fringeelements:
http://mises.org/daily/5763/First-Cigarettes-Now-Bacon-and-Eggs
Denmark now has a tax on saturated fats. They’re also putting a tax on food that is actually unhealthy (like cakes and cookies). Apparently there are stories of Danes stocking up of butter and sausages, and talking about going to…
FE makes some good points on state science fads and the tendency to use excessive standardization. I would add the dietary salt scare as another example of politicized science getting it wrong. Governments mandated low-salt or even no-salt foods in many areas, just in time for more systematic studies being released that call into question the much-hyped link between salt and high blood pressure.
The Commons Dilemma Comes To OWS
Apple’s ‘Slide To Unlock’ Patent Clearly Invalid
http://www.androidcentral.com/apple-granted-patent-slide-unlock-even-though-it-existed-2-years-they-invented-it
What’s especially worrisome is that Apple almost certainly knew of this when they filed for their patent, even though this would invalidate their claim later on, as has happened to them in some other countries.
I think suing based on a patent known to be illegitimate should be as much a crime as filing a false police report is. Apple is clearly wrongfully defaming other businesses racking up unnecessary legal expenses for the taxpayer, as they go from one government to the next trying to find a court that won’t throw out their obviously false accusations. If I were to do the same in accusing my neighbor of a crime I know he is innocent of, I would be fined or jailed myself. Surely businesses should be held to the same standard regarding patents.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Surface Water Rights In Alberta
I found the first section of this address very informative, and quite
relevant to today’s discussions on conservation and natural resources.
The history presented mirrors the development of pollution rights in
the United States.
In the 19th century, Canadian law followed a centuries long tradition
of what was largely a free market in water rights. A business or
individual could divert water from a stream without needing
permission, so long as his use did not deprive any downstream users
that came before him of the quantity or quality of water that they had
been using. In this way, rights to unclaimed water resources were
appropriated by their first users, who could transfer that right to
other parties if so desired.
This common law approach came to be an inconvenience for state
planners and large railroad interests, which desired a much greater
expansion of settlements, but were limited by what they saw as the
quaint adherence of the locals to traditional property rights. This
resulted in the passage of the Northwest Irrigation Act, which
declared all surface water to be under control of the crown. All
usage of water beyond subsistence level now required a state license,
granted by a state agency. These licenses were explicitly defined as
not guaranteeing a property right of any sort, and could not be
transferred without the approval of the state, who could deny any sale
or revoke licenses as it saw fit.
Fast forward to the present, with the public policy problem reversed.
Water resources everywhere are used inefficiently, and there is very
little incentive to preserve the quality of water for the next
generation. Now, legislative solutions are being proposed to fix the
problem of overdevelopment and overuse. If the market system of
property rights had been permitted to operate from the beginning,
neither issue would have ever presented itself.
Just recreated a chart from the EFW report for an upcoming video.
Another still frame, this one showing how small differences at the mean can produce huge disparities in representation at the extremes.
Mean IQ by race. Taken from an upcoming video.
I dont fault the poor for accepting government money when it is available to them. But if society in general is going to be subsidizing them, can we at least make sure the money is only paying for the basic necessities?
