Wednesday, November 30, 2005

AROUND THE WEB ON 11-30-05

Cross-posted from Gus Van Horn

Rob returned from a recent trip to China with an interesting observation about the language.
[M]any concepts in Chinese are made up by combining antonyms. For example, the concept "business", is represented by combining the two characters for "buy" and "sell" ('How is your buy/sell going?'). The concept "whole" is represented by combining the two characters for "over" and "under" ('You don't know the over and under of the situation'). (For more, see the following website and scroll down to the section "Opposing Words in Chinese")
Zach Oakes asks whether a cheap computer and an operating system might be an incredible bargain when combined.

Today a computer packed with three 3.2Ghz processors and 512MB RAM will start selling at $300. That's not a typo. It is, for all intents and purposes, both the fastest and cheapest computer on the market.

The computer I'm talking about is the Xbox 360.

...

My mind is still spinning over this - until now I never gave it a single bit of thought. Now I'm mad … somebody find a way to put an OS on that damn thing!

I didn't have the answer, either, but I have a hunch that somebody out there will, and fairly soon.

The General notes that others have less-constructive "uses" for the Xbox in mind.
[T]heir glee is not a product of the physical destruction as such (which is bad enough), but instead the effect this destruction would have upon the other people in line who value the XBox 360 and are eager to get theirs. This is not harmless fun, it is pure poison. Their enjoyment comes not from the achievement of values, but from the destruction of the values of others. Their response to the phenomenon a happy man, is to take his happiness and mangle it. This is what Ayn Rand so eloquently identified as, "hatred of the good for being good"
Via Noodle Food, this entry was quoted by CNN.

Cox and Forkum have a good roundup on Iran to go with this fantastic cartoon on same.



The Resident Egoist discusses power structures in socialist, fascist, and capitalist states.
But what is the true nature of the power structure in a capitalist society? It's decentralization, or separation. Here, not only is there a separation of powers within the institution of government itself [e.g.: 3 branches of government], there is also strict separation between the state and other social institutions [e.g.: Separation of Church and State and Separation of State and Economics].
Andy Clarkson discusses the importance of reading Playboy.
Maintaining a large, whatever "large" may mean, number of troops in the Mid-East is part of the long-term plan. Is 150,000 the number? I don't know. But, I would bet it is far more than the previous level of 20,000. Closer to 150K rather than 20K is likely. Why? Iran. And that may explain the current hesitant, slow-go approach in Iraq -- keeping Iran surrounded.
The Gaijin Biker has an amusing photo of an anti-Bush protest in Japan that may have been better attended by the police than by the protestors!
Of course, that was due as much to Tokyo's dispatching a ridiculously excessive number of cops as it was to the low protester turnout, but still...
Bubblehead fisks a "Captain".
Let's look at the "fact" he presents to demonstrate the superiority of Iraqi culture over Western: "While our European ancestors were hanging from trees, these ancient people were writing algebra and solving quadratic equations." Could be a good point, except that algebra was invented in 820 A.D., several hundred years after the height of Greek and Roman culture -- a little bit past the "hanging from trees" period. Quadratic equations? Sorry, discovered by an Italian (Lodovico Ferrari) about 1545 A.D. Not too good on the research there, "Captain".
Another target sunk!

Lubber's Line ponders an interesting equipment purchase by Israel.
[According to reports, the] Germans are going ahead with plans to sell Israel two new AIP-equipped [Air Independent Propulsion --ed] Dolphin class SSK submarines. Israel already owns three Dolphin submarines acquired from Germany in a deal made after the first gulf war. These Dolphin subs replaced Israel's German built Gal Class submarines, which entered service in 1977.

The Dolphin class is designed for interdiction, surveillance and special-forces operations with torpedo and cruise missile weapons capabilities.

...

If the news reports are correct and Israel does have nuclear weapons, it looks as though a sea based nuclear deterrent force is in the making.

-- CAV

Updates

12-1-05:
Corrected author and link for first entry on list. HT: The General and apologies to the guys at Thrutch.

ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE: RSS FEEDS AND BLOGROLL

I have updated my blogroll and the RSS category.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

TECH TUESDAY: START AND MASHUPS

Interesting reading material:

Monday, November 28, 2005

OPEN THREAD POST: SNOW

Today we got some snow. [Editor's comment: If I am "lucky," I could take a snapshot of Ursus Maritimus in the streets of Gothenburg tomorrow... ;)]

IRANIAN NUKES


As Plain As...

In the news: Iran rejects proposal aimed at breaking nuclear deadlock - Iran Focus.

Here is an excerpt from Joseph McHugh's article, Military Action on Iran Likely to Come.

