Category: Economics

Monday Links – Clearing the Tab

November 18, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be a long one. Build up from last week, and a busy news week over all.

A slew of Reason first.

One good thing about the return of Trump to the White House – Lina Kahn will be removed.

If DOGE wants to successfully cut government spending, it must take on entitlements. Of course, it could also start with energy subsidies. Personally, they should cut all subsidies. Of course this is all predicated on Trump wanting to act financially responsible, which he hasn’t demonstrated any desire.

There are good reasons to oppose Gaetz’s nomination. I’m kinda leaning to the whole admitting to taking drugs and sleeping with underage girls. And the whole being the vanguard of treating Congress as a place to build the brand instead of doing, you know, actual work.

The FDA ordered Costco to recall and destroy 80,000 lbs of butter because the packaging failed to list it was made of dairy. Because rules must be followed – even when they make no fucking sense.

Apple quietly included an inactive phone reboot in the latest iOS update. It looks like if the phone has been locked and inactive for several days, the phone returns to a factory state. Of course, law enforcement is all pissed off because they can’t “get to evidence. “

A first amendment fight where Texas authorities are using whatever laws they can to shut down a citizen journalist.

A bi-partisan group of Congressfolk and Senate are asking for the courts to step in to allow a family to sue after the FBI raided the wrong house.

That concludes the Reason portion of our blogcast. Now on to other news stories.

From Reuters, it seems that Amsterdam had some trouble with antisemitic bands were attacking Israeli soccer fans. This did not come across my normal newsfeeds. I had to go searching for it after a friend on FB posted about an Arab man who escorted a group of Israelis to safety. I’m sorry, but why did I have to go searching for a story about pogroms in Europe?

Also from Reuters, the CFPB wants to put Google under “federal supervision.” Um, what? Oh, you want access to their records? Fuck you. That’s what discovery is for.

From CNBC, FEMA fires employee who told relief workers to skip anyone with a Trump sign in their yard. I’m using CNBC, because honestly, this is the kind of story I would be skeptical about. Any story that fits too neatly into one or the other camp’s narratives, I get sketchy about without confirmation. Also, I’m surprised someone got fired.

From Tech Crunch, Mozilla Foundation lays off almost a third of its workforce and is shuttering its advocacy branch.

I got this one from Military.com just for the headline – Commander of Navy Leadership and Ethics Center Fired over Personal Conduct. This seems so indicative of the current state of military leadership.

Borepatch discusses some recent security issues with using AI in healthcare. Having recently completed my annual required HIPAA training, it astounds me that this wasn’t taken into account when deploying AI tools into the healthcare setting. But as Borepatch routinely reminds us, security isn’t usually among the top considerations when deploying new tech.

From Tynan Motors, a focus group of Hyundai owners told the motor company that they want physical controls back. I don’t mind the touchscreen in the Ward Wagon, but it also has physical knobs/buttons for all the major controls. And I won’t buy another car where that isn’t the case.

A couple of articles by Tam. One on what keeps the 1911 so popular. A second on the “Wheelgun U-Turn.” You really need to read it.

Now for some light items.

Take a look at this Spaceship Size Comparison. It’s floated around the internet for years. A copy of it will soon grace my office walls.

Heard about Ammosquared on the ACP podcast. Interesting way to buy ammo. Will have to investigate further.

Apparently, there is a local company that takes you out on boats and lets you shoot machineguns. That sounds like it needs further investigation.

Monday Links

October 28, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Starting off with Reason links.

Javier Milei continues his radical reforms in Argentina by shuttering the tax collection agency and creating a new one. There comes a time when you need to burn it down and start fresh. Argentina is going to be an interesting case study if Milei can see his reforms through before his opponents bring him down.

An examination of geothermal power generation. It’s an interesting concept, but we’re running into the same problem with wind and solar. How do we get the power from where it’s being generated to where it’s needed? Cracking that problem will open a lot of doors.

Examining the charges against the father of the Georgia shooter. I’m leery of this trend because there’s not a strict formula of how a person becomes a murderer. By the same token, there are some parents who have such reckless disregard for their children…

Illinois scholarship excludes white applicants. Here’s the issue. They want to recruit teachers to go into minority-dominant schools. Okay, I can understand that because you want the students to identify with their teachers and provide them good examples of success. And if it was a private scholarship, I would be all for it. When the state does it? I’m very leery.

Iowa Supreme Court have a case on whether the state can charge acquitted defendants for their public defendants. Wait? What? Iowa is charging people to use public defendants? How is this just?

