Amateur Economist

Wristwatch Round-Up: MB&F, Seiko, Jaquet Droz, & More!

2009-11-27T06:55:00.004-05:00

A few horological delights to enjoy during your post-Thanksgiving glow. (pic courtesy of The Watch Lounge)

MANY of links to check out!

Interview With Maximilian Büsser, Founder Of MB&F And Horological Visionary!: "Four years ago one extraordinary man had one absolutely extraordinary vision. That man was Maximilian Büsser and his vision was, according to him, based on a very simple and fundamental idea: to assemble dedicated Collectives of talented horological artisans, artists and professionals – all friends – to design and craft each year a radical and original horological masterpiece. The rest, as they say, is history. Celebrated as one of the most innovative and creative watchmakers of modern times, MB&F’s creations are nothing short of mind blowing. Whilst they may not suit all tastes, the level of technical and artistic complexity involved in the creation of each highly unique piece is undeniable."

Horological Meandering:Announcing the Sinn Ultimate U diver's watch: "The Sinn U1 has been very popular, notably in Singapore with retailer The Hour Glass commissioning several exclusive limited editions, of which several forum members own (I own the U1 Tempus, shown below)."

Special Report - Watches - At Rolex, a Year of Challenges - NYTimes.com: "Heading into the end of a difficult year, in which it has confronted a sudden change of leadership and declining sales worldwide, Rolex, perhaps the most immediately recognized name in Swiss watchmaking, remains bullish about the future. “Despite the present economic crisis, Rolex is actively preparing the recovery in a spirit of complete confidence,” Bruno Meier, the recently appointed chief executive, said in September before a group of 200 guests invited to Bienne, Switzerland, for the laying of the foundation stone for a major new production plant. By the time it is completed in 2012, the new building, entirely dedicated to movements, will add 230,000 cubic meters, or 8.1 million cubic feet, of new production space, as much again as the company’s existing facilities in the Geneva suburbs of Chêne-Bourg and Plan-les-Ouates."

Special Report - Watches - For Lovers of the Music of Time, a Wristwatch That Can Chime 2,500 Notes a Day - NYTimes.com: "The Grande Sonnerie, a musical timepiece that sounds the passing hours and quarters like a miniature tower clock, is so difficult to assemble and adjust that only a few watchmakers have mastered the art. Jaeger-LeCoultre has just joined that exclusive club."

Special Report - Watches - The Watchmakers' Time Bomb - NYTimes.com: "Buy a vintage car and you know there will be running costs. Buy a work of art or a bottle of fine wine and you need to think about storing it in highly controlled conditions. But buy a watch and you charge the credit card and that’s it, isn’t it? Some watchmakers make a point in their sales campaigns of the responsibility of holding on to their watch for future generations, and it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of buying a highly technical, precision-crafted timepiece. What is often overlooked is the cost of maintenance. When Chuang Peck Ming sent his Lange 1 timepiece by A. Lange & Söhne for servicing and repair, he paid 4,100 Singapore dollars, or $2,960, and it took several months."

Additional links:
Jaeger Chronograph From the 30s: So Cool, No Explanation Necessary
Starck Palindrome Too for Fossil - Acquire
F.P. Journe:New York City Boutique Grand Opening
Void V02 Watch - Cool Void Watches
Weird Watch Wednesday: Winner Of “I Love My Seiko” Contest Announced
Jaquet Droz Launches New Web Site - WatchTime.com

Even more links:
Top Watchmakers Turn Even More Exclusive to Survive - NYTimes.com
Off the Cuff: The Interview: Michael Kobold (Part II) (part I)
A Jeweler Tries His Hand at the Watchmaking Art - NYTimes.com
Patek Shifts Course - NYTimes.com
Watches - Choice of the Motor Racing Crowd - NYTimes.com
TX Linear Duo Watch - Uncrate
Big Time - Forbes.com

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T07:34:00.003-05:00

A couple items until the weekend.

The Thanksgiving Gift - The Unbroken Window: "Four centuries after the celebration of the first Thanksgiving, there is still widespread disagreement about the reason for the Pilgrims’ feast. But whether it was a harvest festival, a strictly religious observance, or a thank you to the local Wampanoag Indians, such a feast would not even have been possible were it not for the abandonment of the utopian ideas the Pilgrims laid out in the original Mayflower Compact."

The Great Thanksgiving Hoax - Richard J. Maybury: "Each year at this time school children all over America are taught the official Thanksgiving story, and newspapers, radio, TV, and magazines devote vast amounts of time and space to it. It is all very colorful and fascinating. It is also very deceiving. This official story is nothing like what really happened. It is a fairy tale, a whitewashed and sanitized collection of half-truths which divert attention away from Thanksgiving's real meaning. The official story has the pilgrims boarding the Mayflower, coming to America and establishing the Plymouth colony in the winter of 1620-21. This first winter is hard, and half the colonists die. But the survivors are hard working and tenacious, and they learn new farming techniques from the Indians. The harvest of 1621 is bountiful. The Pilgrims hold a celebration, and give thanks to God. They are grateful for the wonderful new abundant land He has given them."

Thursday Grab Bag

2009-11-26T05:27:00.001-05:00

Fountain Pens / Writing. (pic via Conway-Stewart)
Conway Stewart Kipling 'IF' Limited Edition
Review: Pilot Just Meet Slim 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil

Watches.
PuristS On Tour (P.O.T) 2009 : Day 1(Morning) to Chopard Fleurier
The Villeret 1858 Collection unveiling in New York City-Montblanc
Singapore’s First Uber Luxe Watch Winder Boutique Opens At ION Orchard - The Watch Lounge

Afghanistan.
Afghanistan, November, 2009 - The Big Picture

Liberty / Govt.
Cosmetic surgeons, patients fight proposed 'Botax'

Deals.
5 Sites To Find Black Friday & Cyber Monday Sale Listings
Ten Black Friday Bargains - Forbes.com
Black Friday Ads - The Official Black Friday 2009 Website

Cars.
Carlsson E-CK63 RS Exposed
A.R.T AS55K YAAS Edition Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG Exposed

Style.
CarréDucker Shoemakers Video - SwipeLife
Anderson-Little Classic Blue Blazer
The Miyuki-zoku: Japan’s First Ivy Rebels
Permanent style: Review and launch party: Sharp Suits

Shoes / Boots.
Barker Black Brogue Boots - Style Forum
How I became a shoemaker? - Handmade Shoes
New shoes: an update - Gentleman’s Corner

Architecture.
Auto Body Shop Transformation to Home by Levitt Goodman
New Urbanism Pontooned or Luxury Houseboat Community?

Gadgets.
Revo Renaissance Radio - SwipeLife

Animals.
ZooBorns: Meet Willa the Swamp Wallaby Joey

Misc.
1936 Thanksgiving Camel Ad: Smoke After Each Course!
Stella Artois Ditches Old-Time Campaigns, Creates Retro "TV" Station

Wednesday Grab Bag

2009-11-25T07:23:00.000-05:00

Architecture. (pic via Dagens Design)
Z HOUSE - Dagens Design
Insidehouse & Outsidehouse - CoolBoom
Zagreb Pavilion / njiric arhitekti - ArchDaily
Playhouse Wonders: 11 Insanely Over the Top Clubhouse Designs
Compact River Cabin Design in Washington

Style.
Swims Self-Opening Umbrellas
Cold Weather Outerwear: #10 J. Crew Peacoat

Shoes / Boots.
Alden for Context Roy Boot - Selectism.com (more here & here)
Free & Easy, Stand Up Mr. Bootsman!

