Archive: February 11, 2009

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too much reason

Wednesday,  02/11/09  08:26 AM

A little while ago I ended up with a subscription to Reason Magazine; I'm not exactly sure how, I believe it was because some other magazine (Business 2.0?) went out of business, and they transferred their subscribers.  Anyway there it is, "free minds and free markets", sitting in my pile of things to be read while shaving.  And I must tell you, there is just too much reason in there for me early in the morning.  Every article is a well-reasoned exposition of government incompetence, corruption, or misguided action.  The "citations" section is particularly overwhelming; little articles describing government madness, one after the other.  It leaves me just shaking my head sadly.

For an example, consider Dissatisfaction Guaranteed, an article by Veronique de Rugy about why government loan guarantees are bad - and just how bad they've been.  Consider this:

Historically, loans guaranteed by the government have a very high default rate. The Congressional Budget Office has calculated that the risk of default on the Department of Energy’s nuclear loan guarantee program, for example, is well above 50 percent. The Small Business Administration (SBA), according to its own Inspector General’s Office, has a long-term default rate of roughly 17 percent. This compares to 4.3 percent for credit cards and 1.5 percent for bank loans guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Wow.  How could anyone defend guaranteeing loans when the default rate is 50 percent?  Isn't anyone paying attention?

And this is the background for our fabulous new $800B spendulous plan.  It reeks of impending disaster.  I'm afraid this is just too much Reason.  I have to go back to reading Wired, or the New Yorker...

 

Wednesday,  02/11/09  10:41 PM

Work work work and at the end of the day, a nice long hard ride in the cold and dark...

BTW I have had a reprieve; having served my time yesterday, I don’t have to go back to the courthouse for jury duty until next Tuesday at the earliest! I have to call next Monday night to see… in the meantime, I am back to work - and blogging. You have been warned :)

Who knew?  We are investigating various vendors for outsourced datacenter services, among them a promising outfit called Red Plaid.  Which prompted a colleague to comment, "If this is a good solution, I will even wear plaid. Something I don't think I've done since Catholic school oh so many moons ago."  Which prompted me to Google for "red plaid skirts".  Which gave me some rather interesting results...  Wow.  Just when you think you've seen it all, you realize "it all" is so much more than you thought... 

In the same category: so you know I really like ZooBorns, and often link their posts.  Well as a sort of antidote here we have Fuck You Penguin, "A blog where I tell cute animals what's what."  (Like the baby otter at left.)  Pretty excellent. 

In response to the pending spendulous bill, Iowahawk reports Mathematicians discover largest number.  "An international mathematics research team announced today that they had discovered a new integer that surpasses any previously known value 'by a totally mindblowing sh-tload.' Project director Yujin Xiao of Stanford University said the theoretical number, dubbed a 'stimulus,' could lead to breakthroughs in fields as diverse as astrophysics, quantum mechanics, and Chicago asphalt contracting."  I guess we have to laugh at this, otherwise we'd cry. 

Philip Greenspun ponders the audacity of doing nothing.  Sadly doing nothing is the last thing Obama & co. intend to do.  They're going to meddle until the mess has truly spiraled out of control. 

Palm CEO Ed Colligan pre-views the Pre.  Some interesting info, but nothing about the most important issue, when will the Pre be released

This is a pretty great commerical: Higher Standards.  Any commercial that includes footage of a 505 at speed is great, but the message here is awesome.  Check it out.  [ via Sailing Anarchy ] 

From Scoble: This blog is dead!  ORLY?  Glad to see signs of blogging life again from Robert.  He sure got sucked into the Twitter / FriendFeed void.  But I think he's beginning to see those are hopeless echo chambers, he has a much wider audience through his blog, in addition to being able to write more and better. 

Instapundit on the crucial subject of pan searing filet mignon.  Never let it be said that I neglect the important issues. 

ZooBorn of the day: Wallabie joeys.  Amazingly cute. 

Oh and last but not least, today was Darwin's 200th birthday!

 

 
 

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