The Economist's Cookbook

I'm not sure why I love this holiday so much.

It's an excuse to drink, which I plan on doing this weekend during a belated St.Paddy's party, which will include watching Boondock Saints I & II back to back over Irish Coffee and Guinness.

I think part of it is the strong independent nature of Ireland and its history. While I strongly dislike the socialist and communist nature of what the IRA stood for (workers' revolution, my ass), I understand the desire to be free all too well.

So hoist a pint for freedom everyone!

P.S. If you're mormon or muslim and don't drink, too bad for you!

Due to some complaints about the text color I am stumbling my way through editing the html of the blog to make it a bit easier to read.

So if there are any unexpected anurisms that the blog has due to html problems, please let me know.

-The_Chef

Artist: Persefone
Album: Shin-Ken
Genre: Progressive/Melodic Death Metal
Review: Persefone hails from the tiny European nation of Andorra and is starting to make their mark on the metal scene in the world. Influenced by the like of Arcturus, Opeth, and a little dash of some symphonic bands, they've got a good blend. I listened to this album expecting this to be one of those "I've heard this before" kind of things, but it wasn't. While I could draw similarities to other bands that I know and love, they do produce something unique and engaging. It's heavy where it needs to be and then at times they break off into something that is much more melodic to keep things interesting. the band apparently has a large following in Japan, while their rep is more slowly growing in the US and Europe. It's good stuff and I hope the band continues to evolve and improve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm4EbeNjKdA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Jr5w6FU-c
Rating: 3.5/5

Copwatching (n):
1.) The act of observing law officers.
2.) The intent to keep your law officers honest by observing how they treat the public.

Article: http://www.wwl.com/Suit-claims-police-harass-journalists-and-bystande/6578605
Except that all over the country if you photograph, observe, or film a police officer doing anything you are most likely going to get your camera etc. taken from you as "evidence" where it will mysteriously come back to you without the relevant pictures or data on it.

The plaintiffs cite 11 other incidents since 2005 in which people were arrested or allegedly threatened while videotaping, photographing or merely observing police officers. The list of potential plaintiffs' witnesses includes Times-Picayune city editor Gordon Russell and Associated Press Television News producer Rich Matthews.

"It is a widely accepted and established custom for police officers to arrest or threaten people for filming them," said Brittany Barrient, a student attorney from the Tulane Law Clinic who represents Griffith and Learned.

Ladies and Gentlemen ... it is NOT just a few bad apples spoiling the barrel. There is an institutional problem that encourages thuggery, the rampant violation of rights, the "Only One" mentality (as David over at WoG) refers to it. We have a problem in your country and that is that no one in the justice and law enforcement system is accountable for their actions unless they go to such extremes as running over kindergartners with a tank!

But the article is interesting because it hales from the legally embattled state of LA. You know the state that just had a huge snafu over their officers shooting unarmed and nonthreatening people in a post-Katrina bloodbath.

I've met some good cops and serious props go to the cops that are a part of Oath-Keepers, but goddamn boys, some of your fellow members need to get a reality check.

...even if you didn't do anything that should put you on the list.

GA Supreme court upholds the position that even if you don't commit ANY sexual crime you are still going on the sex offenders list if you commit OTHER crimes like kidnapping, illegally detaining a minor, etc.
This quote is priceless:

Writing for a 5-2 majority, Justice Harold Melton rejected arguments that the provision, as applied to Rainer, was cruel and unusual punishment. Sex offender registry laws, Melton wrote, "are regulatory, not punitive, in nature."

I would like to advance a position that many may find controversial, all regulation is punitive in nature because it provides punishments if those regulations are not met. So I think that the distinction is a fuzzy one at best to differentiate between. Add to that this concept: All regulations inherently reduce the choice set of the individual without facing punishment. That reduction in choice set is in and of itself a punishment of a kind. (Please note I'm not arguing that laws against murder is a bad thing, merely that regulation reduces choice set or more rightly that regulation increases the costs of making certain choices, which outside of the protection of life, liberty, and property are a bad thing.)

Here is another gem:

"Because the registration requirements themselves do not constitute punishment, it is of no consequence whether or not one has committed an offense that is 'sexual' in nature before being required to register," Melton wrote.

Does that make any sense to anyone? We all know that those regulations of where you can live/work/go make life hell on people that are convicted of a sex offense. As a result I can very clearly say that those regulations ARE punitive.