Liberty / Govt.
Facebook friend turns into Big Brother
A Surveillance Newsflash from Planet Hopeychange
Movement on Prohibition - John Stossel
Schwarzenegger caught parking Porsche in red zone

Cars.
a time to get: Vanity
Honda VFR750R - Bike EXIF
Nearly 30% of GM’s 60-day money-back participants returned cars

Fountain Pens / Writing.
Fountain pen that writes after 70 years on the sea bed
Reviews - An Inkophile’s Blog

Computers.
Is Firefox causing laptops to overheat through CPU overuse?

Travel.
Top 10 Bizarre Tourist Attractions
Beautiful Landscape of Italy

Food.
Baked Goods (& Butter) for the Thanksgiving Bread Basket
Ho Chiak: Steaks in Bangkok: Ma Be Ba
Ten Worst Breakfast Cereals by Joseph Mercola

Gadgets.
Palm Pre Gets (Unofficial) Video Recording
Fuji Instax Camera (more)
The Lip-Syncher Catcher App - Gadgetwise Blog

Healthcare.
Another Mystery of the Universe - Anything Peaceful
Mammogram Flap Portends ObamaCare's Rationing - WSJ.com
Obamacare Is Unconstitutional - Cato Institute

Entertainment.
Top 10 SNL musical digital shorts
Our Entertainer-Monarchs - John Stossel
9 Hilarious Websites To Visit When You Need To Kill Time

Misc.
Zombie Outbreak Simulator - Class 3 Outbreak
Delilah the Great Dane - Daily Puppy
My Parents Were Awesome
How to Build a Smart Grid With Centuries-Old Flywheel
Hindu sacrifice of 250,000 animals begins

Wristwatch Round-Up: Heuer, Glashütte Original, & Rolex

2009-11-25T06:07:00.002-05:00

The Rolex pics are outstanding. (pic @ right via GO, TZ, & Jorge)

Rolex:The elusive Comex Double Red Sea Dweller: "Sometimes patience is important for a collector… After declining and missing Comex watches for the past ten years, my day also had to come... So last tuesday, I took a short car trip to meet an ex Comex diver...."

Additional Rolex links:
The Rolex Collector
MY COLLECTION OF DIVING ROLEX

10 Watches More Expensive Than A Ferrari - Cool Material: "Let’s be realistic here, the economy is in the crapper and your 401k looks about as arousing as you do after a cold shower. What’s a Burgundy drinking, ’stache rocking, web surfing Internet denizen like you to do? Diversify your skill set by ogling watches you’ll never be able to afford and learning what makes them tick. Most of these watches are more complicated than college calculus and have more history than you could learn in a lifetime. You might even need an engineering degree and an instructional tome to figure out how they work."

[don't miss this cool new watch podcast]

Bremont Releases Unseen Footage Of The Testing of the MB Watch!: "Bremont Watches in the UK have recently released some unseen footage of the rigorous testing they put their MB watches, developed in partnership with ejection seat specialist Martin Baker, through. Definitely a must see, make sure you crank up the volume loud!"

Heuer Monaco 1533G- The Calibre 15 Monaco - Calibre 11: "One of the first watches that got me hooked on the vintage Heuer line-up was the 1533G Monaco- “G” for Grey, even though the dial has always looked silver to me. I remember considering buying one of these in 2006- a full mint set from one of the well-known Heuer collectors at OnTheDash. I still have the photos of that watch, and it is perfect. That set had a flawless Monaco 1533G (albeit not NOS) with original hands, bracelet, box and papers and the Heuer swing tag- all for a price of EUR4500."

TimeZone: Pre-BASEL 2010 - Glashutte Original Pocket Watch No. 1: "With the launch of the Glashutte Original Pocket Watch No. 1, the established manufactory harkens back to this epoch and presents a timelessly elegant pocket watch with quarter-hour repetition, which comes in a worldwide limited edition of 25 pieces. This timepiece in rose gold captivates with its high standard of watchmaking, its innovative construction and aesthetic design. A historical watch by Julius Assmann, a famous pioneer of the Glashutte watchmaking industry, served as the model."

NYC's Central Watch: A Horological Hidden Gem: "We often get questions from friends, acquaintances, relatives, enemies, frienemies, and readers on where to get a decent watch serviced or repaired. Today we thought we'd give you all a little formal tip, we're taking you behind the scenes of where we get our watches fixed. The shop is called Central Watch, it sits deep within a forgotten passageway under Grand Central Station, and the work that is done there can not be beaten."

Additional links:
Casio G-Shock MT-G MTG1100-1A Watch (more)
Swatch Automatic Chronograph - Review
Godzilla’s wrist watch? - Monochrome
Breitling Premier (Venus Cal. 175)… - The Watch Spot
Omega Creates Seamaster Diver 300m "Vancouver 2010" Limited Edition
YouTube - Bremont Martin Baker Ejection seats watch
Electrician hit by 11,000 volt blast saved by his WATCH

ClimateGate Round-Up, Don't Miss This ...

2009-11-25T05:26:00.004-05:00

This is some ugly business, though not at all surprising. Very much worth reading.

Honest debate? Check.
Settled science? Check.
Academic honesty? Check.
Peer review? Check.
Legitimate scientific method? Check.

Okay, not so much ...

What the Global Warming Emails Reveal - WSJ.com: "The two MMs have been after the CRU station data for years. If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act now in the U.K., I think I'll delete the file rather than send to anyone. . . . We also have a data protection act, which I will hide behind.' So apparently wrote Phil Jones, director of the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit (CRU) and one of the world's leading climate scientists, in a 2005 email to 'Mike.' Judging by the email thread, this refers to Michael Mann, director of the Pennsylvania State University's Earth System Science Center. We found this nugget among the more than 3,000 emails and documents released last week after CRU's servers were hacked and messages among some of the world's most influential climatologists were published on the Internet."

The Dog Ate Global Warming - Cato Institute: "Now begins the fun. Warwick Hughes, an Australian scientist, wondered where that ' /-' came from, so he politely wrote Phil Jones in early 2005, asking for the original data. Jones's response to a fellow scientist attempting to replicate his work was, 'We have 25 years or so invested in the work. Why should I make the data available to you, when your aim is to try and find something wrong with it?' Reread that statement, for it is breathtaking in its anti-scientific thrust. In fact, the entire purpose of replication is to 'try and find something wrong.' The ultimate objective of science is to do things so well that, indeed, nothing is wrong."

Climategate Exposed: "This eleven-minute-long interview with climate scientist Pat Michaels reveals just how scientific the global-warming ‘hawks’ are." (get 10.2MB MP3)

Climategate: the final nail in the coffin of ‘Anthropogenic Global Warming’? – Telegraph Blogs: "If you own any shares in alternative energy companies I should start dumping them NOW. The conspiracy behind the Anthropogenic Global Warming myth (aka AGW; aka ManBearPig) has been suddenly, brutally and quite deliciously exposed after a hacker broke into the computers at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (aka CRU) and released 61 megabytes of confidential files onto the internet."