I was recently talking to an acquaintance of mine, an acquaintance from Saudi Arabia, who is connected with their government. When the subject of Iran came up, a look of gravity came over the man's face. "Something must be done," he intoned. "We are all afraid." Now this man is no friend of President George Bush or Israel, but he expressed the desire to see Israel do something. What an irony: The enemies of Israel looking for Israel to save the world. It is a perfect illustration of Ayn Rand's point that the world depends on its producers, while simultaneously loathing them. Doubtless, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia would condemn any attack on Iran by Israel in the strongest of terms, while secretly breathing a sigh of relief. (AmericanChronicle.com, 11/26/05.)


Related: My post, SHOULD I "NUKE" CERTAIN COMMENTS?

Sunday, November 27, 2005

GOOD LIFE WEEKEND 47

Last week I went to a Mediterranean restaurant called Caleo. I had red snapper with risotto. I am sure that the dish contained plenty of olive oil... I had a great dinner at La Cucina Italiana on November 24.

RELAXING CAT

Morris is good at relaxing...

MORRIS

STEEL INDUSTRY

The steel industry is on the roll. Here is an excerpt from the Economist.

By far the most important factor behind steel's revival, however, is China's booming economy. China's soaring demand for steel sent prices spiralling upwards until recently: benchmark hot-rolled coil, which sold for as little as $200 a tonne in 2001, broke the $600 barrier in 2004, though prices have since fallen back (see chart). The boom in prices ushered in a time of profits and high valuations in a business where bail-out and bankruptcy had previously been the norm. (Economist.com, 11/25/05.)


It could be interesting to see what the former chief executive of Nucor, John Correnti, will achieve with his $880 million mini-mill joint venture.

The Institute for Supply Management will release its Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) next week. BusinessWeek is reporting some "vital signs":

The Institute for Supply Management's business activity indexes have also pointed to jobs gains, especially in the manufacturing sector. A faster pace of job growth is important for consumer spending and would reflect increased business confidence. (BusinessWeek.com, 11/25/05.)


Have you read American Steel by Richard Preston?



Related: My post, "ASSOCIATED STEEL" VERSUS "REARDEN STEEL"?

GREEN CARD LOTTERY

I have entered the Diversity Immigrant Visa 2007 Lottery. Wish me luck!

In the news: Green card sites Net the unwary - New York Daily News. [Via Corante.]

Recommended reading: My post, FORBES ON IMMIGRATION, and Jennifer and Peter Wipf's post, Brain Fill: New Immigrants are Smarter...

Have you seen the movie, Green Card?

Saturday, November 26, 2005

THANKSGIVING

How are you celebrating Thanksgiving Day? Did you go shopping on Black Friday?

Here are an excerpt from Scott Holleran's Concord Crier:


CRIER COMMENT: emphasizes legal history of the holiday, which is interesting because it is religious, yet -- as the Crier suggests in a gratitude column about Ayn Rand linked below -- Thanksgiving means something with an opposite meaning: a celebration of the earned for being earned.




Resources:

CRIER COMMENT: arts and crafts, games, recipes, tips, printable favors, decorations and more.



Recommending reading: My post, THANKS FOR GIVING EGO SUPPORT (11/25/04).

NEW EGO PRODUCTS

I have added three new products to my online store at CaféPress.

ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE: LOADING THE PAGE

It looks that it takes some time to load the page at the moment. It takes long time for the right column to appear. I have different scripts that could slow down the page now and then, but I think most of features are adding value to my blog, so I want to keep them if it is possible. Recently a visitor came to this blog by searching for "birthday countdown script."

ANCHO MULATO TORTE

This week's edition of the carnival of the recipes will have a "hot and spicy theme." I am a chile head, so I had to participate! The following recipe is taken from Jonas Borssén's book, Eat The Heat (page 143).

Acho-Malt Syrup Torte

Ingredients:

Dough:
  • 1 1/2 heaping cups (3 3/4 dl) wheat flour.
  • 5 ounces (150 g) unsalted butter.
  • 2 tablespoons sugar.
  • 1 tablespoon cold water.

Filling:
  • 2 ancho chiles, dried, and soaked in warm water for 3 hours.
  • 5 eggs, lightly beaten.
  • Scant 1 cup (2 dl) dark malt syrup.
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla.
  • 2 1/2 ounces (75 g) unsalted butter, melted.
  • Scant 1 cup (2 dl) roasted macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, or pecans.

Click here for the directions.


Ancho Mulato. For more pictures, check out my gallery with plants at Buzznet.

In the news: China swamps Mexico with cheaper peppers - The Arizona Republic.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

AROUND THE WEB ON 11-23-05

Cross-posted from Gus Van Horn

Due to holiday festivities with relatives, this post will probably be it for me until Monday. But that's okay! My fellow bloggers, including a few who haven't written in awhile, will take up the slack for your holiday reading pleasure.

This post also appears at Ego. Which award will it get for Martin this week?

Eye and Ear Candy for the Boys

(And one bad joke after another.)

Reader, good friend, and occasional comment-bomber Adrian Hester emailed me the following perky bit of news. (I'd considered submitting this to Boing-Boing, but noticed that the story had made the blogospheric rounds already.)
Computer chips that store music could soon be built into a woman's breast implants.

