Monthly Archives: May 2010

Let The Federal Government Collapse?

Posted on Wed, 19 May, 2010 by pmjones

Passage of the health care bill has sparked a revival of small-government thinking, causing many to predict significant Republican gains in Congress this fall. But despite some short-term success, this small-government revival is doomed to fail. The depressing truth is … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse, Economics, Government | 1 Comment

The Twilight of the Welfare State?

Posted on Mon, 17 May, 2010 by pmjones

The debt crisis initiated by Greece’s near default has subsided for the moment because of a trillion dollar bailout package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. This is only a temporary respite, however; debt crises will recur … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse, Economics, Government | 1 Comment

Offended Muslims Burn Down Cartoonists House?

Posted on Mon, 17 May, 2010 by pmjones

AFTER SWEDISH CARTOONIST LARS VILKS was attacked in a theater last week for showing ten seconds of a provocative film offensive to Muslims, his house was set ablaze over the weekend. via Instapundit » Blog Archive.

Posted in World War IV | 1 Comment

Bernie Madoff vs Social Security

Posted on Mon, 17 May, 2010 by pmjones

BERNIE MADOFF SOCIAL SECURITY Takes money from investors with the promise that the money will be invested and made available to them later Takes money from wage earners with the promise that the money will be invested in a “Trust … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Government | 2 Comments

How Complex Systems Fail

Posted on Thu, 13 May, 2010 by pmjones

The paper How Complex Systems Fail by Richard Cook should be required reading for anyone in programming or operations. Hell, it should be required reading for most everyone. You should read the whole paper (it’s very short at under five … Continue reading →

Posted in Emergence, Management, Programming, Resilience | 6 Comments

The Big-Spending, High-Taxing, Lousy-Services Paradigm

Posted on Thu, 13 May, 2010 by pmjones

James Madison would have to revise—or possibly burn—Federalist No. 10 if he were forced to account for the new phenomenon of the government itself becoming the faction decisively shaping its own policy and conduct. (See “Madison’s Nightmare” in City Journal’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Government | 1 Comment

Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid

Posted on Thu, 13 May, 2010 by pmjones

Sternberg’s premise is that stupidity and intelligence aren’t like cold and heat, where the former is simply the absence of the latter. Stupidity might be a quality in itself, perhaps measurable, and it may exist in dynamic fluxion with intelligence, … Continue reading →

Posted in Smart | 1 Comment

The Obsolete New York Model

Posted on Thu, 13 May, 2010 by pmjones

More important still, the propounders of the individualist work ethic, from Alexander Hamilton onward, had it right: a free society isn’t one that alleviates the burden of supporting ourselves and our families, but rather one that provides the opportunity to … Continue reading →

Posted in Liberty | 1 Comment

This Is The War On Drugs

Posted on Wed, 12 May, 2010 by pmjones

We’ve reached the point where police have no qualms about a using heavily armed police force trained in military tactics to serve a search warrant on a suspected nonviolent marijuana offender. And we didn’t get here by accident. The war … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Rights, Government | 2 Comments

Gambling With Other People’s Money

Posted on Tue, 11 May, 2010 by pmjones

Gambling With Other People’s Money is a sensible, accessible, intuitively appealing treatise from Russell Roberts on the financial collapse. It centers on the incentives and behaviors of those involved, not on the financial instruments they used. Short version: if you … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Government | 1 Comment