If Palin had said this, it would have been fodder for HuffPo, DU, and all over the news. But Gore gets a pass. (note: I'm not a Palin supporter)
Al Gore's Science Illiteracy - Associated Content

Additional links:
Three on the fun and games at the Climatic Research Unit
Science czar John Holdren and ClimateGate: Perfect together
Global Warming Hot Problem or Hot Air?
Climate Emails Stoke Debate - WSJ.com
Media Missing the Plot on ‘Climate Gate’: It’s the Fraud, Stupid!
Scientific scandal appears to rock climate change promoters

Tuesday Grab Bag

2009-11-24T06:25:00.004-05:00

Architecture. (pic via Trendir)
Beach Cottage Home in Australian Beach Paradise
Arched Timber Roof House is an amazing party shack
Bainbridge Island Residence, Three Level Waterfront
The Caboose - Tiny House Blog
Mountain Refuge Los Canteros by dRN Architects

Photography.
National Geographic's International Photography Contest 2009

Fountain Pens / Writing.
Inkyjournal: Noodler's Forest Green
Review: Ohto Tasche Ceramic Rollerball
Pear Tree Pens Ink Sampler - Without Ink
De Atramentis Bottled Fountain Pen Ink
Ecosystem Environmentally Friendly Journals

Cars.
Officially Official: BMW unveils all-new 5 Series sedan
Mercedes AMG Driving Academy: Laguna Sec

Computers.
Download Google Chrome OS and Run it from a USB Drive

Healthcare.
The Market Doesn’t Ration Health Care
Red-Ink Train Wreck: The Real Fiscal Cost of Government-Run Healthcare

Style.
Captain Hilt’s Jacket
Crash Course: Shell Cordovan - Winn Perry, Inc
MacRostie Leathers - Boots, Shoes and Moccasins
Bespoke clothing: A Neapolitan trouser maker
thelondonlounge.net - Benchmade to Measure
Permanent style: How a Drake’s tie is sewn

Food.
South Pole 6,000 Calorie Gut-Buster: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Super-Meal Served Up

Watches.
Off the Cuff: The Interview: Michael Kobold
Armin Strom presents their first in-house movement
Interview with Giles English Of Bremont Watches
Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX2 Racing Paris Chronograph
VOID VO2 Watch New Release!
F.P. Journe For Junior? Sacré Bleu! No – CHRONOMÈTRE BLEU!
Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Spacemaster X-Lume Watches

Climate Change "Science" Updates.
Climate Emails Stoke Debate - WSJ.com
Cyclones and Global Warming - WSJ.com
ClimateGate Emails Provide Unwanted Scrutiny of Climate Scientists
ClimateGate: The Very Ugly Side of Climate Science - Freakonomics Blog
Media Missing the Plot on ‘Climate Gate’: It’s the Fraud, Stupid!

Misc.
BBC News - Rare Darwin book kept in toilet
BBC News - 'Hitler's Mercedes' tracked down for Russia billionaire
As brother faded, Duke of Windsor plotted to regain throne

Review: Hero 616 Fountain Pens

2009-11-24T05:11:00.000-05:00

Maybe 5-6 years ago I bought a cheap Hero 329 fountain pen. I think it was a Sheaffer "homage." It used bottled ink only, had a bladder reservoir with a press-bar to compress the bladder and then draw in ink. It was under $10, had a very fine nib, and generally wrote well. I think I gave it away.

Now to 2009 ... I've seen several posts on Twitter & FPN recently about in which people claimed to be happy with their newly acquired Hero pens. And there wa a recent post about them at the Whatever blog that piqued my interest. After some Googling, digging, and asking, I determined that what I wanted was the Hero 616 "Jumbo" pen w/ the aerometric filler. Note that there is some minor controversy in the fountain pen collecting community over what this mechanism should properly be called. I found a reliable ebay seller and grabbed 3 of them for $21 shipped. Tough to go wrong at that price. (see pics at the end of this post)

The pen is from what I can tell a fairly decent knock-off of the famous Parker P51 fountain pen. I'm certainly no expert on vintage Parkers so take that with a grain of salt. The pens arrived Saturday. After a quick flush with water I filled one with Lamy blue ink, one of the most reliable I've ever used. The pen immediately wrote down a nice consistent if narrow line. The cap is the slip-on variety.

When Hero (or any Asian pen/nib manufacturer in my experience) says their nib is Fine, they REALLY mean it! Especially compared to their European counterparts.

In my limited experiences I've found American nibs (e.g. Sheaffer, Parker) to be "average," European nibs (particularly German such as Pelikan & Lamy) to be quite wide, and Asian nibs to run quite narrow.

Upsides to the very narrow/fine nib on the Hero 616:
1. It allows for cramped writing and fine lines
2. The ink reservoir lasts a great deal longer
3. I can leave it uncapped for a long time

Downsides to the very narrow/fine nib on the Hero 616:
1. No nib flex
2. No line variation of any kind
3. Can be a bit scratchy at times

In short, not a bad pen at all, while probably cheaply made they do have their place. So far it's been reliable and I won't be heart-broken if I lose or break it.

A few more looks at the Hero fountain pens:
PenHero.com - Attack Of The Clones - Part 1
PenHero.com - Attack Of The Clones - Part 2
Labor Day Giveaway and Review - Hero 616
Paper and Pens: Review: Hero 616 Fountain Pen

Related links:
Pentrace Pen Doctor: Side by Side: The Parker
Hero 616 and Parker 21 Super - Fountain Pen Network
Hero 616 Dissasembled on Flickr

Liberty & Your Govt. At Work: Sheriff Joe, Mortgages, & More

2009-11-24T05:00:00.003-05:00

Stay vigilant.

Each GM car sold costs taxpayers $12,200, RIT says - Rochester Business Journal: "American taxpayers paid $12,200 for every General Motors Corp. vehicle sold through the beginning of 2011, and $7,600 for every Chrysler Group LLC vehicle sold, a report by an economics professor at Rochester Institute of Technology found."

Man About To Become U.S. Citizen Arrested For Having Too Much Ammo : Black Bear Blog: "This is indecent to say the least and it happen in the great police state of Massachusetts. Keni Garcia, who recently moved from New Hampshire to Massachusetts, was arrested and held without bail because he had 30,000 round of ammunition – .38 caliber, 9mm and .22 caliber. He also owns those guns."

Government Responds to Economic Woes by Making More Bad Mortgage Loans - The Beacon: "Since the summer of 2008, the U.S. Treasury and the Fed have initiated a welter of new spending, lending, and subsidizing programs ostensibly aimed at steming the recession that began early in that year and deepened quickly in its last quarter and in the first quarter of 2009. Among the most notable of these programs have been attempts to prop up the real estate market and the residential construction industry, where the Fed’s easy-money policies in the first half of the present decade induced lenders to make millions of mortgage loans to home buyers who would not have qualified for such loans if traditional underwriting standards had been applied."