One ... could hold an MP3 player and the other the person's whole music collection.

BT futurology, who have developed the idea, say it could be available within 15 years.

BT Laboratories' analyst Ian Pearson said flexible plastic electronics would sit inside the breast. A signal would be relayed to headphones, while the device would be controlled by Bluetooth using a panel on the wrist.

According to The Sun he said: "It is now very hard for me to [think] of breast implants as just decorative. If a woman has something implanted permanently, it might as well do something useful."

The sensors around the body linked through the electrical impulses in the chips may also be able to warn wearers about heart murmurs, blood pressure increases, diabetes and breast cancer.
The last bit might sound like good news for the vain -- or the first step on the road to the invention of the Fembot! (And in that context, one could be forgiven for thinking that "Bluetooth" was some Austin Powers villain rather than a technology....) Until then, Paul Hsieh tells us how the human owners of these implants will be able to keep their music warm while keeping emissions of the greenhouse variety down.

The Spy Who Quizzed Me

Lubber's Line offers this cautionary tale from the cold war era about a rather suspicious line of questioning he received from a waiter during a port visit in the Caribbean. Be sure to read the comments, too.

All that ever happened to me during a port visit in the Caribbean was that three different guys offered to sell me drugs while I smoked a Cuban cigar. I had never had such an offer before, nor have I since!

The Fallacy of Self-Exclusion

Amit Ghate tells us about the latest bit of hypocrisy by the feds over at Thrutch.
If the Justice Department, i.e. the very department charged with protecting US property rights around the world, sets the standard that such rights are valid only until someone needs the goods, then how do they ever hope to defend any property rights? Any IP of value is needed, that's what makes it valuable! If it were unneeded, there would be no reason to defend it, since no one would have any reason to steal it. But by this precedent, no defense of intellectual property is possible, and we can kiss goodbye developments in all those fields which are principally intellectual (medicine, technology, etc.).

Now perhaps these government officials were counting on self-exclusion, i.e. they believe that rights and rules apply, unless the government is involved , in which case all bets are off. But such logic applies only in dictatorships (whether fascist or communist), not in a country founded on the very principle of individual rights.

It is terrifying indeed to think that we have now reached the stage where the very officials charged with defending the laws -- not only think that they are above them -- but are even prepared to come out in writing to say so!
Sex Offender Locator

At The Benjo Blog, the General tells us how to find any sex offenders in your neighborhood. This is worthwhile in and of itself, but the discussion was very interesting as well. Be sure to read the comments.

Empires vs. Victory

In a very interesting post, Gideon Reich takes us through the highlights of a review by Angelo Codevilla of "several foreign policy books across the political spectrum". My favorite "Codevillism"? This one: "Dead enemies are the firm foundations of peace." Heh! I concur.

d'Anconia (is Back) Online

After a long hiatus, it looks like Felipe Sediles is back in action at his own blog and as the webmaster of the Egosphere group blog at Objectivism Online. At his own blog, d'Anconia Online, he has a very good post about the importance of context, specifically with regard to Ayn Rand's novel, The Fountainhead.

A New Find

I think this post about Jack Wakeland over at Literatrix is really cute.

Jarhead Savaged by Jarhead

Ex-Marine Nick Provenzo isn't too happy with the movie Jarhead. Read his review to learn why.

On Pre-Invasion Intelligence

Subman Dave explains in great detail what is wrong with how the subject of pre-invasion intelligence concerning Iraq has been discussed lately. (HT: Molten Eagle )

Earth to Hollywood!

Zach Oakes has some pithy commentary on Earth to America .

Don Quixote to Tilt at Windmills from Below the Sea

Bubblehead informs us that Hugo Chavez (AKA El Loco), president of Venezuela, the world's largest Miguel Cervantes fan club, is now shopping for submarines.

Coincidentally, I read Don Quixote during an underway back in my Navy days.

A New Kind of White Flight

My, oh my, things have changed!

Caption Contest

Be sure to stop by this week's caption contest over at Riding Sun. This week's picture is priceless!

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

-- CAV

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

TECH TUESDAY: HOLIDAY HOT LIST


Feature: Hot-selling tech toys from PhysOrg.com

From the iPod to the Xbox, Robosapien V2 Robot and Amazing Amanda Interactive Baby Doll, there are a number of tech toys that are expected to be hot sellers this year.

[...]



Source: Smarter.com Announces 1st Annual Holiday Hot List.

BUREAUCRAT BUSTERS: ALCOHOL MONOPOLY

Okay, I need a drink now... I wonder if the bureaucrats at Systembolaget have been inspired by the mullahs in Iran... [Editor's comment: Click on the "drink" link for an explanation.]

Here is an excerpt from Teresa Küchler's article, Sweden to lobby Barroso on alcohol monopoly.

