Category: Economics

Monday Links

September 18, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This one might be a bit scattered. As usual, we’ll start with Reason.

The Biden Administration is proposing a large increase in federal worker pay. It’s the annual pay raise that federal workers get as a COLA. Wow, the same inflation fueled by profligate spending results in government workers need higher wages.

Here’s an article on how fast-food joints are being attacked.

Finally, we have Reason’s coverage of the New Mexico governor’s blatantly unconstitutional “public safety order” banning carrying of guns. Yeah, this was clearly a publicity stunt. And it looks like it’s backfiring. Spectacularly. Particularly when she gets her own officials saying they won’t enforce or defend. Particularly with a US judge quickly handing down a TRO. Particularly when she is forced to narrow it down to playgrounds in Albuquerque.

I’ve got a couple articles from The Hill.

First, some school districts are looking at four-day work week due to teacher shortages and needing to prevent burnout. That will have interesting downstream impacts on parents who will need to figure out childcare.

Second, an article on how most women still take their husband’s last name after marriage. However, there’s an uptick of younger women keeping their maiden name. The Wife and I had the discussion if she wanted to take my last name when we got married. She’d built a strong work reputation on her maiden name, and there were some downsides of the change. Still, like most of the women in the study, she chose to take my last name.

On to some gun stuff.

Kevin Creighton muses on if there really is a Gun Culture 3.0 or if it’s more a matter of Gun Culture 2.5.

The British military has selected an AR-pattern rifle for its Royal Marine Commandos and Ranger battalions. I wonder when they’ll finally ditch the L85 series.

And Beretta’s got a new AR-pattern rifle. I kinda like their ARX-160, but it was never in the running for my home defense carbine. Beretta can be kinda weird sometimes.

I heard about this on ACP. A Michigan ammo manufacturer pissed off a politician, who then used campaign finance laws to threaten the company.

A couple of miscellaneous items.

War Is Boring has an article on China sanctioning LockMart and Northrop Grumman over sales to Taiwan. I think the phrase is “don’t threaten me with a good time.”

Rwanda is allowing a company to test a small-scale nuke reactor. Excellent. Wide spread cheap and carbon-neutral energy will do wonders to help lift people out of poverty.

Finally the light items.

WaPo talks about the 20th anniversary of the pumpkin spice latte.

Crunchyroll has announced the second season of Spy X Family will be debuting on Oct 7. Which I am looking forward to because the first season was uproariously funny.

Monday Links

September 4, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be a little light – volume, not tone – this week. Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday.

First, from CNN, the mayor of Uvalde is calling on the DA to resign because she’s blocking their investigation into the school shooting. One hopes that someone actually suffers real consequences for the pathetic police response.

WaPo reports that DC is to pay $5.1 million to citizens for violating their Second Amendment rights. It would be nice if they could force the lawmakers who passed these laws to cough up the cash instead of passing it on to the taxpayers.

The Hill has a “Republicans pounce” article on DOE proposing new efficiency rules for ceiling fans. Do you want Florida to secede? Make it harder for us to get/afford ceiling fans. Because that’s how you get Florida to secede.

The Volokh Conspiracy discusses if Floridians can shoot looters in the wake of a hurricane. While I do not want people to run afoul of the law, the misfortune of looters doesn’t exactly move me. You help scavengers, you stop looters.

For our light item this week, we have a listicle of the 20 top female-fronted metal bands.

Monday Links

August 7, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be one of those heavy weeks for links.

Let’s start out with probably the biggest media story – the new indictment against Donald Trump. The Dispatch has had the best take on the whole issue thus far.

What may actually be the more important story is Fitch downgrading the US credit rating from AAA to AA+ (Reuters article). Of course, Reason explains why this is a function of our current governmental disfunction.

In that same vein, Reason examines the broken budget process.

Sticking with Reason, here’s a couple of gun-related articles. First, an examination of how New Zealand can’t keep its registry of gun owners private. Second, a law professor advocating officials hiding behind qualified immunity to enforce unconstitutional gun laws.

Keeping in the RKBA vein, John Richardson discusses the latest push to rebrand gun control as “gun responsibility.”

From Ars Technica, an article about Reddit not having to reveal user names who discussed torrenting.

From Vox, an article advocating using “windfall profits” from AI companies to fund a universal basic income. For the entire planet. Let me be clear – when you use the term “windfall profits,” your whole proposal sounds uneducated.