Sheriff Joe's New Low - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine: "The most recent atrocity committed by the self-proclaimed 'America's Toughest Sheriff' involves a woman who was detained while 9-months pregnant. Alma Minerva Chacon's case has been receiving media attention due to the brutality with which she was treated. The very same night of her arrest, Chacon went into labor and found herself afraid and alone, being rushed to a local hospital with her hands and legs chained in shackles."

Additional links:
The Senate's Health Care Act - WSJ.com
On Federal Health Care Reform Constitutionality: Congress, Use the Article V Safety Valve

Today's Quotes

2009-11-24T03:11:00.002-05:00

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.
-- Edward R. Murrow

We are sure living in a peculiar time.
You get more for not working than you will for working,
and more for not raising a hog than for raising it.
-- Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist

All history is one long story to this effect:
men have struggled for power over their fellow men
in order that they might win the joys
of earth at the expense of others,
might shift the burdens of life
from their own shoulders upon those of others.
-- William Graham Sumner
(1840-1910) American academic and professor at Yale College

I also made it quite clear that Socialism means equality of income or nothing,
and that under socialism you would not be allowed to be poor. You would be
forcibly fed, clothed, lodged, taught, and employed whether you like it or not.
If it were discovered that you had not character enough to be worth all this
trouble, you might possibly be executed in a kindly manner; but whilst you were
permitted to live you would have to live well.
-- George Bernard Shaw
(1856-1950) Irish comic dramatist, member of the socialist Fabian Society
Source: The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism

Book Review: Hamilton's Curse by Thomas DiLorenzo

2009-11-23T06:19:00.006-05:00

The full title is: Hamilton's Curse: How Jefferson's Arch Enemy Betrayed the American Revolution--and What It Means for Americans Today.

This is a follow-up to Dr. DiLorenzo's two excellent books on Abraham Lincoln. [Lincoln Unmasked & The Real Lincoln]

Going through this book, one can see how were got where we are today, with the notable presidencies since Hamilton's time being those of Lincoln & FDR. The continued erosion of liberty and disdain for the Constitution can be seen in context. DiLorenzo rightly calls Hamilton The Founding Father of Crony Capitalism.

Each of the following names was mentioned in the book, lending it a great deal of credibility, imho: Milton Friedman, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Ludwig von Mises, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Frederic Bastiat, and Julian Simon. A who's who of bright thinkers and defenders of sound economics and liberty.

Some notable items that jumped out at me from the book:
1. The differences between Hamilton & Jefferson are central to the history being discussed. p. 4
2. Hamilton founded the NY Post newspaper.
3. Slavery was not ended in NY City until the early 1850s! p. 10

4. Jefferson appreciated the importance of states' rights and the 10 amendment. p. 15
5. Constitutional Convention of 1787 was held in secret. There was an agreement that what went on there would not be made public until all participants has passed. Hamilton proposed a permanent presidency. p. 16
6. The term United States is plural. Though seemingly trivial, a very important point. p. 17

7. The longer Lord Action quote: "[W]here you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

8. From DiLorenzo: "All democracies evolve into a state where the net beneficiaries of government (those who receive more in benefits than they pay in taxes) out-number and dominate the net taxpayers (those who pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits)." p. 23

9. Hamilton was a strong advocate of what he called "pecuniary bounties," what we now now as corporate welfare. p. 29

10. Does the U.S. Constitution really allow for only a two-year standing army?! p. 33
11. The story of the Whiskey Rebellion, and Hamilton's role in particular, is an important foreshadowing.
12. The role of govt. debt in Hamilton's schemes can not be over-estimated. pp. 38-40

[don't miss the audio podcast interview w/ Dr. DiLorenzo discussing the book]

13. The stories of how Washington D.C. became the capitol and the Sedition Act was scheduled to end are ugly. pp. 48-49
14. In March 1829, President Jackson called the federal bank (the BUS) "a monster, a hydra-headed monster ... equipped with horns, hoofs, and tail so dangerous that it impaired the morals of our people, corrupted our statesmen, and threatened our liberty." Sounds like he was ahead of his time in describing the Fed. ;-) p. 69
15. "Between 1937 and 1995, not a single federal law was declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court." I guess the fox has been "guarding" the hen-house? p. 96
16. Hamilton might have been the first public proponent of the "Buy Local" nonsense we hear so much about now! p. 109

17. GREAT point re: protectionism via tariffs as well as "buy local" mantras:
"Or, looked at in another way, a complete prohibition of imports is what nations at war attempt to do to each other - to strangle the enemy's economy with trade embargoes ...Hamilton's (and all other protectionists') suggestion to prohibit imports is essentially a suggestion that Americans do to themselves in peacetime what their enemies hope to do to them in wartime."

18. Hamilton and in particular, Lincoln, opened the floodgates of corporate welfare and corruption. pp. 136-143
19. On Lincoln: "He began a war without the consent of Congress; unilaterally and illegally suspended the writ of habeas corpus; imprisoned tens of thousands of northern political dissenters; censored all telegraph communications; confiscated firearms in the border states in violation of the Second Amendment; ... and shut down several hundred opposition newspapers in the North, in some cases imprisoning the editors and owners." p. 148

20. Chapter 7, on the 17th Amendment is of particular importance. The income tax is a not far behind.
21. Cotton & plunder. p. 176
22. If the federal income tax was rescinded in 2008, federal revenues would have been at about the same level they were in 1997. p. 203
23. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz may have been an allegory for the Fed and gold standard. I've only heard/read this once before, and it seems somewhat plausible, if peculiar. p. 206

As I've written elsewhere, if only half of what DiLorenzo writes about Hamilton is true (and I suspect it's much more than that), Hamilton was truly a statist, scoundrel, and intellectual father of the national govt. in place in the U.S. today.

DiLorenzo's book is sure to be controversial. But I think it is important that we look at these historical figures with facts, and sometimes the facts are much uglier than the romantic notions associated with them. The book is quite an eye-opener and well worth the time to read.

Additional links:
Hamilton's Betrayal by George C. Leef
What Hamilton Has Wrought by Thomas DiLorenzo
The Founding Father of Crony Capitalism - Thomas J. DiLorenzo
Lew Rockwell Show - 16. Hamilton's Curse
Why Did This Happen? by Thomas DiLorenzo
It’s Time To End Hamilton’s Curse by Thomas DiLorenzo

Lincoln-related posts:
All previous Lincoln posts
Book Review: Lincoln Unmasked
Book Review: The Real Lincoln
Book Review: ... Arguing the Case for Southern Secession

Monday Grab Bag

2009-11-23T05:29:00.002-05:00

Architecture. (pic via Trendir)
Metal clad house with wood interior
Amazing Staircases Designs Around the World
Satish Nayak Residence / The Design Firm
Tiny House in a Landscape
James Patterson In Palm Beach, Estate of the Day

Computers.
Top 5 Freeware Registry Cleaners That Improve PC Performance

Fountain Pens / Writing.
J. Herbin Éclat de Saphir Ink Review
Just a few of the notebooks/sketchbooks I currently have in use...
The Pen Addict: Ink Links
New Source for De Atramentis Ink