The 50 year-old Swedish alcohol retail monopoly Systembolaget has launched a birthday campaign to convince the European Commission that a monopoly on alcohol is necessary for public health - pointing to the lowest rate of alcohol-related deaths in the Nordic alcohol nanny state.

On Tuesday (22 November) some 70 Swedish and Finnish newspapers, and the Financial Times, will publish an open letter from Systembolaget to the European commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso, explaining why Mr Barroso (as a symbol of Europe) should cut down on alcohol consumption.

To accompany the letter, a cartoon "crash course" information film on the dangers of alcohol will be broadcast on website www.dearmrb.se, created for the occasion. (EUobserver.com, 11/21/05.)


More on Systembolaget:

PAJAMAS MEDIA IS DOING A COMEBACK


Pajamas at the Gate

Ah, it's back to basic! [Via InstaPundit.] Time to wear pajamas again. I have removed the Open Source Media button.

In the news: Media Web site reverts back to old name - BusinessWeek / AP.

Today I attended the fourth lecture of the Venture Cup course. The topic for this lecture was how to develop a brand platform. Have you read Martin Lindstrom's book, Brand Sense?

Sunday, November 20, 2005

GOOD LIFE WEEKEND 46

I haven't smoked a cigar for a long time, but I am planning to visit the new cigar club ("Cigar Academy") in Gothenburg in the near future.

In the news: Cigar City Magazine focuses on Ybor City - Tamba Bay Biz Journal.

Related: My post, WORLD YES TOBACCO DAY.

NEW YORK CITY IS SAFER

I am glad to read in our local newspaper that New York City has become safer. You could read the article on my other blog. Anders Lundin of Business Joy has joined as member of Lyceum blog. I hope that Chicago and San Quentin will start to practice the rule of zero tolerance as they are doing in NYC, instead of giving in to murderers and gang leaders...

Do you know a good source for crime statistics? It could be good to investigate the level of crime in different cities before I move back to America.

MORRIS IS HUNGRY AND TIRED AT THE SAME TIME

MORRIS

Morris has jumped up on the desk near the stove, giving the sign that he wants a portion of cooked fish. He looks a bit sleepy, don't you think?

XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

I must say that I agree with Daily Kos [via Findory] on this issue. Xinhua News Agency (XIN) is not an appropriate news source for OSM. I hope that Newstex will add more reliable news sources in the future, e.g., Radio Free Asia.



Here is an excerpt from the article, Xinhua: the World's Biggest Propaganda Agency.

Although it is more and more regularly cited as a credible source - nearly one third of the news reports on China selected by Google News originate from the agency - Xinhua, the head of which has the rank of minister, is the linchpin of control of the Chinese media.

Successor to the agency, Red China that was founded by Mao Zedong, Xinhua adopted its current name in January 1937. Since October 1949, this state-run news agency has been completely subordinate to the CCP.

The Reporters Without Borders' report includes accounts from several Xinhua journalists who agreed, on condition of anonymity, to explain how the control imposed by the CCP's Propaganda Department operates on a daily basis. With the help of former French journalist on Xinhua, Reporters Without Borders exposes the distortion of facts, hatred for its enemies (particularly the United States and Japan) and its support, through the treatment of international news, for the world's worst regimes. Despite a certain economic liberalisation of the media sector, Xinhua remains the voice of the sole party. Hand-picked journalists, who are regularly indoctrinated, produce reports for the Chinese media that give the official point of view and others - classified "internal reference" for the country's leaders.

After being criticised for its lack of transparency, particularly during the Sars epidemic, Xinhua has for last few months been putting out news reports embarrassing to the government, but they are designed to fool the international community, since they are not published in Chinese. (EpochTimes.com, 10/12/05.)


Read also Gary Feuerberg's article, Chinese Government Control of the Media Discussed at Forum.

Related: My post, CENSORSHIP IN COMMUNIST CHINA.

Technorati tag: .

UPDATE 11/26/05:

Read Robert Mayer's post, A Suggestion for Pajamas Media on News Content.

ONLINE ADVERTISING

Here are some signs that Open Source Media is entering the market in the right time:


The only thing we have to hope for is that the increased amount of online advertising will continue the conversation... Here is an excerpt from Beth Kirsh's post, Ad Tech Blog Panel Reflections, WOM, and Examples of Blog Ads. [Via BlogAds.]

The bottom line is BLOG ADVERTSING NEEDS TO BE PART OF THE CONVERSTION [Editor's note: sic.] and the creative that you run needs to reflect the conversation. Moreover, when people have having an emotional experience with a blogger they like, and you play off that topic in your marketing message, you can have a powerful consumer touch point from a DR and brand perspective. If you mange to pull this off as a marketer, your ROI will soar. (ReveNews.com, 11/15/05.)


The next area to be explored is classified advertising. From the article, Classified calamity:

Rupert Murdoch once described them as the "rivers of gold"—the lucrative classified-advertising revenues that flowed into big newspaper groups. But the golden rivers are being diverted online as the internet breaks the grip that local and regional newspapers once held over their advertising markets.