From The Atlantic, an article debunking the common wisdom on learning styles.

From Cato, a fun little game called “The Green Card Game.” Can you navigate the current immigration system?

From Your Observer, a local library is offering teens a course on “Adulting 101.”

Whew! We need some light items.

First, you can now watch the first season of the original TMNT.

Second, T.REX Arms has done a bunch of detail scans to make holsters. They’re offering those scans up for other companies to use.

This last one you just have to watch.

Monday Links – Catch Up Edition

July 24, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Due to drama in the Ward household, I haven’t posted Monday links for a couple of weeks. So, this is mostly tab-clearing out some articles.

Let’s start with the normal Reason links.

Police keep harassing the wrong David Sosa. He sued and was joined by eleven other David Sosas. This falls into the police need to have more attention to detail and not just take the easy road. Particularly when it comes to detaining the wrong people.

Tennessee student makes Instagram posts poking fun at the principal and gets suspended. The student sues.

Finally, a judge has ruled that the ATF overstepped its authority by saying inert items are “gun parts”.

Going on to other articles.

The civil trial against the coward Scot Peterson continues – and apparently requires a live-fire reenactment. Article from local tv.

The NY Times’ Wirecutter section has an article on what you need for birding. I only add it to the links because the author neglected any dog treats. Which based on his history and his infamous viral moment, you’d think he would include.

From PC Gamer, an article that 87 percent of old games are unplayable without resorting to piracy of some sort. Umm, yeah. Blinks in City of Heroes.

From the Washington Examiner, an article regarding a study that disputes all the claimed benefits of the transition to electric vehicles.

FIRE explains that the current brouhaha over Jason Aldean’s little ditty is an excellent example of the Streisand Effect.

Finally, from The Verge, a new self-transforming Grimlok toy is being released. It looks nifty, but not $1,500 nifty.

I Like The General Concept, But…

July 13, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I’ve been thinking recently on the concept of a carbon tax. I like the general idea of levying a tax for higher carbon production – particularly if it’s somewhat like a Carbon-Added Tax. It’s way to charge for an externality as well as fuel innovation by leveraging the market through customers wanting to pay lower prices.

The problem is what to do with those funds. There’s always some discussion that those funds would be used to help poorer nations mitigate the damage from climate change – floods, crop losses, migration to cities.

Except, I don’t trust the governments of the world with such a scheme. It would be too easy to divert those funds to pet projects and friends. I also don’t trust governments to properly levy how much tax should be paid. Finally, no government is going to let go of a revenue stream – regardless of how carbon-efficient technology becomes.

There’s part of me that thinks a large NGO could manage the carbon tax funds. Something like the IMF or WTO. Yet, I don’t trust their incentives any more than the government.

I await someone coming up with a workable scheme.

Monday Links – Tab Clearing

July 10, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be a bit long and scattered. That’s what happens when I have a couple weeks’ worth of links.

Let’s get the obligatory Reason/Volokh Conspiracy links out of the way.

The FDA is lying about vaping. Is it better than not smoking? Nope. Is it better than smoking? Oh hell yes.

CBO is projecting huge deficits. This is my shocked face.

Welcome new rent control, same as old rent control. I swear, it’s like no one understands how this is a bad thing.

Let’s go on to some gun-related articles.

First, Tam has a post about psychologists and guns.

TFB has one about a federal judge slapping down ATF – on how it defines what constitutes a firearm.

Gun Digest has an article on debunking revolver myths.

The coward Scot Peterson has been acquitted. Which, to those of us who know that the cops have no duty to protect, is unsurprising.

Here’s a couple of think pieces.

From Mike Munger, an article on the good versus the perfect. It’s not what you think.

From Ben Thompson, an analysis of the latest kerfuffle between the FTC and Amazon.

Our final link is from Active Response Training on medical care for cats.

Monday Links

June 26, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Surprisingly, this week only has one Reason link.

An article on how insurance – both government and private sector – are driving up the cost of healthcare. This is my surprised face.

And now for some random tab clearing.

From Active Response Training, Greg presents the “bag trick.”

From Bearing Arms, an article about an Indy defense attorney blaming gun owners for criminals not getting charged. Cam is skeptical, and so am I.

Heard about this on the “Word and Numbers” podcast. Pew has a calculator to see where you stand in global income rankings.