Watches.
Armin Strom Reveals First In-House Made Movement, The Calibre ARM09
We Find & Explain a Double Swiss, Underlined, Tropical Dial Rolex Cosmograph
best watches in different price ranges... some gift ideas ;)
TimeZone: Review: Ball Spacemaster

Cars.
Steam Machines - Men’s Journal
THE 1970’s VAN CUSTOMIZATION CRAZE
2010 Hennessey HPE700 LS9 Camaro - Gear Patrol

Style.
WANT: Alden Cordovan Chukkas
Leffot Blog - Alden NST All-Weather Walker
John Lobb's Butler Service: The Daily Details

Science.
Large Hadron Collider ready to restart - The Big Picture
English Russia - Looking Into the Skies
8 Mind-Boggling Optical Illusions on Yahoo! Health

Food.
Why Do Phở Restaurant Names Usually Involve Numbers?
Ho Chiak: The Big D Grill: Again
Personalized Tabasco Gallon Jugs -| Gear Patrol
Moderate Drinking Guards the Heart
Men's Fitness - Best & Worst Light Beers

Govt.
Senate to Vote Thursday on Appeals Court Nominee Who Said Judges Can Amend the Constitution with Judicial ‘Footnotes’

Healthcare.
Of Things that Annoy Me This is Close to the Top

Climate Change?
A Credibility Meltdown for the World's Leading Climate Scientists?

Unions.
Democrats (and Republicans) and Democracy
Obama’s Labor Department Ignores Freedom of Information Act

Economics.
Still Manufacturing Myths Aplenty

Travel.
On board the new Oasis of the Seas: Is it worth the money?

Misc.
Reebok PUMP - 20 Years
Italy collector finds Galileo's lost tooth, fingers - Yahoo! News
National Geographic Photography Site: a fantastic source of desktop wallpaper images

Wristwatch Updates: Rolex, Panerai, Sinn, & More

2009-11-23T04:16:00.000-05:00

Niiiiice stuff! ;-)

Jake's Rolex Watch Blog: Profiles In Coolness: The Steve McQueen Submariner...: "Let's face reality for a moment. Steve McQueen is probably the coolest dude that ever lived!!! One of Steve's girlfriends, Ali MacGraw once said of Steve McQueen ..."

KronosBlog: P.999 "Starting to make sense again...": "Last year we where speechless with introduction of two new movements that where just unbelievably thick. The first around the 8 millimeter mark while the second almost reached 1 centimeter in thickness. Most stunning of all, they where (and maybe still are) meant to be used as base calibres to later add modules on top. Now let's add; 10 mm for the base, 5 mm for a 100 meters waterproof case, an extra 2 mm for a nice sapphire convex glass and a GMT or chrono module of another 3 mm. Now add this up. Hilarious..."

Review of my Linde Werdelin 3-Timer (brown dial): "Anyway, a few weeks ago I received the Linde Werdelin 3-Timer brown dial. The black carton box revealed another carton outer box, printed with an adventurous character from their comic-style logos and advertizing."

Jake's Rolex Watch Blog: Part 1: Genesis: The Complete History Of The Rolex Submariner and SEA-DWELLER: "The Rolex Submariner is the most iconic watch in history. Many people have tried to copy it, but nobody has ever duplicated or surpassed it successfully. This is the complete story of Rolex Diving Watches from A-Z and it offers much great new insight and amazing historical photography that has never been published. In many, many ways this story is the truest and most comprehensive story of Rolex history, which will give you, the reader, the greatest overview of the Rolex brand and its core essence. This is The Rolex Story..."

TimeZone: Public Forum: New arrival: "I really like the Avier Adventurist alot. It comes with a 42mm case,sapphire crystal, screw down crown with o-ring, a 22mm bracelet with SEL and screw in links, also a nice matte dial. It has a Eta 2893 movt with adjustable GMT hand and quickset date which has been keeping about 2 a day and is WR to 200mm."

Jaeger-LeCoultre Hybris Mechanica and Haute Joaillerie: "The highlight of course was the debut of the Hybris Mechanica a Grande Sonnerie but the presence of the high jewelry collection spoke to the manufacture's grand tradition in this area as well. Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Jerome Lambert was present at the Capella Resort in Singapore to present the Hybris Collection and the high jewelry sets to collectors and regional press."

Additional links:
Beautiful Glashütte Original PanoMaticReserveXL - PVD
KronosBlog: Navy Seal "ALDAO"
How to Tell if Water Has Gotten into Your Watch
Sinn U1 White Limited Edition Watch Available On James List

Saturday Grab Bag

2009-11-21T07:29:00.001-05:00

Architecture. (pic via WSJ/Roland Beaufre)
King of His Castles - WSJ.com
Sosnowski Residence by Chen Suchart Studio
Manifesto House Made From Wood Pallets and Shipping Containers
Bernstein & Andriulli Apple Stores

Photography.
12 Ideas On How To Take Better Photographs
Nikon Coolpix S1000pj 12.1MP Digital Camera with Built-in Projector (more)
SuperHeadz - Digital Harinezumi Camera

Computers.
NSA Is Giving Microsoft Some Help On Windows 7 Security
Cisco iPhone Security App Reaches Across the Network

Fountain Pens / Writing.
moleskinerie: Moleskine Surprise Boxes
moleskinerie: A Year in Color...Moleskine colors

Climate Change.
Scientific scandal appears to rock climate change promoters
Stagnating Temperatures: Climatologists Baffled by Global Warming Time-Out
Global Warming’s ‘Blue Dress’ Moment? (more)

Education.
Joe Scarborough Needs to Read His Rothbard
How Did We Get Into This Mess? by James Ostrowski

Style.
YouTube - L.L.Bean Bean Boot - Made in Maine Since 1912
Heavy Tweed Jacket: Tweed Jackets and Sweater
The Toyota of Clothes - BNET
Leffot Blog - Shine Time
Saddleback Briefcase - Uncrate

Boots / Shoes.
A Suitable Wardrobe: Spring Rains Are Coming
Red Wing Classic Dress Moc Boot - Por Homme
Red Wing Gentleman Traveler Leather Boots (more)
Grenson x The Three Threads Albert Oxford - Por Homme
[you_have_broken_the_internet]: Indy Boots...
Shoes for Saturday - The Life Tussle

Fed.
Ron Paul and Jim DeMint: Americans Deserve a Transparent Fed

Animals.
Friday Haiku: Dewey Love Ya!
Buster the Corgi - Daily Puppy
ZooBorns: Meet a Yellow-Spotted Amazon River Turtle
3 new ancient crocodile species fossils found
Video: Otter Rescue Caught on Tape

Entertainment.
Tom Petty: Rock God or Mere Mortal? - WSJ.com
Will Ferrell is Hollywood's most overpaid star: Forbes
The 25 Funniest Sportscenter Commercials

Union Shenanigans.
Rewarding Incompetence - John Stossel
New York Times to Unite Here: You are nasty, brutish, and short
SEIU’s Health Care Words that Work

Travel.
If Odysseus Had GPS - WSJ.com
The world's oldest cities - Telegraph

Misc.
BBC News - Alcohol 'protects men's hearts'

Wristwatch Updates: Hermés, GO, Bremont, & More!

