to emphasize the negative, but that's not how I look at the world, I'm actually pretty optimistic overall. Bad stuff will continue to happen, but things will continue improve on the whole. Of course nothing's guaranteed, but most likely. Radley's year-end column on the good news from 2004 is a good reminder of some positive long-term trends. Happy New Year.