New Zealand is revoking gun licenses for political beliefs. This is why we hate registration. Why we hate licenses. Because there are too many politicians and bureaucrats who will deny them because we disagree politically. Look, I think radical environmentalists, radical leftists, radical rightists, and anti-Zionists all have abominable political views that are detrimental to society. I think someone who supports Hezbollah and Hamas are supporting despicable terrorist groups. Guess what? If they haven’t committed a crime, you shouldn’t be able to deny them their rights.

And now on to other stories.

The Verge takes a look at Apple AirPods being used for hearing aids and hearing protection. I’m very interested in this. I don’t think my AirPods Pro will be able to substitute for my range ear-pro, but for concerts?

Local station talks about how people are finding out that insurance may not cover a lot of the damages of first floor in a multi-story dwelling. This is a caution to make find out what your insurance will and will not cover.

NYT article on grocery stores looking into electronic price tags. Of course, they immediately go to the most drastic worse use of the technology.

BleepingComputer examines how bad the Change healthcare hack was.

ProPublica reports that gun makers were sending warranty cards to NSSF for lobbying purposes. Okay,

Quick Monday Links

October 14, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be a quick post.

From Forbes (via The Brother) discussing the dangers of spreading false AI images during emergencies. Why is this above the normal Reason links? Because I fell for one of the images and put it up last Thursday. I have edited the post, but leaving it up as a reminder to myself and others.

Now on to a few Reason links.

More fallout from extended school closures – drops in ACT scores. Of course, it looks odd with student grades being at highest levels.

Feds going after a landlord for not showing an apartment to people with emotional support animals.

A look at FEMA and states buying properties that have been repeatedly flooded out. This is a use of eminent domain I don’t have a problem with. Why? Because the .gov backstops flood insurance.

From TFB, there’s some friction in Canada between the federal government and the provinces over the recent federal gun legislation.

From The Tampa Bay Times, a look at neighborhoods not in flood zones that flooded during Milton. Many of these folks relied on those flood zone maps to decide whether to buy flood insurance. I have told all of the new residents in our neighborhood that they need flood insurance. It’s Florida – you will need flood insurance.

From GQ, a look at the restoration of Notre Dame after that horrible fire.

Monday Links On Wednesday

October 9, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Reason links first.

The government subsidizing flood insurance caused worse destruction during Helene.

The IRS wants to collect back taxes while people were being held hostage. Because of course they do.

Arizona’s school choice program under fire.

If there’s one thing the averted dockworker strike showed was how much American ports need automation.

A review of bullet vending machine. Hoping to see these around my parts soon.

A couple of California stories.

Ground News reports that California is banning legacy admissions at private universities. While I don’t particularly like the idea of legacy admissions, I also dislike the heavy hand of government being used to ban it.

From WSJ, Newsome vetoed their AI safety bill. Stopped clocks and all that.

Some other stories.

From The Verge, the US Patent and Trademark Office cancelled DC’s and Marvel’s joint trademark on the term “super hero”. Which honestly, should have been done a long while. It was kind of like if they gave IBM and Apple a trademark on the term “computer”.

The Intelligencer has an article on a practical flying car. It also may be slightly illegal. Or at least in a legal gray area.

Rounding out with a couple of articles on guns that caught my interest.

From TFB, HK is resurrecting the P7. I hope they come out with a classic line.

From Guns.com, the Henry Arms Supreme, a lever action that feeds from AR magazines.

Monday Links

September 9, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Sweet FSM. I miss a week and the articles stack up. This is going to be a long links post. A lot of gun/RKBA related stories this week.

Let’s start with our normal collection of Reason articles. And talking about RKBA-related stories…

How courts are evading the Bruen decision. Color me surprised that lawyers and judges (but I repeat myself) are trying to push the guardrails of new legal theory.

Eighth Circuit strikes down Missouri’s 2A Sanctuary law. These kinds of laws are why I think we need an amendment that allows at least a majority of states to nullify onerous federal laws.

Another parent being charged with murder because their offspring decided to murder schoolmates and teachers. I am highly skeptical of this trend, particularly since it feels like we’re burning the parents in effigy (legally speaking).

A historical look back on arms bans prior to the 20th century.

The Biden administration is trying to go ahead with its plan to cancel student debt. Even though it’s illegal and the Supreme Court has struck down pretty much all attempts. Oh yeah, that will help keep the cost of college down. If it didn’t cost so much, I’d almost be in favor of it to help burst the college bubble.

A thinkpiece on what the .gov could do to help with the housing crisis. In the same vein, here’s an analysis on what happened when the Dutch recent tried national rent control. Spoiler alert: it ended up hurting the people it was supposed to help. Cue surprised Pikachu.