Now please understand I'm not saying that real sex offenders deserve a pass, on the contrary they deserve to get it good and hard. however there are WAAAY too many people that have no business being on those lists. 18 year old hooks up with his 17 year old girlfriend, even if it's consensual, her parents can file charges anyway (this varies from state to state but documented cases exist of this kind of shit).

Come on GA, you can do better than this.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/12/beck.boycott/index.html?hpt=C2

So Glen Beck opens his fool mouth and a ... I guess you could call him a "progressive" Christian ... calls him out on the whole thing.

Now I don't like Glen Beck. He's a loudmouth that is interested in nothing more than tossing mud and entertaining his audience and makes an attempt to sound 'libertarian'. And while he sounds okay when he has on people like Penn Gillette or other libertarians, he sounds like a raving loon most of the rest of the time.

On the other hand I'm not a religious person and I don't care for most of the "christians" I've met. Note that I say MOST of them, not all.

Well what is the deal? Defining social justice and economic justice are sticky issues to begin with. So while I believe that everyone should be looked at in the same way legally, we're living in an imperfect world where not everything is equal.

So what is the solution? I never thought I would say this but ... I agree with a Falwell (yes that Jr. one that succeeded his stupid windbag, douchebag father).

"Jesus taught that we should give to the poor and support widows, but he never said that we should elect a government that would take money from our neighbor's hand and give it to the poor," Falwell says.

Falwell says that Jesus believed that individuals, not governments, should help the poor.

The nature of being a Christian, at least as I see it is that, it ought to be the individual conviction of Christians to help those that are in need and deserve it. However it doesn't seem to me to be a moral thing to put people in power who put a gun in people's face in order to redistribute wealth in a manner that some group deems to be "proper" or "just".

Anyone that advocates the redistribution of private property as a "moral good" is nothing but a thief.
IRS pic courtesy of Oleg Volk

So my younger brother is a Sophomore in high school and is currently studying Orwell's 1984. His teacher puts up a discussion online and this is a thought of his that I found ... rather profound for a 16 year-old:

The idea of unified thinking, decision making, and gov’t is when freedom will start to become obsolete. Freedom of thought is disunity, non unification, and difference in opinion

Freedom of thought is disunity.... hmmmm

Well to the political class ... thought is dangerous. Don't think for yourself, Don't question authority, Don't oppose the "experts".

Да товарищ

You're Probably a Federal Criminal

There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws. – Ayn Rand

Yes I know this article is old and it comes from the ever even handed Faux News site. But still the anecdotes in this article are ... frightening.

This is what economists talk about when they say regulation is a bad thing because of the unintended consequences such legislation may cause. The idea that bureaucrats and their department enforcers get to look over everyone's shoulder at anything a normal peaceful person is doing. And while many federal agencies are responsible for stupid prosecution of poorly written and poorly enforced laws, I can think of two primary offenders: The ATF and the EPA.

The ATF recently seized a series of airsoft guns with an ATF agent claiming they could readily be converted into usable machine guns. REALLY?!

On the EPA side of things there are so many laws governing what you can and cannot do with your own land because of all the regulations that surround land use, endangered species, water control, etc.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Is this freedom?

More laws, less justice. – Marcus Tullius Ciceroca (42 BC)

Yes I finally decided to resurrect the Cookbook, give it a new template (damn working out bugs in html is a pain in the ass), and get this blog back up and running. I've been ignoring things too long and kind of miss a place to vent my thoughts, epiphanies, and frustrations.

Wewt! The new replacement Dell arrived and is now up and running, still need to load a few more operational programs on it, but other than that ... IT'S ALIVE!

So your libertarian thought for the day. I wrote this a while back when discussing the upcoming 2008 presidential election on an automotive forum, when explaining my position on the "moral" use of coercion to "help" those less fortunate.

I want the government to have less power in every aspect, not more. Of course people see a 'crisis' coming and they turn into a bunch of bleating sheep who beg the government to save them or do something about it. The road to hell is paved with good intentions they say. I want my country back and I don't want some politician telling me that I should be a slave to someone else because it's "moral". Fuck you, I live for me, not for someone else.

I'm more profane than I am elegant in my arguments and for that I'm sorry, I'll never be a Walter Williams or a Don Doudreaux. But I can be a voice for freedom.

Chickenfoot is a rock band featuring vocalist Sammy Hagar (ex-Van Halen and Montrose), bassist Michael Anthony (ex-Van Halen), guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers). Chickenfoot has completed an album that was released on June 5, 2009.

