Are You Tired of Winning Yet?

I don't have the numbers to back this up but I've heard that the United States is now outproducing Saudi Arabia and Russia in oil and gas. Well, now drillers have found another big deposit. Are you tired of winning yet?

Men Never Ask for Directions

So, where are we on this chart?

As of this writing, the US stock markets are undergoing a correction (-10.3% off their recent high). If you're a fan of the markets, I'd like to ask this question. Look at this chart and answer this question: Are we in the Bull Trap over have we gone through Despair and are at Return to the Mean?

My answer is, "I don't know". I think markets are peaking when un-involved people in my orbit start talking about them and I'll use 2006-2007 real estate markets as an example. Many people were talking about flipping houses as a sure-fire way to riches. Oops.

So, again, where are we?

Oops!

Here's a fact that is new to me: wind farms have a useful life span of 20 years (more or less). The picture is of a wind farm being decommissioned in Wisconsin. Other energy sources have longer life spans like 50 years for a natural gas power plant or 60 years for a nuclear plant.

You didn't ask but I have a background in finance and capital allocation for corporations. The accounting rules say an asset is depreciated over it's useful life like 20, 50, or 60 years. The monthly depreciated cost is the division of the item's cost by the useful life. So what? Power sources should be depreciated over their useful life. U.S. government practice seems to be to depreciate them all at 30 years and this makes wind look cheaper than it really is and gas and nuclear more expensive.

Check out this article at PowerLine for details. It has a link for even more information.

Are They Kissing Cousins?

I say yes.

Bradley J. Berzer at The American Conservative has some interesting background of the compare and contrast variety on Nazi-ism, Fascism, and Communism. He agrees with me (I was there first!) that Fascism and Communism are two sides of the same coin although he uses the term Kissing Cousins.

Nazi-ism focused on the national (National Socialist) while Communism focused on the international (Comintern). Both were virulently anti-Capitalist. There are many, many other examples but for the moment I'll stick with the Soviet-Nazi nonaggression pact that led to the willful co-invasion of Poland in 1939.

Take a look here for a pretty good synopsis.

Let's Be Classy

Here's an interesting article at The American Thinker about classism and modern feminism.

The author, Katie El-Diwany, asks an interesting question. When I hear women speak of wanting to succeed they are talking about professions like engineering, medicine, or law. Why do I not hear them speak of being the world's best plumber or electrician? I'm just asking.

Where's My Copy?

A quick essay by Robert Higgs at The Foundation for Economic Education asks the interesting question, Do We Really Consent to Be Governed? 

The line that caught my attention is "I haven’t even seen the contract, much less been asked to consent to it." Come to think of it, neither have I.

The Great Divide

Or should I say, The Great Dividing. The parties are drifting apart as if they are continental plates.

I guess you can Google the survey (Poole and Rosenthal) if you want the data behind this but I find it very interesting and also bias confirming. Over time, Democrats are turning more to the left and Replublicans more to the right.

By George!

Political Correctness is Fascism pretending to be manners.
     George Carlin

Who Knew We Were So Good?

I'll let this article speak for itself but I was a little surprised to learn the size of these GDP gaps. Apparently, most of the states of the United States are more productive than the nations of the rest of the world. Even the poorest American state of Mississippi outranks Italy and South Korea for per capita economic activity. (Click on this link to see the full article.)

Note that GDP = Gross Domestic Product which (when split per capita) is the economic output of each individual of the countries listed.

The Second Word is Socialist

I started watching the YouTube videos of a history blogger who goes by the name TIK (sorry, I don't know his real name) because he's an excellent source of historical facts about the Second World War and, more specifically, the Eastern Front.

I'll partake in a bit of bias-confirmation and link to a video he posted today which dives into the depths about why the second word of National Socialist Workers Party (aka NAZI) is socialist.

Check it out.

Marxists, Marxists Everywhere!

