Brian Caplan muses on nerd identity and offers as his claim to the acme of nerdness, his response to the question: “What is the geekiest thing about you”.
“I am the Dungeon Master for an all-economists’ Dungeons and Dragons game.”
Oliver Kamm makes a point about fringe political parties which applies similarly to those who propound certain, er, niche viewpoints.
Fringe political parties almost invariably claim that they are disadvantaged by a lack of coverage in the press and broadcasting media. The truth is the opposite: they typically gain from the fact that few people will bother to correct their more extravagant claims
Reports this morning suggesting that Vieira has agreed to sign for Real Madrid seem to be premature. Every single one of them quote the Spanish magazine Marca, known for such previous “scoops” as “Destination: Rooney“. So, I checked Marca’s website and lo, there is Emilio Butragueno denying that any agreement has been reached. I’m still hopeful that the Gunners are stripped of their captain and the heartbeat of their side, but best not to count those chickens just yet.
Update: More on this from the BBC.
Abiola has a series of great posts on Anarcho-Capitalism.
I mostly agree with him, although I would have a subtly different emphasis. For me, the proper objection to Anarcho-capitalism is not that so much that it is absolutely unworkable - it is certainly “workable” as contemporary Somalia shows but at some considerable “cost” - but that Anarcho-capitalists are either deluded, dishonest or, being charitable, disingenuous in the claims they make, specifically about Anarcho-Capitalism providing the conditions for peace, prosperity and, yes, individual freedom.
I must concur with Abiola as to why it is important for those of us of libertarian inclination to make these points:
Anarcho-capitalists help to deligitimize libertarianism as a whole, by providing an easy target in the same manner that hard-left types do for advocates of social democracy. Whether or not one thinks it fair, it is a fact of life that one is judged by the company one keeps, and marching in lockstep with fools and lunatics is a pretty good way to get oneself branded a fool and a lunatic as well.
Iain Banks, in his execrable novel Dead Air, complained that poor old Guardian-reading Lefties got a raw deal, they are just nice people trying to make the world better and didn’t deserve the opprobrium frequently directed at them.
Well, I now have conclusive proof that they’re not so nice!
Looks like one beneficiary of Mugabe’s disastrous “land reform” policy will be the Nigerian state of Kwara. Zimbabwean farmers have been invited to bring their business and help develop that country’s agricultural sector, neglected since the discover of oil in the 1960s. The expertise of these farmers and the myriad spinoffs from a successful agricultural economy should benefit all.
It’s official: Government makes you sick. Dr. Eamonn Butler notes that the “superbug” MRSA, which apparently kills 100 people every week (according to the NHS’ own conservative estimate), is a feature of state hospitals only and doesn’t exist in private hospitals.
…Consumer boycotts won’t work!
Q: Why am I intensely relaxed about this prospect?
A: Perhaps because it is the ‘other’ Madrid and the ‘other’ striker.
Not remotely likely, but I do agree with united rant that Patrik Vieira “looks bloody good in the red of United, doesn’t he?”
