Archive for June 2007

Regarding money in politics (the effect) and its cause: The real cause is the growing regulatory state. Without regulation, there would be only limited incentive for corporations and individuals to make large political contributions. Regulation (combined with taxation) is the fountain from which most campaign money springs. Threaten to regulate a sector, and you automatically put politicians in the position of creating winners and losers, both of whom will spend money to try to improve their fates. Say it ten times, so you don’t forget: “money is the effect; the cause is government force.” Again.

I didn’t get this one out a few days ago, so here goes now. Bea had a dinner with friends so I was on my own. That’s the burger patty before tossing it on the patio grill, of course. I’ll eat and enjoy steak tartare, but it’s certainly not a favorite and I have to say I prefer it grilled (whereas, I highly prefer raw sushi or sashimi to cooked fish). Grilled to medium, with a bit of cheddar or pepper jack (or swiss even) melted on top. Usually, I can get it just right, such that, when I turn it, I place the cheese, close the cover to increase the captive temperature, and by the time the first bit of cheese is dripping off the side, the burger is done to a nice perfect light pink (as in: medium; medium rare being a darker pink). Of course, that also has to do with thickness. The problem with really thick burgers is that when they shrink you often get more of a meatball than a burger patty. Try this: poke a hole the size of a pencil right in the middle. I’ve found about a half-inch thickness (raw) to work…

The advantages of a sister-in-law who works at Starbucks and saves some of her weekly free coffee allotment for me, and scrounges more from other employees who don’t use it (I make it worth her while, of course, so it’s wins all the way around). I get 6 to 8 pounds at a time and the cabinets both here and at the cabin are always stocked.

You won’t believe how this turns out. Probably the coolest eight minutes of animal-kingdom footage I’ve ever seen. (link: coyote)

I’m anything but the biggest purveyor of sentiment around. There are times and places, but I generally find events like birthdays and such seeped in sappy sloppy sentiment worse than boorish. If it’s old fashioned, then I’m old fashioned in that I think things are more valuable and special when rare and infrequent. It’s a marginal utility thing. So save the sap and tears for times they really mean something. Yep, there’s a time and place for weepy sentiment, but Frank’s 60th birthday this afternoon is neither the time nor the place as far as I’m concerned (his wife — my cousin — of around 20 years or so might disagree, I’m well aware). Frank is a real man, so he deserves — indeed needs and requires — a real man’s gift; which of course is a bottle of quality spirits. Inside the card, the printed greeting reads: “Happy Freakin’ Birthday!” To which I added: “…So have some Effen Vodka!” Singed: “Richard and Bea (who will disavow any responsibility whatsoever for this)” I addressed the card’s envelope to Frank@60.ohmygod

The collectivization of anthropogenic cause I actually had a longish post mostly done on this the other day and deleted it because it sucked. But I can’t let it go, so let me try a shorter, more concise angle on the thing and see how that floats. I read this George Reisman post here a couple of weeks ago and something really struck me (the whole thing is good, and I suggest you take the time). Here’s the bit that’s got me stewing. Here I want to turn to the enormous spirit of individualism that is found in von Mises. Only individuals think and only individuals act, says von Mises. It follows, of course, that it is only for his own actions that an individual should be held responsible. The son should not be punished for the sins of the father; one member of a race or nation or economic class should not be held responsible for the deeds of any other members of that race, nation, or economic class. And so too should it be in the case of any alleged environmental damage. If an individual, or an individual business enterprise, is incapable by himself of causing global warming…

And the ego “justice” marches on. You know, I really don’t know why I care enough to go to the trouble of a post on this, on Paris Hilton of all things. I actually just stumbled upon that story, seeing it in the sidebar while looking for something else and just couldn’t let it slide. I suppose I just have this sense — call it a “feeling” if you like — that this sort of outlandish effort to seek retribution for supposed acts that aren’t even asserted to have harmed anyone is just absolutely the worst thing about some of humanity; and I think it’s at the root of a whole lot of much greater evil. Maybe it’s because I feel that my own greatest battle with myself is to control feelings that seem sometimes to delight in fantasies that some people are in some way harmed, humbled, or embarrassed because I find them wanting in some respect or another, or I simply don’t like them, or they irritate me. I have no doubt that’s everything behind both the prosecution’s and (now more obviously than ever) judge’s actions, here. If you ask me, the only one to have displayed some…

