Les 2.0

The Nevada v Boise St. game was one for the ages, especially if the ages were coached by Les Miles. Nevada did all they could do to out-coach themselves yet still managed to pull off the victory. They started with an extremely porous defense after they tied the game at 24. Then, they mismanage the clock on their final drive and almost run themselves out of time. After converting the TD with 13 seconds to play, Nevada kicks short (almost always a bad move) and Boise has the ball on their own 37 with 9 secs to play. Of course, Nevada gives up a 55 yard pass play setting up the chip shot field goal with 1 second left.

This is where Les would have been proud. Due to the outstanding coaching (and voodoo) from Nevada, Boise misses the chip shot field goal and the game goes to overtime. In OT, after dropping an interception, Nevada forces a FG attempt from Boise which they once again yak setting up Nevada for the victory.

And with that, Les prob had a smile… and a tall one.

Big Wally Style

Bright eyes stare down the powerful elite of Augusta.

Unreal Golf Digest article on the man, the myth, the legend, William Hatcher, sticking it to the fine people of Augusta National.

Tommy is at it again

Really good line from Thomas Sowell in his new book, Intellectuals and Society,

“Why the transfer of decisions from those with personal experience and a stake in the outcome to those with neither can be expected to lead to better decisions is a question seldom asked, much less answered.”

H/T Cafe Hayek

We Want Gravy

After watching the Fenwick Arms and their legendary Yorkshire puddings and gravy, the missus and I had ourselves a proper British roast. Right.

Mandatory Fairness

“It is logically impossible to have a game in which both the actions of the players and the final score can be subject to rules of fairness.”

From Benn Steil’s and Manuel Hinds’s Money, Markets & Sovereignty

via  Cafe Hayek

Big Babe Tennis

The Gorillo strikes again.

more about “Big Babe Tennis“, posted with vodpod

Changing the Weather

We think back to people dancing around a fire doing a “rain dance” in hopes that it will bring rain. Somehow, it is easy for everyone today to see the stupidity in that, but most see nothing wrong with tossing away billions an billions of dollars in present times to basically “change the weather.” Increased stupidity, such as this, does not help the argument for human evolution.

We might as well throw all that money in the fire and start doing the dance, as the effects will be the same and at least we could roast marshmallows.

Embracing Ignorance

A timeless quote from Murray Rothbard,

“It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.”

This reminds me of the present day thinker phd who wisely said

“It’s difficult to have a battle of wits when your opponent refuses to arm himself.

Well said, Skip. Well said.

Public Servants??

Sleazy politicians (generalizing, and redundant) love to think of themselves as public servants. Are they serving the public by threatening to recoup earned income from individuals, or by scaring a constituent who may have the audacity to have a differing opinion on government bailouts?

I read this letter at the Cafe which was sent from humble servants to one of their lords.

Keynesian Ignorance

As a believer in free-market economics, I am often amazed that one of John Maynard Keynes most enduring lines is “in the long run, we’re all dead,” referencing the need for government interaction even though in the long run it may be destructive.

This logic applied to almost any day-to-day decision would be ridiculed and seem to come from an elementary student (literally, an elementary student – grades kindergarten through fifth).

- Why should a child brush his teeth?? Think of all that time he/she could spend watching cartoons which would produce much more utility.

- Why should a high school student finish high-school?? If he dropped out, lived at home, and saved his paychecks like crazy, he could accumulate perhaps $50,000 in savings during that time. Surely, it would take over a decade to even break even and who knows if he will live to thirty.

Maybe the best question would be why on earth would anyone pre-plan for one’s own death buy sorting out funeral arrangements, having life insurance, or even making a will.? After all, even in the case that one needs those things, one is already dead so who cares, right?

I read an article today from Veronique de Rugy at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University which deals with future effects from budget deficits. Her last sentence, in my opinion,  flattens Keynes with some simple logic about that ole’ long run.

John Maynard Keynes, the 20th century’s preeminent defender of deficit spending, famously quipped, “In the long run, we are all dead.” Keynes did not give much guidance, though, on how we would pay for the funeral.

Ya’ know, deficits, like all things, do have long-ranging consequences – yes , John, even after we’re dead.

Raise a glass to JMK, a great thinker, an Englishman, but unfortunately for him, also shown to be dead wrong.