Typically, a local newspaper would expect to get some 80% of its revenue from advertising, of which around two-thirds would come from classifieds. But last year in the San Francisco Bay area, job ads worth some $60m were lost from newspapers to the web, reckons Classified Intelligence, a consultancy. Emap, a British publisher, recently gave warning of a 30% decline in recruitment ads in one of its titles, Nursing Times, following the launch of a free website for jobs in Britain's National Health Service. (Economist.com, 11/17/05.)

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE

Glenn Reynolds has a call to arms with a "pre-war carnival." I must state for the record that I am not a military expert, I am more of a "armchair general," who understands the importance of the battle of ideas.

Yesterday I went to the city of Gothenburg for a business meeting. Close to the "Kopparmärra" ("copper horse") statue of Charles IX of Sweden, a bunch of useful idiots were demonstrating against the "American occupation" of Iraq... Luckily the anti-war crowd has become smaller and smaller as time has elapsed since the attack against Iraq. It is now 977 days since "Uncle Sam Tour" paid a visit to Iraq. [Editor's note: For you who are interested in a pro-war stance, read my post, MARTIN: THE SOLO PROTEST WARRIOR.]

So, how is the war on terror going? I have mixed feeling about the situation. I don't really care if Saddam Hussein had WMD at the time of the attack, or not. America has the moral right to attack whichever country it thinks is a threat to the United States of America and its allies. Talking about weapons of mass destruction, Barak of Information Regarding Israel's Security has an interesting post (Strong Evidence There Were WMDs in Iraq) on this topic. However, I think it would have been much better to take care of the HQ of terrorism, i.e., Iran, in the first place. The nuclear threat must be taken seriously.

Here is an excerpt from Daniel Benjamin's (author of The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting it Right) article, Making bad connections.

There is also a through-the-looking glass quality to the discussion of who-had-what-intelligence-when, since evidence suggests that the administration decided to go to war well before Congress began debating the issue and long before congressional leaders requested the National Intelligence Estimate.

The evidence includes comments that former Bush administration official Richard Haass made to the New Yorker in which he recounts meeting with Rice in July 2002 -- more than eight months before the war started. Haass, who was then director of policy planning in the State Department, said Rice told him not to bother discussing the wisdom of confronting Iraq because, as she said, "that decision's been made. Don't waste your breath."

If that decision had been made, it was done, as far as we know, before any comprehensive intelligence evaluation about Iraq was compiled. It is even possible that the decision had been made considerably earlier. (MercuryNews.com, 11/20/05.)

Friday, November 18, 2005

MORRIS IS DEFENDING THE WINGNUT

EGO has been labelled a "wingnut" by Sadly, No! Brad R. is attacking Gus Van Horn's crosspost, Around the Web on 11-16-05.

Makin' New Friends!

The best thing about Pajamas Media Open Source Media is that they've introduced me to a whole bunch of right-wing bloggers that I otherwise would've never read (mostly because they really suck, but that's another story). So for your enjoyment, I'm going to review some of these new-found treasures and grade them in various categories, including their blind allegiance to President Bush, their paranoid hatred of the media, and their belief that they're an oppressed minority despite controlling all three branches of the federal government. Bonus points will be awarded for poor spelling, punctuation and syntax. Let's get started!

Contestant #3: Egoist.

How he describes his blog: "Reason, egoism, laissez-faire capitalism." Sounds like a Randian to me. And you know what they tend to look like: ...


[Editor's comment: EGO is not included in the list of characters from The Simpsons. For a picture of the editor, check out my profile at Blogger. Recommended reading: My post, IS EGO A SOUTH PARK REPUBLICAN?]

Verdict: Everything you could want from an OSM blogger. He gets the max ten wingnuts. (SadlyNo.com, 11/17/05.)


[Editor's comment: I am glad that Morris is on my side...]
MORRIS

For more animal pictures, go to the Friday Ark #61 at the Modulator.

Related: My Post, COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK.

UPDATE 11/20/05:

Be sure to read Gus Van Horn's post, What's wrong with the left today?

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

AROUND THE WEB ON 11-16-05

This also appears at my blog, Gus Van Horn.

I am leaning -- personal circumstances permitting -- towards doing a midweek roundup on a more or less regular basis. With my good friend Martin Lindeskog in entrepreneurial mode these days, I plan to cross-post these here fairly often.

I had planned this week on a blog roundup, but ended up concentrating on a wholly different topic than I'd planned, so this one's going to be more of a link dump of what I was going to blog at more length....

Good News for Freedom of Speech

Via TIA Daily is this article reporting that the United States will maintain its control of the Internet.

Will McCain Become a Republican John Kerry?

