I like the intro to this article: This Month’s Cato Unbound: The Online Education Revolution

"Only an economy that is constantly in transition can hope to approximate the changing needs and wants of a robust and flourishing society. "

I also just signed up for a course with Marginal Revolution University, now I just need to find the time to take an intro course in economics.

Florida Man Says Cops Tased Him for Fighting Fire At Neighbor's House

November 13, 2012

Is Eminent Domain Just About Aesthetics

On November 12, 2012, John K. Ross makes some good points on the status of eminent domain in California in 'California Kills Eminent Domain, Somehow Buildings Happen Anyway.'  But this is the part that I like:

"It would've been just nice for the aesthetics of the campus to not have those two buildings on the corners like that," said [Hospital Vice President Jarrod McNaughton].

If aesthetics is the reason, then I'm glad restrictions on eminent domain resulted in property owners getting to keep their businesses.

An Arguement Against Price Controls

Hammer of Truth and Ron Paul provide arguments against government influence over price controls, even following a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy.

"temporarily higher prices would encourage those not directly involved in cleanup to stay home and out of the way until the economy stabilizes." (Hammer of Truth, October 31, 2012, Post-Sandy price gouging laws and gas shortages)

"But because prices remained lower than they should have been, no one sought to conserve gas." (Ron Paul, November 12, 2012, In Praise of Price Gouging).

Of course, we may never see this in practice because people will cry for price controls and leaders, who lack intestinal fortitude and genuine leadership ability, will cave to immediate pressure rather than offer sound leadership that considers the impact of what happens next.

Sucession Petitioners Should Make Requests by County

As many have posted, there are more than 20 different petitions to the White House for states to succeed from the union.  However a view of the election results by county shows that for most states the ideological divide isn't by state line.

Support For Online Education

Love this.  Been thinking it for the past year ever since I started taking online programming courses.  Thanks for writing something much better than I could have.

Why Online Education Works

by Alex Tabarrok
Lead Essay
November 12th, 2012

"I see three principle advantages to online education, 1) leverage, especially of the best teachers; 2) time savings; 3) individualized teaching and new technologies."

George Will Says GOP Should Turn Libertarian While David Frum Bromances Social Cons

Nick Gillespie|Nov. 12, 2012 3:45 pm

Free Speech Inconsistency

Good points about being consistent with usage of free speech and placing blame where blame is due.
 
America’s Free Speech Retreat 

The Obama administration’s shoddy response to the consulate attack in Libya 
Matt Welch from December 2012

"Even more damaging than the White House’s blame-shifting spin was the notion, reinforced by President Obama, that a single piece of bad art in California could “spark” violence in more than 20 countries. It’s an inapt metaphor, giving the mistaken impression that the arsonist is not the one lighting the match but rather the one who allegedly makes the pyromaniac angry."

The Morality of Free Market

Dennis Prager posted an interview today with Walter Williams, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, who states: "I believe that the free market is morally superior to other ways of organizing human behavior, and the reason why is that the free market implies voluntary action on behalf of human beings." He goes on to describe what the role of government should be in supporting a free market system and offers a great explanation of why.

Thanks to Cafe Hayek for posting this.

Inconsistent Use of Data

Its aggravating when policy makers use data to support one set of policies but then inconsistently fail to use the same standard for other issues.  If emergency room visits is going to be the standard then be consistent about it. 

Prohibition: The Real Reefer Madness 

The nation's drug warriors plow ahead, driven by fear of a world where addicts clog the gutters. 

A. Barton Hinkle | November 12, 2012

  

"the Obama administration notes that in 2009, marijuana was "involved in" 376,000 emergency-room visits nationwide. Be afraid, be very afraid: This represents less than 0.3 of 1 percent of all ER visits, and 3.3 million fewer visits than are caused annually by recreational sports."

 

Britain's Brain Drain: Professionals Flee High Taxes

Rachel Moran|Nov. 12, 2012 9:30 am

"Britain’s high rates of income tax, alongside an increasing cost of living and slow economic recovery, are seen as key factors in the sharp increase in professionals leaving the country."

Good points made in the comments section of this one.

Denmark takes a small step towards sanity

Johnathan Pearce (London)  European affairs

" Denmark is to rescind its "fat tax" because it has proven to be economically destructive,"

The Republicans Should Split Up

I agree with Herman Cain, who said on Focal Point with Brian Fischer, that there needs to be a third party of social conservatives.  Let this group see how outdated their ideas are when they stand alone.  The remainder of the Republicans can join the cause of liberty and financial freedom.