A recent survey of college students find almost a third think violence is an acceptable form of protest. I’m a little leery since I didn’t see how they worded the questions, but someone needs to explain to these young adults that the means you think are fully justified for your cause are going to be adopted by your opposition because they now think they have permission. Come to think of it, that describes a lot of what’s gone wrong in this century.

Have we reached peak public schooling? This rolls into one of my soapboxes that the nation needs to have a serious discussion about what it wants out of public schools. Everyone will say they want to make “responsible and educated citizens.” But let’s face it. It’s also state-sponsored daycare for a lot of folks.

Idaho’s Child Care Program expanded benefits and now is facing a $16 million deficit. Either there were a lot more needy families or there were a lot folks just lining up to the trough. These days, it’s probably both.

And now for some Ground News aggregations.

Trump is concerned how expensive IVF is and wants insurance to pay for it. Proving once again that Trump is fine with handing out goodies if he thinks it will get him elected, and he still has no concept of economics.

Okay, yes, the WHO beclowned itself with its obsequience to China during the pandemic. Still, it’s nice to have another study showing that there’s no link between brain cancer and cell phones.

NVIDIA is getting a hard look by the DOJ for trying to lock customers into its products. Companies being asses tends to open up the market for competitors, but DOJ is going to DOJ.

The US, UK, and EU sign an AI treaty. Yeah, that has beneficial to the growth of the technology written all over it.

Now for some more RKBA and gun related content.

John Richardson is reporting that one of the NRA directors is advocating for firing the Brewer firm. Jettisoning that firm would be a strong sign that the NRA is healing.

Speaking of John, guess who’s going to be on the ballot to become part of the NRA Board? Honestly, if I could immediately vote in the election, this might get me to join back. I’m still in my wait and see period.

TTAG article on Polymer80 closing up shop after years of fighting “ghost gun” legislation. It’s sad to see Pyrrhic victories in the gun world.

I’ve got a slew of tech-related/adjacent articles.

From The Verge, an article about how new AI-powered photo editing tools will make it harder to believe what you see.

Also from The Verge, Ecoflow launching a new series of batteries/powerstations. Honestly, I’m loving the innovation and expansion in this segment. I think advances in battery tech are crucial to improving the overall health of the power grid.

From The New Yorker, an essay on why AI isn’t going to be making art. While I think AI will make art creation more accessible to more people, it’s not going to replace the spark of creativity in humans.

From Bloomberg, Intel’s problems is endangering the promise of the CHIPS Act. Damn, it’s like industrial policy can’t overrule business / economic rules. Or that maybe the government has a bad track record of choosing winning corporations.

Via Wired, the Internet Archive got slapped down for lending out copyrighted books willy-nilly on its platform.

From MacStories, Reeder is launching a revamped product. I use the current Reeder (soon to be known as Reeder Classic) to gather the various stories that tend to end up here. (h/t The Brother)

Not tech, but of local interest, the local news station has an article on Tervis filing Chapter 11 reorganization. The Ward household has many of their products and hope they come out stronger.

Geek Culture reports on Transformers new line combining TF characters with other IP forms. Of particular interest to me is the Macross collaboration. Although I doubt it’s going to be a re-issue of the G1 Jetfire toy.

Monday Links

August 26, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be a weird one, as I have only one Reason article.

Albuquerque police chief thinks it’s okay for cops to turn off their body cams under their Fifth Amendment rights. Um, no.

Now for a couple of Ground News aggregations.

DOJ is going after a software firm saying that their algorithm allows landlords to raise rents.

Former deputy who killed airman is being charged with manslaughter. I would like to think that a private citizen would get the same consideration in terms of charging.

For news items from other sources.

Duke Medical study finds gun laws have mixed impact on suicide and homicide rates. Almost as if murder and suicide are complex problems that can’t be fixed with “one simple solution.”

The Guardian is reporting on trouble in the dating app world. Namely, the apps are losing users / subscribers.

AP is reporting that the Fed Chairman is signalling that they may reduce interest rates in the near future.

Local news station is advising people not to trust flood maps when deciding to buy flood insurance. Note to any new or prospective resident of Florida – you need flood insurance. I don’t care where you live in Florida, you need flood insurance.

The Verge is reporting that Chik-Fil-A is looking into launching a streaming service. Um, okay. Question. Will it run on Sundays?

Creative Loafing Tampa is reporting on Busch Gardens shutting down the Scorpion roller coaster. I remember when that coaster opened, and rode it a lot when I was younger, thinner, and able to ride coasters without feeling like I got bashed around.