I was concerned what would happen to the 1632 universe with the death of Eric Flint. Apparently, there’s a new online magazine to continue the franchise.

The Brother sent this my way. An article on how maps shape how we see the world. It’s always surprising just how big Africa is.

Monday Links

June 19, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Y’know, there are weeks I think I should just rename this feature the Monday Reason Links and Other Stuff. Yeah, it’s going to be that kind of week. As long as you count the Volkh Conspiracy (since they’re publishing under the Reason banner).

First, California is killing fast food jobs. This is my surprised face.

Second, on the Free Range Kids front, an article about a mom confused how her kid made friends with another kid she didn’t know. Or, as us Gen X folks used to call it – summer vacation day.

While the Florida legislature was busy playing right-wing social justice this past session, they also decided to play the crony capitalism game with their dealership friends.

I first heard this story over at Borepatch’s place, but now it seems the esteemed Eugene Volkh is asking Amazon some pointed questions about booting a guy off his account and making him unable to use all of his Echoes. This is of some concern due to the fact that Ward Manor’s smart home environment is Echo-based. However, I also have a backup – read “manual” – system if Amazon decides to play silly buggers.

Last Reason article explains that over half of Protestant churches have at least some reliance on armed citizens for their security. While I am not a church-going person, I do want parishioners to be safe in their chosen house of worship. I will always recommend churches, synagogues, mosques, little storefront pagan meeting spaces to discuss and have a security plan. It needs to be more than “call 911 and wait for police.”

Semi-switching gears as we leave Reason territory:

Massad Ayoob has some thoughts on Daniel Perry’s indictment in New York.

Also, Rand has a meta-analysis on studies regarding effectiveness of firearms safety training requirements. TLDR; not enough rigorous studies to make a determination.

And for our light item this week? A new Babylon 5 animated movie is coming out. I should really introduce The Wife to B5.

Monday Links

May 22, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Well, this week’s links will probably be all over the map.

First, let’s start with an AP article on Disney scrapping a billion dollar project because of DeSantis fighting with them. Y’know, I hear a lot of gunnies decrying when certain states use their power to compel companies to do gun-prohibitionist things. Or when they chase companies out of states with ridiculous regulations. Shoe. Other foot.

Speaking of Disney, this article from Techradar, states that when Disney merges their Disney+ and Hulu services, they will probably shrink the available library. One of the tech podcasts I listen to was commenting that the Streaming War is over, and now the Great Streaming Consolidations will begin with the survivors. Guess I should watch the Willow television show before it disappears.

It’s not Monday Links without Reason articles.

First is Reason’s take on the Durham report. When a report like this makes a stalwart like National Review’s Andy McCarty think hard on if the FBI is salvageable in its current state, then it’s a damning report. IMHO, it’s high time to, at the very least, split the FBI’s intelligence role off of its law enforcement role.

Second – can Uvalde’s authorities not do things to prove how incompetent and authoritarian they are? From the article: “Adam Martinez’s youngest son was at Robb Elementary on the day of the shooting—though thankfully he was physically unharmed—and, like many other parents, he became a vocal critic of the police department. However, in retaliation for his criticism, the school district banned him from school property—and school board meetings—for two years.“

A couple of other headlines that grabbed my interest.

From Insider, a Michigan teen used a slingshot to stop the kidnapping his sister. The suspect was apprehended with wounds consistent with being hit by a slingshot.

From CNET, a new company is going to be offering free 55-inch televisions. The catch? It has another screen to just for ads. Maybe other stuff too.

Finally, a light item.

Monday Links

May 15, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This may be a bit of a hodgepodge.

First, we go to Reason for:

Debt ceiling fight is hitting a hard deadline. Yes, we need to cut spending. No, we should not allow the government to default.

Inflation ticks up again in April. Surprisingly, the culprit is rent. Which is a big issue in my neck of the woods.

No, universal background checks do not stop mass shooters. It’s a complicated issue. As previously discussed.

Now that we’ve consumed our vegetables, we can have some fun dessert articles.

First, Recoil has a review of the Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol shotgun. This one is in the running for the new Ward semiauto shotgun.

Next from The Drive, an article on FHP’s Mercury Marauders.

Finally, from the local news station, the local high school drama group is garnering some well-earned attention for their version of Disney’s “Frozen.” Like the movie or hate, the kids done good.