Don't Let Michael Moore confuse you.

Ok, guys and gals. Let's think for a moment about Michael Moore's new movie Capitalism: A Love Story in the context of.... reality.

Capitalism. Economic system in which most trade and industry are privately controlled with profit as a motive for producing goods and services. This idea requires the product to be a good one, or people won't buy your shit, and you won't make your profit. (very simplified, and leaves out an important factor, which is monopoly regulation. The answer to monopoly regulation is not an entirely easy one, but we should definitely not cop out and hand the monopoly control over to the gov't. That has proven to be ineffective.) Capitalism sounds like a damn good idea to me based on that. And hey, wait! What if I can get gov't officials in my pocket and have them pass legislation in the favor of my corporation or industry? (such as lax pollution standards for power production facilities or subsidies for oil companies or LACK of regulation of complex and inherently volatile and RISKY financial instruments that should be either outlawed or highly overseen.) Wait, once that happens, it is no longer capitalism, is it?!
Therein lies the flaw of the premise of Moore's new movie and most of the comments against capitalism I hear all the time. We don't have capitalism, people. It is not socialism either. Things are just not as easy as they need to be for everyone with limited time on their hands to understand.

Micahel, don't rail against capitalism until you know what it is, and whether or not it really is the problem here. Capitalism does not equal zero regulation and industries running amok to achieve monopolies and total control of the populace or their buying decisions. Come on. I'll definitely be sending Moore a letter and some educational materials. He needs em.

I encourage everyone to send emails, letters, and whatever you can to Michael Moore to educate him and hopefully change his mind here. This movie is going to be against what I think a lot of us believe in, big time. And if I know anything, I know that Americans believe anything they see in a movie. Not good.

Take care, everyone. The state of the union is perilous.

And they said Zeitgeist was just another conspiracy theory...

Time for 'new world order': Brazilian President

Time for 'new world order': Brazilian President

Jun 17 11:45 AM US/Eastern The global financial crisis has reduced the differences between nations and created the opportunity to form a new world order, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday. Speaking after a meeting with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Kazakh capital Astana, Lula called on the global community to seize on the crisis to create a fairer world for developing nations. "I want to say that before the crisis, there were many countries which had greater significance than others, and some countries which had no significance at all," he said through a translator. "After the crisis, everyone has become similar. We have the possibility to create a new world order and together we should improve our relations." Lula arrived in Kazakhstan Wednesday following the first-ever summit between fellow developing economic powerhouses Russia, India and China -- together with Brazil dubbed the BRIC nations -- in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. Nazarbayev, head of Central Asia's largest economy, is keen to secure a larger role for his government in world affairs. Following up on Lula's call, the pair said in a statement following their meeting that the United Nations should open up the UN Security Council to developing nations in an effort to bolster global security. They said that opening the organisation, which only has five permanent members, to wider membership was the only way to make the often-criticised body "more legitimate and effective." breitbart.com

Rallies all over world for Iran Election: DC June 17 6-8PM

There are rallies in the early stages of development right now to support and enlighten regarding Iran election/revolution. This is getting big, and could be a major turning point for those in Iran and around the world.
By all accounts, this election was blatantly stolen, and we probably all agree that Ahmadinejad needs to get out. Of course, if this comes with the ousting of the council of ayatollahs as well, all the better.
Either way, these people need our solidarity, and our government needs to know we are serious about this issue, because it is about what it means to be a human being. Iranians are fighting for their voice and their freedom, something we have neglected here at home for a long time, especially in light of the 2004 US election that many think was stolen, as well.

Drive time = 6.5 hrs. Estimated total gas $90 so split it up.

I hope you folks can make it to one of these rallies. DC tomorrow (going), nashville coming up, others sure to come. Watch.
How does everyone feel about this situation? Thoughts on the opposition leader, Mousavi? Possible outcomes to be expected?

Libertarian Classic: The Incredible Bread Machine

Coverage of Iranian election/news

BBC Persian coverage of the election, etc.
There is a huge rally in Tehran that they are covering right now. Some sources saying hundreds of thousands, all businesses closed, police at a loss for response, but starting to turn people away.
Riot police in vehicles, beating people, speaking Arabic. Strange for sure. Some claims of Pakistani police?
I'm watching the BBC Persian site for footage and following the tweets for english-translated highlights of what's on the news.

Leaked results show election results favored Mousavi. Ahmadi in third.

Well, this sucks for all of us.

Is it vote theft? I'm concerned for the well-being of the Iranian people.
English language Twitterers in Iran. Its interesting to read what they are saying. I'm not sure if some of it is planted. What's cool, though, is that they are using Twitter (until it is inevitably cut, too) to share proxy ips so that they can bypass the government imposed filters of youtube, etc. We should take lessons from them, just in case.
Keep it real.

Thanks, congress. Obama can say anything he wants to woo the people, don't matta. And while we roll back our environmental commitment, China launches their Green Energy Revolution. Nice. Also the headline is yet another example of Raw Story crap. I like their converage, but the editing sucks.

Just the guy for the job. Read the comments, too. They're usually interesting to read, if not educational.

In case you're wondering, the US trade deficit continues to widen.

AND FOR THE GOOD NEWS!!!!
Rhode Island backs medical marijuana retailers. About damn time. Another example of garbage legislation. It is obvious at this point to any right-thinking individual that actually knows what they're talking about that mj should be legalized. Period.