Another Guardian article, but this one on the reveal of some of the major features of Civ 7. There’s been a lot of sturm und drang among the Civ FB groups on the changes. I’m going to wait until I’ve played before making judgements. I will say that I’m inordinately excited that rivers will now be navigable.

Via The Brother, there’s this nifty USGS site showing all of the world’s water in a sphere.

Monday Links

August 12, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be a bit long. There’s a lot here on civil rights being threatened by both sides of the aisle.

Of course, we start with Reason links.

Venezuela’s Maduro is bad for both his own country, and the United States. I have a nasty feeling that country is going to be the latest example of “you can vote your way into socialism, but you have to shoot your way back out.”

A recent poll says the First Amendment gives too many protections. This is an example of a worrying trend where both sides want fewer civil rights so that they can use power against the other.

Speaking of free speech, the Trump mob came for Kyle Rittenhouse when he dared speak against their god-emperor. You want to know why I will never vote for Trump? It’s shit like this.

Justice Gorsuch is promoting his new book that we have too many laws allowing for prosecutors to abuse their power. This is why I’m in favor of removing prosecutorial immunity and replacing it with a malpractice model.

A piece on EU’s aggressive tech regulations made the CrowdStrike fiasco much worse.

Pacific Legal Foundation has a new report out on how to deal with squatters. The report makes the point that “squatters’ rights” bills hurt the people they purport to help – the poor. Which is so often a result of these kinds of laws.

Moving on to a couple of Ground News aggregations.

NVIDIA is the latest company to come into the regulators’ crosshairs.

Florida deputy rushes into a lake to rescue an autistic kindergartner. As much as I slam police abuses, sometimes it’s important to spotlight those who do the heroics.

Moving on to other sources and stories.

From Bloomberg, a federal judge rules Google violated anti-trust law. Considering the AI wave coming, I’m really getting late nineties Microsoft echoes. The most ridiculous claims the prosecutors put out? That because of Google’s dominant position in search, they failed to innovate and hurt consumers. Bitch, that’s what’s called a market opportunity.

From Gizmodo, Logitech had to walk back comments that hinted they were looking at a subscription model for a new mouse. I think we’re seeing the end of making everything a subscription.

From the Only Guns and Money blog, John Richardson has announced he’s seeking to run for the NRA Board of Directors. If you’re a voting member, go take a moment and help someone who would be a voice for reform.

This is from Fox News, so I’m not sure how click-baitey the story is. However, the fact that the Met’s Commissioner says it will seek extradition for folks violating their ridiculous social media laws regarding their recent rioting is enough to make me want to dig more. My immediate reaction is very Molon Labe. My next reaction is that it’s very rich that Britain has refused to extradite murderers because they were facing the “barbaric” death penalty. I think the American government would be in the right to tell the Brits that turnabout is fair play. My final thought is that the states should go tell the feds to pound sand if they try to extradite any of their residents to the Brits over this shit.

Via The Brother, we have this Ars Technica article about a Russian chess player poisoning their rival’s chessboard with mercury.

Finally, we have a couple of articles from The Wrap on Crunchyroll. First, Crunchyroll has surpassed 15 million subscribers. Second, a piece delving on how Crunchyroll is succeeding in the streaming wars. Honestly, I think a big part is how Crunchyroll understands it’s niche and isn’t out to become the next Netflix or Hulu.

Monday Links

August 5, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Reason time!

Here’s two takes on Biden’s Supreme Court reform proposals. One from the Volokh Conspiracy and one from Reason. My opinion? I like the idea of twenty year term limits on the Supreme Court, but if and only if the judicial filibuster is established in law. I would like some more generational turnover, but I don’t want justices becoming enmeshed in the campaign fray. Also, it would help if Congress would do their damned job.

Israel pulled off a pair of spectacular assassinations. You will excuse me if I’m unmoved by the death of terrorist leaders.

A thinkpiece on the current wave of political violence.

On to other news links.

The Brother sent me this link to an LA Times article on a Los Angeles UBI pilot that saw much more favorable results than the study I linked to last week from Reason.

Reporting from The Reload on the judge denying New York’s demand for a monitor over the NRA. Also, WLP is banned from holding a position in the NRA for a decade. There were also some other recommendations. I’m still leery of rejoining the NRA in light of the recent appointments of the old guard to key committees and reformers being almost exclusively shut out of those committees.

Turkey took silver in the mixed air pistol. One of their shooters has gone viral with his lack of gear and nonchalant shooting style. The gun blogosphere has been going all in on skills over gear.