2009-11-21T05:12:00.008-05:00

I love the look of this Bremont. The pics are great too, courtesy of TZ's BrandonS.

And don't miss the great content at Tempered Online.

TimeZone: This just in! Bremont Supermarine 500...: "Yeah, this just arrived. :D I am flat-out-totally blown away." (more pics here, here, here, and here)

Glashütte Original Pre BaselWorld 2010 Release - Pocket Watch No. 1: "To operate the repetition, a slide is located on the case at 6 o'clock. This is moved by hand in the direction of 9 o'clock, thereby tightening the mainspring. When the final point of the winding has been reached the signal mechanism is activated automatically. The progress of the signal mechanism is regulated by a centrifugal governor visible on the wheel train side. The beating of the two hammers is made audible by means of two gongs of different lengths, which are passed around the piece beneath the wheel train."

TimeZone: Public Forum: New toy!!: "I’ve been searching around for one of these for a long time and finally found one. It’s a beautiful fully functional watch escapement model. The hairspring, balance wheel, escapement lever/pallets and escape wheel all work as in a normal watch escapement. Winds from the bottom and runs for a few days. About 8in in diameter and 6in tall. A neat little item."

Report: WATCH 2009: "The successor of the first WATCH event (in 2008) has been held in the weekend of the 14th and 15th of December 2009. Ernie Romers of WatchUseek and Marcel Mathijssen of WATCH Experience organized the second edition of this great event at the same location as in 2008, castle De Hoogenweerth in Maastricht. The line up of exhibitors was at least as impressive as in 2008, including ..."

A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk – Winner Of The 2009 L’Aiguille d’Or - The Watch Lounge: "However, don’t let the seemingly unassuming appearance of this piece fool you. Beneath the aesthetically pleasing exterior beats the heart of a truly extraordinary movement, the manufacture calibre L043.1. The first thing you notice about this movement is that it features a jumping numerals mechanism for hours and minutes, with the time displayed on two minute discs and a large hour ring. Precisely once a minute, a constant-force escapement generates the necessary switching impulse to propel the minute discs forward as required."

Clocks:
Hermés 8 Day Spiral Boule Clock
Milky way: Alarm clock with sexy curves

Additional links:
Sarpaneva Korona K3 Harvest Moon Video...
HUBLOT - Partner of l'Automobile Club de France
Marine chronometer - Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie
Motor vs movement - Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie
TimeZone: SNEAK PREVIEW NEW RELEASE by RGM
Steiner Limited - customize your own watch - Monochrome
Vacheron Constantin: the ultra-thin heritage

ObamaCare & Your Govt. At Work: Death Taxes, Emergency Rooms, & More

2009-11-21T03:09:00.001-05:00

Ohhhhh boy.

Congress Considers Steep Death Tax Increase: "Leaders in the House of Representatives recently discussed the possibility of extending the death tax at its current rate and exemption levels for one year through 2010. If this proposal becomes law it would be a massive tax hike. Under current law, the death tax has a top rate of 45 percent and an exemption of $3.5 million ($7 million for couples) this year. But on January 1, 2010 it expires. It only stays expired for one year, however, as it springs back to life in 2011 with a top rate of 55 percent and an exemption of only $1 million ($2 million for couples)."

Of Things that Annoy Me This is Close to the Top - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine: "Janelle Treibitz, 28, a part-time waitress who performs with the Puppet Underground performance group, which raises money for grass-roots organizations, could relate. 'In Vermont [this year], I broke my finger and didn't have insurance,' said Treibitz, whose father is chief executive of a Colorado company that designs visual presentations for court trials. 'I got my X-ray and gave [the hospital] a fake name and walked out. Is that okay that I am doing that -- taking up resources because I am refusing to take money from my parents?'"

Big Business Goes Big for Health Care Reform - Ideas On Liberty: "“What disturbs Americans of all ideological persuasions is the fear that almost everything, not just government, is fixed or manipulated by some powerful hidden hand,” Frank Rich wrote in the New York Times a few months ago."

Can the Postal Service be Saved? - CBS News: "It's been an ugly few years for the United States Postal Service. The quasi-government agency announced this week that it lost $3.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year, which ended September 30th. It also delivered less mail - 26 billion fewer pieces less, a nearly 13 percent drop from the previous year. The bad news follows losses totaling $7.8 billion in 2007 and 2008."

Additional links:
The Spending Leviathan That Just Won’t Die - John Stossel
80,000 Mailers Sent Out With Recipients' Social Security Numbers In Plain View
No Change in Climate of Waste at State Department

Mammograms Provide Preview of ObamaCare

2009-11-20T07:47:00.000-05:00

Do or don't call it a death panel, but this is clearly an example of our overloards rationing medical care. And I wouldn't be shocked to learn that this panel was coerced to make this move now, before ObamaCare in some form passes, so it appears less like it was the result of ObamaCare.

Mammograms Provide Preview of ObamaCare - WSJ.com: "The mammogram decision is a sign of cost control to come. ... A government panel's decision to toss out long-time guidelines for breast cancer screening is causing an uproar, and well it should. This episode is an all-too-instructive preview of the coming political decisions about cost-control and medical treatment that are at the heart of ObamaCare. ... So what changed? Nothing substantial in the clinical evidence. But the panel—which includes no oncologists and radiologists, who best know the medical literature—did decide to re-analyze the data with health-care spending as a core concern. ... More important for the future, every Democratic version of ObamaCare makes this task force an arbiter of the benefits that private insurers will be required to cover as they are converted into government contractors. What are now merely recommendations will become de facto rules, and under national health care these kinds of cost analyses will inevitably become more common as government decides where finite tax dollars are allowed to go."

Also see these must-read related items:
Rights vs. Wishes by Walter Williams
Perspective ~ The Right to Medical Care

Friday Grab Bag

2009-11-20T06:36:00.004-05:00

Architecture. (pic via Contemporist)
House in Dominican Republic by A-cero Architecture
Stone House Siding Blends Beautifully with Nature
Oaza Zdravlja Pharmacy by Karim Rashid
Pope John Paul II Hall / Randić & Turato
THE $10,000 CALIFORNIA HOUSE, ca. 1951

Cars.
Toyota Launches European 2010 Land Cruiser

Environment / Climate.
Recyclers as Suckers - John Stossel
Architectural magazine’s editor questions Global Warming: hysteria ensues

Union Thuggery.
Unions Hard at Work - John Stossel
Networks Ignore Alliances, Thuggery and Lobbying of SEIU
Newspapers, Unions, and Organized Crime
Health care legislation is full of “goodies” for unions

Food.
Sushi Tips - WSJ.com
Sushi Secrets From Japan's Master Chefs in Tokyo
Why Wine Ratings Are Badly Flawed - WSJ.com

Style.
Valet - Prepped for Fall - Week 3: Shoe
Shell Cordovan - A Little Known Luxury
Wolverine 1000 Mile News and Events - 1000 Mile Unboxing
First Look - Wolverine Heritage Collection

Computers.
At Last! Facebook Improves Photo Uploading Experience
JavaScript, graphics performance improvements on tap for IE9
Chrome OS: What We Know and Don’t Know

Gadgets.
Casio Exilim EX-G1 - Acquire

Watches.
Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal Limited Edition
Casio G-Shock Gulfman Black - Gear Patrol
AUDEMARS PIGUET - Grand Prix de l'Horlogerie 2009 - double award winner
Paneristi: new 232 photo techniques, pics from the guggenheim

Misc.
Iraq's mobile-phone revolution: Better than freedom?
The Paint-Less Coca-Cola Would Save Earth One Can at a Time
Wild turkey at N.J. tollbooth caught - Yahoo! News

Fountain Pens & Writing Updates ...

