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Obama's Targeted Killings in Yemen | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: "'So the president claims the power to order U.S. citizens killed anywhere in the world, while engaged even in the most benign activities carried out far away from any actual battlefield, based solely on his say-so and with no judicial oversight or other checks.'
In addition to the corollary death of innocent civilians, these strikes do kill terrorists, don't they? But Greenwald reminds us, it is 'the U.S. Government (that) has accused them of being a terrorist.'
On what evidence? Remember Donald Rumsfeld assuring us 'the worst of the worst' were being held at Guantanamo Bay? But, as Greenwald notes, federal judges reviewing habeas petitions of prisoners there have found, in some cases, 'an almost complete lack of evidence to justify the accusations against them.'"
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
It's the Language of Action, Not a Trick - Predrag Rajsic - Mises Institute
It's the Language of Action, Not a Trick - Predrag Rajsic - Mises Institute: "In our everyday life, money is generally seen as the good that is being given up in return for consumption goods and services. Actually, what is being given up is the alternative use of that money.
When deciding on a purchase, a person assesses the value of an item and compares it with the values of other things that could be obtained using the money needed to make that purchase."
"Offering two pairs of shoes for $150 would create an artificial unit for mental analysis. For most people, the appropriate unit of shoes is one pair. People rarely have a single immediate end that would be satisfied by purchasing two pairs of shoes. Thus, when offered two pairs up front, people first need to disaggregate the offered two-pair unit into one-pair units and align them with different ends on their value scales, together with different combinations of money prices that add up to $150."
When deciding on a purchase, a person assesses the value of an item and compares it with the values of other things that could be obtained using the money needed to make that purchase."
"Offering two pairs of shoes for $150 would create an artificial unit for mental analysis. For most people, the appropriate unit of shoes is one pair. People rarely have a single immediate end that would be satisfied by purchasing two pairs of shoes. Thus, when offered two pairs up front, people first need to disaggregate the offered two-pair unit into one-pair units and align them with different ends on their value scales, together with different combinations of money prices that add up to $150."
South of the Border, the Cult of the Presidency | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary
South of the Border, the Cult of the Presidency | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "If you think we've got it bad, pity the Venezuelans, whose strongman president, Hugo Chavez, rules the airwaves with his own talk show. 'Hello, President!' airs Sundays, sometimes for up to eight hours, and it features Chavez singing, insulting his enemies, giving shout-outs to Fidel Castro, and even, on one occasion, describing a gut-wrenching bout of diarrhea he'd had while filming the show."
Spending Our Way to Stagnation | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary
Spending Our Way to Stagnation | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Any money that the government puts in the economy's right pocket must be borrowed, which means the money comes out of the economy's left pocket. Keynesianism doesn't boost national income, it merely redistributes it."
"Most studies using current economic data show that economic performance is maximized when the public sector is less than 20% of GDP. And if historical data is used, the evidence suggests that government should be even smaller."
Ironically, John Maynard Keynes might not be a Keynesian if he was alive today. He certainly would not be a proponent of big government. In correspondence with another British economist, he agreed with the premise of '25% [of GDP] as the maximum tolerable proportion of taxation.'"
"Most studies using current economic data show that economic performance is maximized when the public sector is less than 20% of GDP. And if historical data is used, the evidence suggests that government should be even smaller."
Ironically, John Maynard Keynes might not be a Keynesian if he was alive today. He certainly would not be a proponent of big government. In correspondence with another British economist, he agreed with the premise of '25% [of GDP] as the maximum tolerable proportion of taxation.'"
Surveillance Can't Make Us Secure | Julian Sanchez | Cato Institute: Commentary
Surveillance Can't Make Us Secure | Julian Sanchez | Cato Institute: Commentary: "a portal set up to help the American government catch criminals may have proved just as handy at helping the Chinese government find dissidents.