John F. Kerry had the advantage, having been in the military, of being able to pose as a patriot while actually serving as the Democratic Party's anti-war candidate in the last presidential election. Some recent news about John "F." McCain seems to indicate that this possible 2008 candidate may have an even better cover: He, too, is a veteran, but he is also a member of the supposedly -- based on recent Senate activity -- pro-war Republican Party.

Otherwise, why is he proposing legislation that would make it illegal to torture prisoners of war? And did he leak information about the so-called "black sites" where terrorism suspects are held on foreign soil? If so, it is interesting that he did this as the legislation is being debated. Predictably, some news media are making a big deal out of this.
The detentions and interrogations have brought complaints from Congress and human-rights groups about how the detainees -- often Arab and male -- are treated.
I am personally happy to hear that we have imprisoned 83,000 possible terrorists over the past four years and, unlike this reporter, I am unsurprised that so many are Arab males. That is, not coincidentally, what many terrorists are.

Interestingly, the victims of Islamic terrorism were never mentioned, only being alluded to when the phrase "9/11 attacks" was used late in the article. Some, apparently, are forgetting why we're at war.

Is McCain one of them? Seems like it to me.

Secular Knee-Jerking?

I don't know much about the Anti-Defamation League, but they are reportedly growing concerned about the increasing power of the religious right.

Whether the ADL ultimately prove to be a worthwhile ally in the cause of keeping America secular, it is certain that Michael Newdow is not such an ally. After suing to have the phrase "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, he is attempting to have "In God We Trust" removed from our money -- the subject of a couple of jokes in the comments to the above post.

He is correct in that the government should not be promoting religion by endorsing these phrases, but I think he could choose some better battles.

Timely Editorials on Economics

Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell have a trio of related articles on inflation and prices that should be required reading for ... well, everyone who spends money. Williams does a great job of explaining inflation succinctly by means of an analogy to the game of Monopoly. With Alan Greenspan on the way out and gasoline prices as volatile as they are, these are very timely articles.

By the way, I recall that someone once came up with rules for "Free Market Monopoly". I've never played it before. If you know how to get the rules and/or have played it before, drop me a line.

-- CAV


Updates

11-17-05: Corrected a typo.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

PAJAMAS / OPEN SOURCE MEDIA

From Anick Jesdanun's article, Web site to blend journalism with blogs:

A media Web site scheduled to debut Wednesday will seek to blend traditional journalism with the freeform commentary developed through the emerging Web format known as blogs.

Some 70 Web journalists, including Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds and David Corn, Washington editor of the Nation magazine, have agreed to participate in OSM - short for Open Source Media. (BusinessWeek / Associated Press, 11/15/05.)


It would have been fun to attend the launch of Open Source Media (Pajamas Media) in the Big Apple. Do a WhoIs search on OSM.org and you will find "PJ attorney Nina Yablok" as the registrant.

Here is an excerpt from Jay's post, Thoughts On Pajamas Media.

I was excited by the original PJ concept. I grew more skeptical over time, and what it ended up being bore limited resemblance to the plan as presented to me in one of the early NDA invitations. Change isn't automatically bad, as things sometimes don't work out as expected or prove viable, but it looked too different, and lost the main incentive it had for many of us: shared revenue and clout for distributed advertising across many small blogs. (AccidentalVerbosity.com, 11/06/05.)


On a related note, read Robert May's post, BlogAds - Who Makes What? and my post, ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE: NEW ADVERTISING.

UPDATE 11/18/05:

EGO is now listed on OSMTM. I have added the Open Source Media logo to the PJM ad section for the time being. The OSM button is made by Robot Guy. I am sure that Magnus Kempe is working hard with the technical issues of inserting the advertisements on the blogs.

Iowahawk is explaining the business model in his post, The Blockbuster OSM Deal: What You Need to Know. [Via Roger L. Simon.]

TECH TUESDAY: VIRTUAL MACHINE

Thanks to Gus Van Horn for pointing out the option to use VMware (virtual machine) if I want to run Windows programs on my Linux machine.

In the news:

Intel's intro of virtualization hardware for PCs should herald new era by ZDNet's David Berlind -- Intel has announced the arrival of the first desktop chips to include its hardware-based virtualization technology known as VT (codenamed Vanderpool). This could very well signal a new era in desktop/notebook computing and I would think long and hard before buying a new system that doesn't include this new and worthwhile technology. [...]

Monday, November 14, 2005

OPEN THREAD POST: LAPTOP, THINKPAD, NOTEBOOK ETC.

I need to get a "mobile personal computer" with Microsoft's operating system sometime in the near future. I need it for my company in order to run a bookkeeping program, stock analysis software, efax service, and Phil Oliver's Objectivism research CD-ROM: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. I want a computer with Wi-Fi connection...

You are welcome to give me suggestions on ThinkPads and laptop computers.

[Editor's comment: Maybe I should get the "$100" laptop... ;)]

YARON BROOK ON THE MONEY

Yaron Brook will appear at the show On the Money. Watch the CNBC channel at 7 PM ET. The topic: "The United Nations' World Summit on the Information Society."