2009-11-20T05:24:00.002-05:00

Several good links to check out. (pic courtesy of Okami/Whatever)

Featured Pen - Pilot Namiki 78G ~ Whatever: "The Pilot 78G is an inexpensive utility type pen that contains several wonderful surprises. First of all is the price. I acquired all three of mine from winningpen on eBay for about $12 each including shipping from Hong Kong. This seller always ships quickly and is very reliable, but there are a number of other reputable eBay and non eBay sellers who carry this pen."

Inkyjournal: Rhodia Pad No 12, Paul Smith: "I bought some great Rhodia Pad's No 12. It is a special edition from Paul Smith. I bought these beauty's at Journaling Arts. Journaling Arts is a great store for all your notebooks, journals. Cynthia Niklas does her job with passion. My package got lost in the mail. She offered great service by sending a new shipment."

Field Notes: “Just Below Zero”: "Each “Just Below Zero” 3-Pack features three different color covers. This time it’s French Paper Company’s Dur-O-Tone Steel Grey, Pop-Tone Sno-Cone, and Construction Steel Blue for the covers. All three feature icy metallic silver printing and 48 pages with a “Frostbite” bluish-grey graph inside."
Aaron Draplin Q&A - Michigan Blood Through and Through

Letter Writing Shouldn't Vanish – It’s Good for Relationships (and Profit) - Tiger Pens Blog: "How long has it been since you actually sat down and wrote a letter by hand? Months? Probably years? That’s how it is for most people, which is why letter writing seems to be in its last days."

Additional links:
The Sharpie Pen Grip – Evolution of the Sharpie Pen
Notebook Review: The Habana from Quo Vadis
Unposted: Equology Scholar Planner (another post with too many pictures)
Review: Porsche Design Faber-Castell Fountain Pen

Liberty, Healthcare, & Your Govt. At Work

2009-11-20T04:19:00.001-05:00

In many places I've separated (in posts) the issues of healthcare from those of liberty and govt., but as we've seen increasingly, they are strongly related (unfortunately).

Government Mail Loses $3.8 Billion - Cato @ Liberty: "The U.S. Postal Service reported that it lost $3.8 billion last fiscal year and that it expects to lose $7.8 billion this year. The loss occurred despite cost-cutting measures and legislation that allowed the USPS to forgo $4 billion in required payments to pre-fund retiree health benefits."

Walter E. Williams: A Minority View: Excused Horrors: "But here's the record: Nazis were responsible for the deaths of 20 million of their own people and those in nations they conquered. Between 1917 and 1983, Stalin and his successors murdered, or were otherwise responsible for the deaths of, 62 million of their own people. Between 1949 and 1987, Mao Tsetung and his successors were responsible for the deaths of 76 million Chinese."

Barack Obama rewards big donors with plum jobs overseas - POLITICO: "He may have promised to change Washington, but President Barack Obama is continuing one of its most renowned patronage traditions: bestowing prized ambassadorships on big donors."

Column: Government should serve general interest, not special interests: "Virginian James Buchanan, co-founder of 'public-choice economics' -- or what he prefers to call the Virginia school of political economy -- celebrated his 90th birthday in October. It's a landmark, and a life, well worth celebrating."

All Hail King Byrd - The Unbroken Window: "Didn’t we fight a war 200 years ago to rid ourselves of this sort of thing? 56 years and 320 days in the Senate. Impressive. That probably also means he has stolen more money from Americans than anyone in the history of the Republic. I am sure he’ll be proud to have that on his epitaph."

Bogus Stimulus - John Stossel: "Kudos to the Washington Examiner. They’re keeping tabs on the Obama administration’s phony stimulus claims. They’ve set up an interactive map that documents instances of government exaggeration-- or lies --over how many jobs were “created or saved” by the $787 billion stimulus package. The Examiner has found that just over 10 percent of the jobs supposedly “created or saved” are bogus. I’m not surprised. Here’s the White House’s reaction, or explanation, or excuse making. Here are some particularly egregious examples from the Examiner ..."

Additional links:
HackWatch: A Good Chunk of the GOP Senate Edition
Obama Promotes Louis Butler Despite WI Voters Rejecting Him - WSJ.com
Big Brother quiz for new school parents: Officials launch 83-point probe into families' lives
CIA Secret Prison Found - ABC News
Global Warfare USA: The World Is the Pentagon's Oyster
Perspective ~ The Right to Medical Care - Ideas On Liberty

Thursday Grab Bag

2009-11-19T06:13:00.003-05:00

Architecture. (pic via Decoist)
King Residence in Santa Monica
The Integratron (NOTCOT)
A Compendium of Beautiful Libraries
The Park BOX by PATH Architecture
Chrome Hotel’s Swiss Cheese Facade Saves Energy
Alviales House / Materia Modular
Luxurious 5-star Capri Palace Hotel and Spa

Fountain Pens / Writing.
Review: Exacompta Sketchbook “Livres d’Or”
Notebook Stories: Kolby Kirk’s Hiking Journal

Cars.
Nissan Thinks Small—and Electric - WSJ.com
a time to get: Vulgar Display Of Power
TimeZone: Aston Martin Rapide revisit
BMW R 1200 GS ADVENTURE - Debonair Magazine
2010 Ford Fusion Captures Motor Trend's Car of the Year Award
Big Bear Choppers Introducing the Under 20k Bear Bones
Blackhawk Collection - Current Inventory

Food. (ht: MR)
Berkshire Mountain Distillers – True American Spirits
The Michelin guide and its undercover inspectors : The New Yorker

Computers. (ht: Dr. Newmark)
A Windows User’s Crash Course In Switching To A Mac
The App Store Effect: Are iPhone Apps Headed for Oblivion?
Super Cheap, Super Small Lenovo X100E Leaks - Lenovo x100e
New Yorkers Share Their Favorite Smartphone Applications
The Top 10 Mobile Applications of 2012
Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - Download - Microsoft Windows

Animals.
YouTube - Baby Otter Sidney playing
I Am The Magical Lumpfish! — Cute Overload
Lion opens family's car door with his teeth - Telegraph
Diesel the Great Dane - Daily Puppy

Gadgets.
A Review of the Palm Pixi - WSJ.com

Economics. (ht: MR)
The Economics of Pinball - Cheap Talk

Travel.
5 Amazing Journeys On A Penny Farthing

Education.
Government Schools Are Bad for Your Kids
Why I Wrote Government Schools Are Bad for Your Kids

Style.
Feeling For … Brogues - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com
The World's Best Dress Shirts (And Why They Cost a Fortune)

Misc.
On the shoreline - The Big Picture - Boston.com
oobject - 12 health lies cigarette ads

Healthcare Profits: The Solution, Not The Problem

2009-11-19T05:54:00.001-05:00

When someone tells you that the problem with the current healthcare system is that it is (partially) profit-driven, he/she is exposing his/her ignorance of the topic. You may toggle the bozo-bit to "on" for this person. (pic via Wiki)

This is an excellent column.

