voluntaryXchange

Faux iPhone 5 Promo

Sweet:

I loved the bit about the app that’s as good as the freeware you could’ve downloaded 3 years ago.

Technorati Tags: iphone,5,promo

Will Romney Lose?

Angus thinks so:

BHO is going to win in November DESPITE the economy, largely because Romney is a terrible candidate who is running an undisciplined, juvenile, brain-damaged campaign.

For my part, I think Republicans tend to run undisciplined, juvenile, brain-damaged campaigns because of their tendency to go with the guy who’s first in line. There needed to be a deeper reason to go with Romney than he was in second place in 2008.

Just like there needed to be a deeper reason to go with McCain than he came in second in 2000.

Just like there needed to be a deeper reason to go with Dole in 1996 than he came in second in 1988.

Just like there needed to be a deeper reason to go with Bush in 1988 than he came in second in 1980.

Just like there needed to be a deeper reason to go with Reagan in 1980 than he came in second in 1976. Well, perhaps there were deeper reasons for that one, but Jimmy Carter didn’t exactly help himself.

In sum, I think Angus is right, but he’s describing the symptom not the cause. Undisciplined, juvenile and brain-damaged behavior in crown princes is a result of … crowning them heir apparent in the first place.

Technorati Tags: obama,romney,election

3-D Printing a Miracle

I’d call it a miracle if an eagle is found with its beak shot off, and someone prints a 3-D replacement that allows it to eat, drink, and preen.

Via Visual News.

Technorati Tags: 3-d,printing,eagle,beak

Liberals and Conservatives

Here’s a suite of articles, written by conservatives, about why liberals don’t get where conservatives are coming from.

A Reason for Liberal Hate? No Diversity

… Major American cultural centers are less diverse than churches entirely filled with self-selecting populations of Bible-believing Christians. Leftists have greater group solidarity than Christians.

Confirmed: Conservatives understand liberal positions better than liberals understand conservative positions

[Conservatives] concept of what is fair starts with our concept of what is a right. … So far, I have never heard a good argument that we have a right or a claim to the fruits of others’ labor unless they have promised them to us for some reason. We certainly never have an intrinsic a priori claim on the fruits of someone else’s labor.

The New AA: Dr. Kimball’s Self-Help Program for Disillusioned Liberals

It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. The good “Liberals” (i.e., the illiberal liberals) who voted for Obama the first time around, the mostly white, privileged products of elite schools and progressive attitudes, were supposed to be on the winning side …

Liberals or Conservatives: Who’s Really Close-Minded?

… Much of the time, liberals’ views of conservative positions and values are simply a caricature that bear little resemblance to what conservatives actually think and, more importantly, why they think it.

…

That helps explain why a conservative’s reaction to a liberal critique often isn’t “you’re wrong.” It’s “you don’t even know what I’m trying to say.”

Newmark’s Door started me down this path.

Technorati Tags: liberal,conservative

Seen In the Parking Lot

It didn’t occur to me to take pictures until it was too late. But … I spotted more than one vehicle in the parking lot at Saturday’s football game with a dealer plate from Williston, North Dakota.

The game was between Southern Utah and New Mexico Highlands U. Both schools are over a thousand miles from the oil fields of the Bakken Shale.

Technorati Tags: bakken,shale,oil,jobs

Beat My Score

It took me 248 seconds, with 0 average error to place all 50 states on a blank map. Try it for yourself.

It reminds me of this video of Senator Al Franken – drawing the outlines of the 50 states by hand.

I remember when he used to do this as a comedy sketch back in the 80’s.

FWIW: I’ve tried it. Don’t mock it until you do.

Via bookofjoe.

Technorati Tags: know,your,states,franken

Xi Jinping Is Back

China’s # 6, and soon to be # 1, has reappeared. Five still photos of Xi Jinping were released showing him attending a science fair at a university.

In related news, China’s soon to be retiring # 8 also reappeared on TV after going missing for 2 weeks. Oddly, he is not seen to be neutral between factions.

No confirmed word on why they’ve been out of the pubic eye … although Xi looks pretty healthy to me. I’m speculating now … but if he had routine health problems they probably would’ve said something, and if the simultaneous assassination-attempt-by-auto-accident is true then you’d expect to see some healing injuries. So here’s what I wonder: was the assassination attempt real, it was uncovered in the nick of time, and it was so involved that it took 2 weeks before it was safe to show his face in public?

In possibly related news, dissident outlet The Epoch Times reports that the outgoing top 2 guys,* and the incoming top 2 guys, are jointly stripping power from the faction loyal to Jiang Zemin. Jiang was the # 1 guy from Tiannamen Square crackdown in 1989 until his scheduled retirement in 2002, but he’s held on to a power base and faction since then. Interestingly, the article claims that recent Chinese bluster over islands owned by Japan was driven by this faction as an attempt to make the current guys look bad.

* China is run by many layers of power. At the top is the 9 man Standing Committee. This group has 2 top guys, who are roughly equivalent to the President/Chairman of the Board, and the CEO of an American firm. So, the outgoing guys are Hu and Wen, and the incoming ones are Xi and Li.

CRAP: FORGOT TO ACTUALLY PUBLISH THIS POST LAST NIGHT!

Technorati Tags: xi,jinping,he,guoqiang,china,standing,committee

Harold Rosenberg Quote

Thomas Sowell would call them the anointed:

[The] herd of independent minds

Rosenberg had in mind that what is avant-garde is already mass culture.

I didn’t have the words for it, but I think the first time I recognized this was in 1987-8 when I realized that there was a not-very-nice sameness to all my friends who liked organic produce.

Via Newmark’s Door via Roger’s Rules.

This post is sponsored. If you need some quick cash same day loans can help.

Technorati Tags: rosenberg,quote,herd,independent,minds

It’s Not Easy to Escape Your Past

Here’s Jennifer Granholm speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2012:

And here she is on The Dating Game in 1978:

There’s so much I can think to say … but people in glass houses …

Via bookofjoe.

Technorati Tags: jennifer,granholm,dating,game,democratic,national,convention

Xi Jinping Still Missing

Fifteen days and counting since anyone has seen or heard from the next leader of the second biggest economy on the planet.

This made the front page of The New York Times again today … which is leading with the rumor that he had a heart attack or stroke.

I scooped The Times for the second time this week by reporting 2 days ago that the top level of the Chinese government would be reduced from 9 to 7 men.

The Times does have new information though. The party Congress where power will be transferred has not been scheduled. It was expected for October, but these things are usually announced months in advance, and this one still hasn’t been announced. Here’s the new stuff:

• The last pre-Congress meeting of the bigwigs in August did not go well, and did not resolve much.
• Close relatives of Xi say he is not ill.

Technorati Tags: china,xi,jinping,missing,power,struggle