KLM TRAVEL MAP



  • Visited 14 countries (CA US AT BE DK FR HU IT NO SI SE UK TW TH)
  • Like to visit 16 countries (CA US BS BM MQ BR EE GR HU IT NL PT UK JP AU NZ)

Create your own world map

Related: My posts, FRAPPR! EGO MAP and WORLD66.COM.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

WRAP UP POST

I am still pretty busy, and I have a hectic week ahead with meetings with the purchasing and logistics association, attending an event at the career center, and being a "tour guide" for two visitors from Hungary.

This post is an attempt to do a wrap up of things that happened during the past weeks:

TERRORIST UPDATE

Here is an update regarding my post, TERRORIST IN SWEDEN TARGETED WASHINGTON.

In the news: Police search for terror accomplices.

Lindstrand refused to comment on whether the Swede was in fact Maximus. He also declined to say if the investigation was focusing on any specific suspects in Sweden.

Bektasevic's mother meanwhile told Dagens Nyheter that she was certain her son had been corrupted by "terrorists", who convinced him to join a mosque in the southwestern Swedish city of Gothenburg.

"He went there to pray. The ones who led him astray are terrorists," she said. (TheLocal.se, 11/12/05.)


You could find the mosque in question if you use the "IslamicFinder.org" portal.

UPDATE 11/20/05:

Swedish terror suspect "visited al-Zarqawi"
- The Local.

BUREAUCRAT BUSTERS: WASTE OF NUCLEAR POWER

In the news:

The Swedish government will pay state-owned energy group Vattenfall 4.1 billion kronor (500 million dollars, 426 million euros) in compensation for the closure of a nuclear reactor earlier this year, Vattenfall said on Thursday.

Sweden shut its Barsebäck 2 reactor on 1st June, the second reactor to be taken out of service in the country since 1999 as part of a plan to phase out nuclear power over the next 30 or so years. (TheLocal.se, 11/11/05.)


It would be better if the bureaucrats had been following the same route as the French nuclear-energy company Areva.

I think that the statement by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation is bullshit... What do you think?

GOOD LIFE WEEKEND 45

The good life has to include tea, beer and licorice candy. This weekend I had the following:


You are welcome to list your favorite tea, beer, and candy.

CATBLOGGERS

Morris missed this week's edition of the Carnival of the Cats.



The above photo is added to the Catbloggers' map at Frappr!

DRUCKER AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

This post is an entry to next week's edition of the Carnival of the Capitalists, so I have decided to write a combination of a note of the death of Peter Drucker and the teaching methods of entrepreneurship in the schools. I searched the EGO archives and I found the following mention of Mr. Drucker:

Management

Photon Courier describes two different kinds of Management Mentalities, as observed by Peter Drucker. [Editor's book recommendation: Edwin Locke's The Essence of Leadership: The Four Keys to Leading Successfully.] (EGO, CARNIVAL OF THE LAISSEZ-FAIRE CAPITALISTS, 07/28/04.)


Have you read Peter Drucker's book, Innovation and Entrepreneurship?



Pat Cleary of the Manufacturers' Blog has an hard hitting quote by Drucker regarding "big government."

The Economist has an article (The evangelist of entrepreneurship) on Carl Schramm and his "mission to teach the world to be entrepreneurial." Here is an excerpt from the article.

A key moment came in 1980 when America adopted the Bayh-Dole act, giving universities a serious financial stake in the intellectual property generated by their research. Yet Mr Schramm worries that universities are becoming too bureaucratic in their approach to intellectual property, creating a new bottleneck in the transfer of technology to start-ups. Several big firms have told Mr Schramm recently that they are considering switching research to universities in some developing countries, because there will be no question over who owns the rights to a breakthrough in those countries.

The university bottleneck is number two in Mr Schramm's top three worries. Number three is that favourite bugbear of American businessmen, an anti-corporate attitude that spawns burdensome government legislation, such as parts of the Sarbanes-Oxley act. But the top worry for Mr Schramm (and many others), is the low quality of much of America's educational system—since the most important ingredient of entrepreneurial capitalism is human capital. Happily, the other main focus of the Kauffman foundation is education: it is funding new approaches to teaching maths and science that Mr Schramm hopes will be imitated nationwide. (Economist.com, 11/03/05.)


At the introduction lecture of Venture Cup, the co-founder of Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship, Mats Lundqvist, showed us an interesting entrepreneurial model. (See slide #6, "function, control, use," PDF.)

One of our entries to the business plan competition is an idea to create a meeting place for entrepreneurs, inventors and investors. Read Palle Frid Svensson's post, OpenBC event in Gothenburg, at Matching entrepreneurs.

Related: My posts, INVENTOR HAKAN LANS and BUREAUCRACY VERSUS ENTREPRENEURSHIP.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

PATRIOTIC PORK CHOPS

As a former Yankee and resident of the Live free or die state, New Hampshire, I thought it would be perfect with a recipe with Samuel Adams beer.