Profit is Bad for Your Health? - The Freeman - Ideas On Liberty: "It’s a misconception that profit is something tacked onto the price of goods and services. If that were so, why would profits change from year to year and why would companies go out of business? Profit and loss are indispensable to consumer well-being because resources are scarce and have alternative uses. How do we decide how much to devote to making people well and how much to devote to feeding, clothing, entertaining, and educating them? It isn’t merely that this is a difficult question to answer. It is literally impossible to answer in any meaningful way without market prices, profits, and losses. ... Profits and losses provide crucial information that enables producers to engage in rational economic calculation in the service of consumers. Grasping this is one of the most important contributions economics has made to our understanding of the world. Thus the profit-and-loss system is as badly needed for medical services as it is for any other product or service. It is true that health care is unique in some ways, but this strengthens rather than weakens the case for subjecting it to entrepreneurial profit and loss. Health care is not “too important to be left to the market.” It is too important not to be."

Wristwatch Updates: Parmigiani, Rolex, & More

2009-11-19T05:36:00.004-05:00

More beauties. (pic courtesy of The Watch Lounge)

Weird Watch Wednesday: The Parmigiani Toric Tourbillon - The Watch Lounge: "As a longtime fan of all things Parmigiani, I have always taken extra effort to follow the brand, and have been lucky enough to see its watches in person on two occasions. Independently owned and fiercely innovative, Parmigiani have spared no expense to secure itself and its reputation as a true Manufacture. The brand offers simple hand wound watches as well as exceptionally complex pieces."

Ennstal Classic TAG Heuer Carrera - Calibre 11: "The Ennstal Classic was first held in Austria in 1993 as a rally for classic cars made before 1972. The rally allows drivers to tackle the beautiful and challenging mountains and valleys in the Dachstein-Tauern region of Austria, and has quickly gained a reputation as one of the premier European classic car rallies."

A White Rolex Explorer? Yes, They Do Exist and They Are Damn Cool - Hodinkee: "We've said it before and we'll say it again, the Rolex Explorer is probably one of our favorite watches, period, end of sentence. It is the smallest, simplest, and most understated Rolex sport watch and its purity has been left unchanged for the better part of a century. We have written about some pretty interesting ones in our day (for a full list, see here) but if there is one uniting quality, it is that each Explorer had a black face. Or did they??"

Officine Panerai:Galileo's Original Telescope At The Nobel Museum In Stockholm & Panerai Jupiterium: "STOCKHOLM - On the occasion of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, the Nobel Museum in Stockholm hosts the exhibition 'Galileo's Telescope – The Instrument that Changed the World ' conceived by the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence to mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first celestial discoveries. The exhibition, opening on October 10th, is adorned by the extraordinary display of one of the only two surviving telescopes made by Galileo and this unique occasion to discover one of the treasures of all time history of science is possible thanks to the financial support of Italian high-end watchmaker Officine Panerai, main sponsor of the exhibition."

Additional links:
Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve 2009
Watchmakers Seize the Moment for iPhone - NYTimes.com
TimeZone: Public Forum: More Type XX 3807 pics
HourTime, Episode 3: The Golden Hand
TimeZone: My NEWEST Tritium Vile diver arrived today!

Wednesday Grab Bag

2009-11-18T08:26:00.003-05:00

Architecture. (pic via Contemporist)
The Deepstone House by Simon Winstanley Architects
Energy Positive House to Supply Power to Grid in Sweden

Fountain Pens / Writing.
Notebook Stories: Bauhaus Moleskine at MoMA
Notebook Stories: Review: Doane Paper Notebooks
Putting That Ink and Pen to Good Use

Computers.
Free Wi-Fi? Great! Here's How to Keep Your Data Safe
How powerful was the Apollo 11 computer?
New Jaguar Supercomputer Outruns IBM's Roadrunner as World's Fastest
Strip All the Clutter From Your Gmail Page

Liberty.
Beyond Parody - Cato @ Liberty

Watches.
Suunto Core Extreme Limited Edition - Uncrate
Rolex Daytona Series 2 and 3 by Project X Designs
Zenith El Primero Poker Chip Face: One of the First Automatic Chronos With A Colorful Design
1st photos of the elusive Quai de l'Ile Tantalum/Palladium

Cars.
All-Electric Peugout BB1 is Part Scooter, Part Car
Hyundai's First Direct-Injection 4-Cyl Engine Unveiled, Replaces V6 in Next Sonata

Education.
Ford Gives Money to Teachers Unions - WSJ.com
Government Schools Are Bad for Your Kids

Signs of The Time.
Dawn of the Dead Mall: Change Observer

Gadgets.
Polaris Rush - Uncrate
Droid Autofocus Fix Now Available: Clean The Lens
Doctors Equip Yorkshire Man With Cyborg Sphincter
Hackers Mod, Overclock and Reprogram Their Calculators
CyberBank Personal ATM
10 Programs You Should Add To Your New Android Mobile Phone

History.
Hitler's Hidden City - National Geographic Channel

Misc.
Scooby Doo Apocalypse tee - Boing Boing
Top 5 Best Drive In Movie Theaters
DeConstruction Preview: 36,000 SF Modern Home on Lake Minnetonka

Are Free Markets To Blame For Healthcare Woes

2009-11-18T06:06:00.002-05:00

Not sure which is worse, or more dangerous. The author (Joesph B. Steinman) posits that the problems with the healthcare market and recent financial turmoil are due to free markets. To claim that the market here is "unencumbered," one must be either wholly ignorant of the subject, or perhaps somewhat less than perfectly truthful. I see no third option.

Private enterprise: Far from a perfect system - Jacksonville.com: "Many letter writers have complained bitterly about the heavy hand of the Obama administration as it interferes in the private markets, puts forth more tax and spend initiatives and moves the country towards socialism. Perhaps they are right. Just look at the wonderful job that the financial services sector has done, with little government interference, in providing the people of our fine country with stable, low-cost, dependable credit and helping to underpin healthy growth in our housing sector, in particular, and the economy in general. Consider also, our world-class, cost-effective and affordable health care system; courtesy, once again, of a mostly unencumbered private sector."

I'm very glad Dr. Boudreaux responded:
I Must Have Slept Through the Just-Concluded Era of Laissez Faire: "For example, it’s untrue that health-care in the U.S. is supplied by “a mostly unencumbered private sector.” Medicare, now with an annual budget of $523.6 billion, accounts for nearly one in every four dollars spent on health-care in America. Other interventions include regulations that restrict consumers’ ability to shop for health-care insurance across state lines; legislatively imposed requirements specifying which conditions insurers must cover; licensing requirements for physicians, dentists, and nurses – requirements that artificially reduce the supply of these health-care providers; and the necessity of securing F.D.A. approval for all new drugs and medical devices."