Now I'm not a huge Van Halen fan. But I have a lot of respect for Satriani and Smith. Their debut album is just ... fun. It has a lot of echoes of Van Halen when they didn't suck, face it, David Lee Roth was complete garbage. Now I am NOT a hair metal or glam rock fan...

...but this album isn't either of those. Seems like these four guys are actually interested in making good music.

If you're a rock fan or just get nostalgic for having a bunch of great musicians get together and make a good album, hit up the debut album of Chickenfoot.

Their First Single:

The blog lives, my laptop however is being replaced.

Posts on hold while Dell ships me a replacement.

*sigh*

BEHOLD! IT LIVES!

New laptop. Yes it's awesome, yes I will be updating once again.

The Cookbook is back!

See above ... God hates me.

What happens when we are pushed far enough to start pushing back?

Rick Santelli on CNBC recently tore the stimulus and the Obama administration a new one.

What will we do? I ask this to everyone, no matter their political persuasion. What will YOU do when the government starts kicking doors in because people suggest that secession is better then tyranny? What will YOU do when SWAT teams throw your loved ones to the floor, toss a black bag over your head and you disappear into some sort of institutional camp where you'll be trained to NEVER oppose the benevolent State?

I found this over at WRSA. Watch it and ask yourself what you will do?


What will you do when they decide that you are not "American Enough"?

From the hate for personal/sexual/substance liberty on the right, to the hate for guns and economic liberty on the left. How unfortunate that our oppressors have been allowed this much power.

I hope there is a peaceful solution to this slavery. However I fear that there won't be and before long we'll be fighting in the streets.

What can it do? What is its purpose?

This post by Dr. Pete Boettke over at The Austrian Economists. I will quote some passages for you all.

Hayek argued in the early 1930s that the fate of the economist was to be called upon to address questions of pressing political concern only to have his advice discounted as soon as it was uttered. Why? Because economics as a discipline puts parameters on people's utopias. It gives us primarily "negative" knowledge --- we live in a scarce world, there is no such thing as a free lunch, we cannot assume what it is we hope to prove, ought cannot presuppose can, and can doesn't mean we ought, etc. In the 1980s, Hayek wrote that: "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they know about what they imagine they can design."

But ... the politicians do not want to be told what they can and cannot design society to be. They have their views of the perfect state, their utopias. These people will cajole, wheedle, coerce, and kill those that oppose their idealized society. More Boettke:

No answer has yet been given as to why President Bush's bailout package didn't work while his stimulus package will. In fact, when pushed on that question President Obama really just said, we might even need to spend more down the road when this doesn't give us the result we want. And the claim is just that confidence has to be restored to the market and only government can do that.

Ah to steal a term from David Codrea over at War on Guns. The government are the "ONLY ONES" who can save us from this quagmire of capitalism. This is ... for lack of a better term ... bullshit. The government couldn't find its collective (and collectivist) ass with both hands and a map.

I'll summarize what Dr. Boettke thinks are the current problems and why the market is showing that investors are EXTREMELY skittish right now:

1. "[G]overnment action has produced an uncertain investment environment."
2. "The rules of ownership and control are unclear, or clear but counter-productive for individual initiative"
3. "[M]onetary policy guided by the rhetoric of fighting inflation, but fearing deflation has been so loose that long term inflation that threatens the viability of the dollar should be a real concern to investors."
4. "[F]iscal policy which is so out of control that US public debt will bankrupt the future generations with an astronomical tax burden and/or a monetization that will destroy the currency through hyper-inflation."

Boettke:

...you fail to consider the fiscal arguments of a James Buchanan, the monetary and capital theories of F. A. Hayek, the comparative institutional analysis of law and politics in Ronald Coase, and the monetary and fiscal policy arguments of Milton Friedman. Each of these gentlemen, President Obama, won the Nobel Prize in Economic Science.

But it doesn't stop with just failing to understand or to read the arguments of these intellectual titans. Oh no, you've used your political views of equality and pseudo-Marxist view of ethics and morals to completely discount the very men that have given you a path to SOLVING THE DAMN PROBLEM!
Boettke:

A really radical notion of hope and change might be to get government out of the business of attempting to manage the economy, stop demanding of economics results that it as a discipline cannot produce, and lets depoliticize political economy.

Bravo Dr. Boettke! Ask the politcal class if they'd like a side salad with their entree of Whup-Ass.