This "pork buster" recipe is taken from Kim Knox Beckius's page, "New England for Visitors" at About.com.

Patriot Pork Chops Recipe from Kim's New England Kitchen. (Click the link for the instructions.)

  • 4-8 boneless pork chops, about 1 inch thick.
  • 1/3 cup ketchup.
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar packed firmly.
  • 1 bottle Samuel Adams Boston Lager.
  • salt & pepper.

[Editor's note: I would probably add some spicy things to the recipe...]

I will see if I could find Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner 2005 Harvest at the beer place this evening.

To end the post in a truly patriotic way, I have included an excerpt from my post, INDEPENDENCE DAY.

Pictures from the sportsbar. The waiter asked if we were Americans when he saw the historic flags (Continental flag, Gadsden flag, 1st Stars and Stripes (Betsy Ross), Bennington, and Star Spangled Banner with 15 stars).

Independence Day on the Fourth of July
(EGO, 07/04/05.)


Recommended reading: My post, PRESIDENTS' DAY.

Monday, November 7, 2005

OPEN THREAD POST: 75 REASONS FOR BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR

Please state your reasons for being an entrepreneur. Inc. Magazine has a list of 75 Reasons to Be Glad You're an American Entrepreneur Right Now. [Via Business Opportunities Weblog.] As an owner of a sole trader company, I thought it could be cool to promote T-shirts for entrepreneurs. I have added an ad section for Solo Tees. [Hat tip to BusinessPundit.]

Solo Tees

TERRORIST IN SWEDEN TARGETED WASHINGTON

In the news: MI5 probes suicide attack plots on Washington - Sunday Times.

MI5 is investigating a suspected plot by Islamic terrorists to carry out multiple suicide bombings of the White House and the Capitol in Washington DC. (TimesOnline.co.uk, 11/06/05.)


The plot was organized by an Al-Qaeda member in Sweden. From Mark Hosenball's article, Target Washington?

According to the officials, the U.K. suspects are believed to have been in e-mail contact, via Hotmail accounts, with a suspected major jihadi recruiter who used the Internet nom de guerre "Maximus." According to the officials, Maximus was initially based in Sweden, but then moved to Bosnia, where investigators believe he helped to run a network recruiting disaffected European youth to go to Iraq to join the insurgency. Investigators believe the network engaged in extensive credit-card fraud to finance its activity and raise funds for jihadi groups. (Newsweek / MSNBC.msn.com, 11/04/05.)

Saturday, November 5, 2005

PIMENTON DE LA VERA SKEWERS



I have to open the tin and test the paprika powder. Here is an excerpt from Clotilde's post, Pimentón de la Vera.

Pimentón de la Vera is a paprika-like powder made of smoked and ground chili peppers, produced in Extremadura, one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. Extremadura is in the South-West of Spain, close to Portugal, and it is in fact where the first chili peppers were introduced as they were brought back from the New World.

Pimentón is made from pimientos that are grown locally, and then slowly dried over an oakwood fire. The process lasts for ten to fifteen days, during which the peppers are constantly hand-turned, until they are completely dried and infused with smoke flavors. They are then transferred to a manufacture where the stem and seeds are discarded, and the flesh is ground to a super-fine, brick-red powder. (ChocolateAndZucchini.com, 09/23/05.)

I have to test the spice with skewers and doing a new variation of my hickory smoked Cajun shish kebab. Here is an original recipe:

Skewers from La Vera

  • 300 g of pork meat.
  • 300 g of chicken breast.
  • 200 g of mushrooms.
  • 2 aubergines.
  • 1 ounce La Vera paprika.
  • 1 teaspoon mustard.
  • 1 lemon.
  • Olive oil and salt.

  1. Mix the paprika powder with lemon juice, mustard, oil and salt.
  2. Cut the meat and vegetables in pieces.
  3. Marinate for two hours.
  4. Fire up the grill!

Friday, November 4, 2005

FRAPPR! EGO MAP

Check out our Frappr!

You are more than welcome to add your pin to Frappr! EGO map! [Via the Politburo Diktat.]

Technorati tag: .

JEFF BRITTING ON BOOK TV

Check out Book TV tomorrow, at 9:00 PM Eastern time, and Sunday at 7:00 PM, if you want to watch Jeff Britting, archivist at the Ayn Rand Institute. The discussion (Was Communism a Threat to Hollywood?) took place at the Liberty Film Festival.

I recommend you to purchase Robert Mayhew's book, Ayn Rand and Song of Russia: Communism and Anti-Communism in 1940s Hollywood.

CAT(CHING) UP...

Taking a photo of Morris is a good way of keeping this blog alive and kicking! I am catching up on this week's activities and I will give you a full report this weekend...

MORRIS

For more animal pictures, check out Friday Ark #59 at the Modulator.