Well, that was fun. Three down days in a row, each successively bigger. Today, a bit of the smell of panic selling; then I see this news item and I must smile. Oh, I’ve no doubt that it contributed to a failed mini-rally off what might have been a bottom — today and going forward — but these sorts of things have a funny way of working. Do you sell or reduce your position because some ‘bond guru turned bearish?’ No, you might sell or reduce your position because you know others are going to sell on such news…because they think others are going to sell on such news, and so on. Crowd behavior: don’t get left standing. If the smart money sells, however, it’s only for the purpose of buying back in at a lower basis once the panic subsides. When we next enter a bear phase, you’ll know it soon enough by all accounts. You’re not going to predict it ahead of time (no one is, except by complete accident; or, predicting so often that they eventually have to be right), so why guess? Wait until you know. Then just go to something that does well in a…

If you’re a red-meat eater, that is. And if you gave it up in fear that your brain would melt and you’d turn into an idiot (ahem…), take note that it’s safe to go back into the water.

Perhaps this is worth putting front and center since the TSA-goon-guy comment it responds to is from a way old post. Well, Tim, you TSA guys are like the proverbial day-late-and-dollar-short types. You aren’t protecting anyone from anything much. You’re protecting against methods already well known because they were innovative when they were tried, which is why you didn’t catch them. Your purpose is none other (…other than that of creating a mountain of fake jobs for people to feel falsely important) than fooling a bunch of sheeple into thinking they’re extraordinarily safe. But they already are about as safe as natural reality affords, along with that afforded by the competence of aircraft manufacturers, pilots, mechanics and the others who make the whole thing go like it does. You’re just trying to piggyback off the real people who keep us as safe as we can be in an aluminum tube at 30,000 feet. I’m not falling for your con. And, I don’t need you or any of the others. I’m perfectly happy taking my chances, which I don’t think you do a damn thing to improve. Onward.

There’s so many elements that make aviation a big appeal to me. First, of course, is the cruel reality that we can’t just flap or spread something of ourselves and fly unassisted — like birds. And then again, had we evolved as flying creatures there’d be nothing particularly special about it, I suppose; and so we’re left with a far sweeter obstacle in that we did evolve the means of flight but had to develop it and train it, and ultimately risk smashing it into a puddle of mush. I’m talking about man’s mind. So that’s the second appeal. Pioneering aviation was a terribly risky thing to do and countless people paid the ultimate price. They bet more than the farm. They bet their lives; and many ended up short. And then you stop and think that some guys — obviously warped mentally as they risked their lives to do this — all while watching friends and other pioneers perish in the kinds of mishaps that require a case of ziplock baggies to properly clean up — were even dumb enough to think they could turn this whole delusion into a profitable business. “Yea, hey, I’m gonna get whole generations…

Looks like a good use has been found for the London 2012 Olympic Games logo, for which a design fee of $800,000 was paid. Make sure to scroll to below the fold. (link: McQ) Update: And more fun still.

I probably mentioned Carl Futia even before, but the last time was pretty recently in this post. Now, understand this: I began reading Carl’s blog around last October or November (2006) and arrived at my assessment of him completely on my own. Someone I know who day and swing trades the S&P e-mini futures mentioned Carl to me, offhand, and that’s the only thing I ever heard from anyone else about him. But just watching him daily, it didn’t take long to see how he was the first commentator on market activities who I didn’t eventually have to conclude was completely full of shit. To be sure, if you trade based on anyone’s recommendations you’re eventually (quickly, actually) going to get burned. I never trade off Carl’s commentary (he doesn’t make recommendation or picks (big clue right there), but it has helped me to get the right overall perspective on the market which is critical to executing my own trades properly (I don’t even trade the same stuff he does, at all). Anyway, I stumbled upon this over the weekend. The most accurate blogger was the Daily Dose of Optimism at 61% correct calls, followed by Carl Futia and Quant…

I had a great time preparing breakfast this morning and had been looking forward to it since I awoke. Obviously, an omelet. But with what? Well, it’s got red onion, fresh asparagus, sour cream, crème fraîche, mayonaise, fresh chopped dill, white pepper, and lumpfish caviar. Sliced campari tomatoes, bacon, and a fruit salad with fresh cantaloupe, blackberries, and blueberries round out the preparation. To prepare the omelet, I fist chopped the red onions and asparagus and sauteed them in olive oil at high heat just for a couple of minutes to bring out the flavor. Olive oil will break down quickly, so I took it off the heat, removed the vegetables to my beat-up egg preparation (with a dash of salt & pepper). I then added a pat of butter to the olive oil and cooked the omelet on medium low heat. Flipping a 4-egger (Bea & I split it) over without destroying it is a practiced skill. Don’t lose heart. The sauce is from last week when I grilled salmon and asparagus for some friends, but it keeps very well in the fridge. Mix one part sour cream to one part crème fraîche, to a half part mayonnaise. Then,…