So it funny to watch all of the squabbling and hand wringing about how awful free markets are in the wake of this global financial swamp we've dropped ourselves in. Here is an op-ed from the New York Times (Yes yes, I know always a bastion of free market and libertarian thought) which is trying to use this crisis to suggest that isolationism is a way to protect against the global market place tanking your local marketplace.

Hmmm well technically this guy is right. If a country doesn't globalize or throws up large barriers to foreign investment, then there is a buffer to protect a state from fluctuations in the global economy. But is this a beneficial thing? Protectionist countries usually have a much lower growth rate for small businesses because they will limit the amount of foreign investment, which shrinks up the market for loanable funds or it directly shrinks the possibility for Foreign Direct Investment. Closing down those cash flows harms businesses and entrepreneurs.

The other problem with this loon's article is statements like this:

In contrast, the countries that opened the most to the international capital markets, and that sought to bring in business with relatively lax regulations, now are suffering the most. Iceland was the wonder economy of the world; now it is broke.

Iceland is broke because the banks SERIOUSLY over-leveraged themselves and lets face it, lots of banks got into investments that they have NO business being involved in. When an institution piles itself in risk and then fails, why is anyone surprised? So the Globalization is not the problem, the malinvestment by banks is the problem not the lack of "regulatory framework".

But the world might be in better shape now if more countries had chosen that route[financial autarchy], and thus been more insulated from the credit storm that has left companies and countries around the world fearful that they will be unable to obtain needed financing.

Right, If countries had chosen autarchy, then companies would sure as hell be fearful that they would be unable to attain the needed financing. If you shrink up a market, goods become more scarce. This goes for a market for investment just like it does a market for apples. This is not ROCKET SCIENCE PEOPLE!

Oh a chart, I like charts. Pictures tell cool stories.

This kind of idiocy will bury this country and it's views like Floyd Norris' (yeah the guy who wrote the article) that will drive this economy into the ground and begin to dig. Closing our borders to capital is NOT how you prevent or even mitigate a financial mess like we have on our hands.

Don Boudreaux over at Cafe Hayek put it this way:

But the Times should be consistent and have, say, one of its medical reporters write about the upside to suicide. Suicide's practitioners, after all, inoculate themselves against all future illnesses.

Bingo!
[Hat Tip to Cafe Hayek]

Draconian makes dark music. They play a blend of Gothic Doom Metal, so it's not terribly fast, but it is melancholic, dark, heavy, and beautiful. They deftly blend the lower growls usually found in other Doom Metal groups like Avec Tristesse and My Dying Bride. So what comes out is dark, heavy, and beautiful.

This song is titled Not Breathing off of their latest album 'Turning Season Within' (2008)

I saw this over at Vulcan's Hammer and started giving it some thought.

How to piss off our friends

Europeans are not very happy about the "Buy American" clause in the current stimulus bill:

The EU and Canadian ambassadors to Washington have already warned that the clause could promote protectionism and trigger retaliatory moves.

So I hopped over to read the BBC article.
What do I find? This:

The clause seeks to ensure that only US iron, steel and manufactured goods are used in projects funded by the bill.

A European Commission spokesman said it was the "worst possible signal".

However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said President Obama had assured her the US would not follow protectionist policies.

Hmmm well right before the Great Depression there was this bill called the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. It "raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to record levels. In the United States 1,028 economists signed a petition against this legislation, and after it was passed, many countries retaliated with their own increased tariffs on U.S. goods, and American exports and imports plunged by more than half. In the opinion of some economists, the Smoot-Hawley Act was a catalyst for the severe reduction in U.S.-European trade from its high in 1929 to its depressed levels of 1932 that accompanied the start of the Great Depression."(Via Wiki)

So ... we're going to try this again? Or at the least we are going to try a version of this again. This is completely asinine. It is completely out of bounds. Hell even Greenspan thinks Protectionism is a bad policy:

Protectionism will do little to create jobs and if foreigners retaliate, we will surely lose jobs.
- Alan Greenspan

When will the political parasites in DC wake up? Will they wake up if we stir them from their complacency?

ASG just ... kick ass. In an era when Nickelback is constantly being played on "rock" stations (how anyone can stand that awful crap is beyond me), and Pink gets more press than real musicians like OPETH, ASG refuses to go mainstream. They play a blend of Southern Stoner Rock, Alternative Metal, and Sludge Metal (ala Mastodon). These guys are amazing and what I love is that they have four albums, are relatively not known on the national stage (though they did play a portion of the '04 Vans Warped Tour), and they like it that way.

These guys are out to play music and damn do they play good music.

This is from their fourth album Win Us Over (2007)