In a way, the hackers' strategy makes perfect sense. Communications networks are generally designed to restrict outside access to their users' private information. But the goal of government surveillance is to create a breach-by-design, a deliberate backdoor into otherwise carefully secured systems."
"In the summer of 2004, unknown intruders managed to activate wiretapping software embedded in the systems of Greece's largest cellular carrier. For ten months, the hackers eavesdropped on the cellphone calls of more than 100 prominent citizens — including the prime minister, opposition members of parliament, and high cabinet officials."
"DCSNet is designed to allow authorized law enforcement agents to initiate a wiretap or gather information with point-and-click simplicity. Yet a 2003 internal audit, released several years later under a freedom-of-information request, found a slew of problems in the system's setup that appalled security experts."
"surrendering privacy does not automatically make us more secure — that systems of surveillance can themselves be a major source of insecurity."
In a way, the hackers' strategy makes perfect sense. Communications networks are generally designed to restrict outside access to their users' private information. But the goal of government surveillance is to create a breach-by-design, a deliberate backdoor into otherwise carefully secured systems."
"In the summer of 2004, unknown intruders managed to activate wiretapping software embedded in the systems of Greece's largest cellular carrier. For ten months, the hackers eavesdropped on the cellphone calls of more than 100 prominent citizens — including the prime minister, opposition members of parliament, and high cabinet officials."
"DCSNet is designed to allow authorized law enforcement agents to initiate a wiretap or gather information with point-and-click simplicity. Yet a 2003 internal audit, released several years later under a freedom-of-information request, found a slew of problems in the system's setup that appalled security experts."
"surrendering privacy does not automatically make us more secure — that systems of surveillance can themselves be a major source of insecurity."
FOXNews.com - Postal Service Seeks Permission to End Saturday Delivery
FOXNews.com - Postal Service Seeks Permission to End Saturday Delivery: "Though the idea of cutting service from six to five days has gotten a cool reception on Capitol Hill, Potter said that the plan would include enough flexibility so that customers who need Saturday service can get it and that this and other changes need to be implemented for the Postal Service to survive."
I think this is a good idea. Saturday service is needed and we can't afford to continue the subsidies.
"Though he said privatization had been on the table during a lengthy internal review, that option appeared to be ruled out. One consultant, Thomas Dohrmann from McKinsey & Company, said privatization was 'unlikely' in part because it would be hard to find a buyer."
A single buyer isn't necessary. Sell stock in the company and let many people own a portion of it. The change in control could also be gradual with staggered board member terms.
"Potter said mail volume went from 213 billion pieces in 2006 to a projected 166 billion pieces in fiscal 2010."
How useful is it to look at pieces of mail? Even though the number of pieces have gone down, the number of package pieces has probably gone up.
I think this is a good idea. Saturday service is needed and we can't afford to continue the subsidies.
"Though he said privatization had been on the table during a lengthy internal review, that option appeared to be ruled out. One consultant, Thomas Dohrmann from McKinsey & Company, said privatization was 'unlikely' in part because it would be hard to find a buyer."
A single buyer isn't necessary. Sell stock in the company and let many people own a portion of it. The change in control could also be gradual with staggered board member terms.
"Potter said mail volume went from 213 billion pieces in 2006 to a projected 166 billion pieces in fiscal 2010."
How useful is it to look at pieces of mail? Even though the number of pieces have gone down, the number of package pieces has probably gone up.
Book Review: War, Revenue, and State Building | Justin Logan | Cato Institute: Commentary
Book Review: War, Revenue, and State Building | Justin Logan | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The early Republic had a high tolerance for danger. The British had set fire to the White House during the War of 1812 and remained in North America openly refusing to comply with the terms of the Treaty of Ghent. (One might compare the gravity of this threat to that posed by Afghanistan's own 'handful of ragamuffins' today.) Even so, the U.S. Army was slashed in size from roughly 47,000 men during the war to less than 10,000 after it. This tiny force accounted for more than three-fourths of federal spending at the time."
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