Is Kansas Secretary of State wasting time on a non-issue?

Yesterday, Bob Weeks, brought up a good question, "Who owns your ballot?"  He further states, "I don’t think, however, that the state should start judging why people voted as they did."
 
Agree
Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, should not use his time creating policy on very low impact issues.  News21's database shows that there was 1 accusation of vote buying in Kansas since the year 2000. Is there additional evidence that people are buying votes?  If this is happening, what percentage of the votes are affected?  Is there a more pressing issue that is having a greater impact on the population?  If so, that's the issue he and his staff should be focused on.

Experiential Basis
After a decade of working in the federal government I met many managers who spent a significant percentage of their time focused on things that would likely never happen.  Its like they sat around imaging all the bad things that could happen and then tried to create policies and rules that might prevent those bad things from ever happening.  This often resulted in time being taken from the workforce to learn and follow the new policy when there were more pressing issues that were actually occurring which could have been addressed.  The only explanation I could come up with is that there are too many decision makers who lack the imagination or cajones to address the more pressing issues.  

Cynical Statement
Perhaps these people are trying to create an issue that they can resolve so they can get noticed and promoted.

Hyperbole
This fits within my meteorite strike prevention scenario, where: 1) there's evidence of meteors that have hit the Earth; 2) sometimes they wipe out entire species or swaths of forest; 3) at the expense of working on any of the other issues facing life on Earth, we all must do whatever it takes to prevent any meteor strike from hurting Earth again.  And in the end time gets wasted on a non-issue.

Petraeus revelation began as cyber-harassment investigation 

11 November, 2012

By Michael Isikoff, NBC News

"After investigating a potential case of "cyber-harassment" for several months, the FBI wrapped up its case after interviewing Paula Broadwell -- the biographer of former CIA director David Petraeus -- on Friday, Nov. 2, four days before the presidential election, a senior U.S. law enforcement official told NBC News."


 Discuss this Post:


by Viewer_Ready
"Why did the FBI get dragged into something so trivial?
Why could this not have been handled at a local level?
Why was the timing so close to the election?
Why was the timing so close to the Benghazi inquiry?"

Extreme Cheapskates

Extreme Cheapskates 

Sunday, November 11, 2012

 By Fester's Den

"There is more to life than just how much something costs upfront, you need to factor in other things like time, like long term costs, like quality of life improvement."

Oklahoma Cop Tickets Mom For 3-Year-Old’s ‘Public Urination’ Outside His Family Home; Fine Comes to $2,500.

Posted: November 10th, 2012 by Militant Libertarian
from CopBlock 
 
"Mili Note: I’m actually kind of surprised that the kid wasn’t added to the sex offender’s registry since peeing in public is a “sex crime” in many places now.."

“I am disappointed that the officer thinks,” she continued, “what he needs to do with my tax dollars is sitting and harassing our family.”

No Change

Posted: November 10th, 2012 by Militant Libertarian
by Chuck Baldwin

"within a year of the 1994 congressional elections, Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott had successfully fought off attempts of rank and file GOP congressmen to truly reduce the size and scope of the federal government, and by 1995, it was business as usual once again. And after Mr. Reagan was shot just a little over a year after taking office, much of the conservative agenda that he had campaigned on seemed to quickly fade away."

Disengaged Politicians

I would also add that many politicians ignore science or flat out deny it.  And those that do accept the results of scientific research often don't evaluate it correctly.

Interests or preferences?
November 10, 2012

by Norman Geras

"But it's not just the voters that politicians are distant from. On fiscal policy, tax policy and - especially - immigration, politicians are as disengaged from experts as they are from voters."

USDA Regulations force a popular food entrepreneur to close its doors.

Baylen Linnekin | November 10, 2012

 "In August, the USDA imposed additional requirements on Il Mondo Vecchio’s production methods. After two months of sharing information and collaboration back and forth between Il Mondo Vecchio and the USDA as well as various attempts to modify the production methods," the owners announced, "Il Mondo Vecchio has determined that the impact of the regulatory requirements on dry cured sausage products was detrimental to the quality of the product and therefore, Mark and Gennaro are forced to close the[ir] doors."

"“The standards for meat inspection are obviously set up for large scale industrial operations and protocols designed for plants that cannot and do not pay close attention to what goes into their products,” says Prof. Ken Albala, a salumi-obsessed professor of history at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California"