Oh oh oh, I just noticed. Lots of interesting stuff today on RS. Peter Schiff considering senate run He's on the daily show, and manages to keep Stewart from throwing him off with the constant joking. (not that that is ever Stewart's intention)

Later

Who just types random stuff in search bars? (esp. when they're drunk) I mean, come on.

So I was typing in search topics in Google Trends, which by the way is a really cool tool/game, and came upon an interesting one.

I personally thought this was funny. And I like the spike towards the end of '05. What could have caused that? Any ideas?
(It doesn't come up with anything if you use the punctuation.)

They need to actually show some numbers on those graphs. A lot less interesting this way, but it's still amazing that you can access this type of info.

Cash for Clunkers, bad idea!

Cash for clunkers
We are freakin' incentivizing unnecessary consumption and putting people into MORE DEBT! That is the problem here!

Obama meets up with financial leaders, surprise.
We are here again distracting from the real issue, which is a fundamentally flawed economy. I posted on RawStory in the comments, saying,"
The article quotes the president talking about building "green jobs" and new forms of energy. Do these two things, as important as they are, (I am a sustainability expert after all) have the impact on the economy as a whole to make the changes we need to make in our money system? If this is so, prove it, please. Because I argue that no, it doesn't. I grant that we need to work HARD for environmental sustainability if we want a rosy future for the world as a whole, but unless a sustainable economic system is not the foundation for it, it will not be enough.

Why did Obama's meeting concentrate mostly on energy policy in a meeting with his top financial advisors? Weren't they supposed to be talking about the broader economic problem? Seems like a little publicity stunt trying to get people behind a New Deal-like big gov't "solution" that will "end our problems once and for all." It is a distraction from the real problem at hand, which our government is perfectly happy to gloss over, because it is to their political benefit to perpetuate the problem, which I think they sometimes don't even really understand. If BO really saw the folly in this spending spree, would he really be doing it? Yea yea, we all know, a politician has gotta spend money on "helping people," "helping the country" if they want to get reelected, which is to their benefit because it keeps their job stable and gives them the opportunity to throw bones to their contributors and possible future employers.
And this idea of America leading into the new green economy is silliness. I agree that we should lead by example in this regard, but again, can we export renewable energy installation? Can we export our infrastructure that is always talked about? Nope.
And isn't the problem today that we have a massive trade deficit that is leading us over a cliff on our mountain of debt? Yes, at its root, that is the case. The more the gov't must borrow to finance the renewable energy or other green jobs sector, the more they exacerbate the real problem this country faces, which is that it doesn't contribute anything of value to the world economy anymore, and must borrow borrow borrow and spend spend spend to maintain the standard of living we so enjoy today. It's fake. This is not partisan politics, it is straight up common sense mixed with a good understanding of reality. And sadly, these unflinching supporters of Obama are behind him again and fervently avoid educated, logical, and relevant discourse.

SuperFed!

Just another piece ofevidence that the US gov't is not listening to it's people. We say "audit the Fed!" they say "empower the Fed!" Who wins?

Theory of Moral Sentiments on EconTalk

I've mentioned EconTalk in the past as being a really good podcast available for free discussing various topics in economics and beyond. I listen to several a week, and always hear things that are very interesting. The guests and the host are smart, insightful, and I feel like I learn a lot listening to these folks. And they are typically proponents of a realfree market, to boot.
Right now, the host and a common guest are doing a reading of Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, a lesser known work by the author of Wealth of Nations. (The book itself is available on the linked site, too, if you want to read along.)

I listened to this first installment, linked to above, more than 2 times. There is a lot to get, and I found this concept of the different sources or dimensions of moral approval to be worth consideration. It's interesting to think about the different people or groups that tend to focus more on one source than another, and how these things tie into larger economic/political ideas. They actually give a disclaimer in the beginning, saying that they're going to be giving this mostly unpolitical book a political reading, which you should bear in mind when listening. I think it's a very legitimate lens to look at the concepts with, though. I am about to turn on part II right now and clean my apartment. You guys should check it out. I know, not everyone wants to sit around and listen to economics lectures when they have free time, haha
I'd like to continue dialog here about this if anyone else finds those discussions interesting.

Nassim Taleb: His website links to a lot of his writings, speeches, etc. Check it out

Keep it real.

This is bound to go viral...

People in North Carolina need to read the story here

Dr. Jeffrey Engel said Monday evening that officials are involuntarily isolating patients who may have the virus. He declined to specifically say how many suspected cases were in the state, noting that the number is always changing, and he declined to say where they were located.

read the story here

Great Job ASU C4L

Just wanted to congratulate you guys on a great first year for our club. I think we made a definite impact on this campus and I hope that we can continue this movement for many years to come. I'll be posting info on here throughout the summer about the YAL progress as it comes. Hope you guys have a great summer and hope to see many of you next year! :-)

Another interview

If anyone is paying attention to this blog anymore, check out this interview with Richard Dawkins that I found today. It's not all about what he says, but what the other folks say is cool, too.

Cool
I hope everyone is well. I am (except for the poison ivy! AH! when does the itching stop?!)
Take care

Looks Like Me and Matt are Internet Stars. :)

Haha.