Now for a trio of Florida-centric stories.

An article from the local news station that shockingly that the people showing up at the door to sell stuff ignore the laws about solicitation. This is the equivalent of them writing an article that Florida has a lot of storms in the summer. I treat every person who comes to my door selling something as a probable crook – either trying to scam me out of money or casing my place for robbing later.

Tampa Business Journal article reporting the bankruptcy of the century-old Florida furniture store Badcock. This is of interest in the Ward household because The Wife worked for Badcock for a stint, and we ended up with some furniture from them.

Finally, a story that caters to my weeb side, Japanese bargain store Daiso is coming to Tampa. In particular, the location looks like it’s not too far from Mom’s place.

Monday Links

July 29, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be a tab-clearing edition as the Ward household has been out of state for the past couple of weeks.

Let’s start with our normal Reason links.

A bunch of redditors who hate Christians decided to sic Florida’s DCF folks on a family. A good example of how an online mob can whip itself into a frenzy and cause real world havoc.

More analysis on the lasting impacts of the school shutdowns during COVID.

Michigan Supreme Court tells Detroit their civil asset forfeiture program is wrong. No idea if they will block Detroit from working with the feds to sidestep any restrictions.

Thinkpiece on the FTC and its unconstitutional power grabs. This is another symptom of Congress not doing its damned job and putting in some guardrails on the FTC. But then again, the incentives for Congress is to let the FTC run wild and demagogue.

Over 1 million people have fled Cuba in the last couple of years. Apparently, this is around 10% of the population. But it’s supposed to be such a paradise.

A pilot of Universal Basic Income found it didn’t help people work more. UBI is one of those ideas I like in concept on the premise that its better to let people make their own decisions with their money. Unfortunately, society can’t stand by when people make bad decisions with their money. So, I can’t see how UBI is going to work.

Kamala’s Gen Z appeal is not what it appears to be. You’ll excuse me if I’m unimpressed by the youngins new fads when it comes to politics. Also excuse me if I’m unsurprised that the youngins are planning on voting for the Dems.

The government is exacerbating issues in the wine industry. Color me surprised, particularly when it comes to California.

Now on to some other stories.

From the AP, the FTC is looking into “surveillance pricing”. You’ll excuse me if I don’t trust assertions from the FTC about “possible” issues. Please see previous Reason link above.

From TFB, CZ is looking at opening factories in Ukraine. Hey, I’d like to get a Bren stamped “Made in Ukraine”.

From Active Response Training, an article on pet first aid for cats.

From Venture Beat, Microsoft has come up with a new LLM for spreadsheets. I’m kind of interested in playing with this.

Now on to some anime / weeb news.

Ranma 1/2 is getting remade and will show up on Netflix later this year. I’m very interested in this as Ranma was one of those shows in the nineties that got me into anime as anime.

A Couple of Cuckoos is getting a second season. This was a previous anime recommendation, and I’m glad it’s getting a second season.

Sanrio is causing some havoc by claiming that its iconic character Hello Kitty is not a cat, but a young girl living in London. Well, that’s a bold assertion cotton.

Monday Links

July 8, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This week is almost exclusively Reason links.

None of the major candidates are pro-freedom.

Sotomayor is right – we should re-evaluate immunity for prosecutors.

ICE apparently ran a fake school and duped a bunch of foreign students to enroll. A court ruled they can sue for breach of contract.

SCOTUS is going to look at FDA’s regulations against vaping. This looks more like another in a line of cases that essentially boil down to “Congress, do your damn job.”

This article states that Moore doesn’t allow for a wealth tax. Maybe not, but I think this is going to be one of those cases that has a lot of impact down the line for government’s rapacious appetite for money. Particularly as interest rates rise and debts get more expensive.

A bunch of states are ignoring the administration’s Title IX rules. Utah just joined them.

Labour rides the anti-incumbent wave and unseats the Tories. I haven’t been following Brit politics as much since The Economist paywalled all of their podcasts.

Oklahoma decides teaching the Bible will fix the kids. Y’know, school choice would allow parents to decide if they wanted their kids to have Christian theology crammed down their throat. Or some other religion’s dogma.

Now on to a couple of other stories.

This one’s a local story. Storied restaurant Wright’s was sold to Caspers Company. Why is this interesting to me? Because up until a couple of years ago, Caspers was one of the largest McDonalds franchisees in the nation. And many moons ago, Derek Ward was one of their shift managers.

VIZ Media buys the RWBY franchise. This is good news, as this is an IP that didn’t deserve to die.