Communism was (and may still be) one of the great evils to afflict humanity. I don't have the numbers handy but Stalin's and Mao's murders surpass Hitler's by an order of magnitude. The Holodomor alone (Stalin's induced famine in Ukraine in 1932-33) was a great evil that killed some 2 million innocent people.

Every American civilian knows the Hitler story but few understand the scope of the perfidy of Stalin and Mao (and the lesser players  like Pol Pot and Castro). Well, here's a little article on Seven Great Marxist Leaders that may help enlighten people.

Harrison Bergeron Call Your Office

What is the end state of egalitarianism? Back in 1961 Kurt Vonnegut wrote a prescient short story called Harrison Bergeron in his book Welcome to the Monkey House. In the book, all citizens are forced to be equal by the state. I recommend finding and reading the short story.

Now transgender athletes are competing across the sexes with predictable results.

I wonder how this will unfold?

It's Spooky In Here

I am not a physicist but I am curious. Years ago I learned of Einstein's Spooky Action at a Distance, the quantum entanglement of particle charges of a (theoretically) infinite distance.

It seems researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia has successfully demonstrated quantum entanglement at a 15 micrometer distance (check the link). Can StarTrek transporters be far behind? (Actually, they can but it's fun to ask the question.)

What's On The Other Side of the Peak?

The concept of Peak Oil may be a forerunner of the concept of Global Warming. In that, I mean Peak Oil is a dead concept even though it was on everyone's lips on 2007-08. Check out this interesting article at American Thinker.

Look What I Found!

It seems I'm fixated on the practical definitions of capitalism, socialism, fascism, and communism. Well, I found this chart which makes excellent points about the distribution of beliefs between and among the systems. It makes a handy quick reference.

So You Think Donald's a Fascist.

The modern misconception of Fascism still amazes me. I was looking through some old paperwork and ran across an article from 2002 call The Mystery of Fascism that does a pretty good job of explaining things.

A quick post is no way to get into the weeds. The article does that but prepare to spend some time with it; it's a complicated topic.

I'll just say this: Fascism is not modern western political conservatism. It is (was) anti-capitalist, it was extremely nationalistic, and every aspect of life was to serve the state.

Batteries are the Future!

And, of course my tongue is in my cheek. Check out this article at SeekingAlpha on the cost-to-operate of an electric car. The Tesla costs more than an equivalent hybrid, the driving range is considerably less, the charging (refueling time) is considerably longer and every 10 years you have to replace a $10,000 battery.

Tesla's sure are pretty but I think gasoline cars will be around for a while.

Second Verse --- Same as the First

I'll keep saying it until people believe it. This is how you stop wars in the Mideast over oil.

Corruption and Success

This thought is a paraphrase of things I've heard recently and rang true the moment I heard them.

What is the key difference between the economic success of the democratic nations (USA, UK, Hong Kong, Malaysia, etc.) and what we call the third world (say The Congo, Venezuela, etc.)? Corruption.

Regardless of political structures, successful nations have relatively less corruption in public life. Less corruption encourages greater citizen faith in institutions and support for the civil structures.  This, in turn, allows the citizen to commit more to the individual and community success because she or he can be (reasonably) assured that efforts will be rewarded instead of shunted off to a well-connected rent seeker.

What Will We Do With Peace?

The world is always a dangerous place but it is the most peaceful and least warlike in my lifetime.  (I'll get the numbers to back that up if anyone posts a comment doubting me.)

The question that just popped into my mind is, what will we do with peace? The history of humanity is one of war, preparation for war, and sometimes the pursuit of peace.

Our societies are organized around war. We have a lot of experience with major war. What shall we do with major peace?

Exactly What is a Fascist?

Quick! Who is the father of Fascism - the man who named the political philosophy?

• Joseph Stalin
• Adolf Hitler
• Benito Mussolini

Actually, it's a trick question. If you do know the answer, leave a comment because I'd love to have a chat with you. I'll bet one person in five can answer the question.

The other question is, what really is Fascism and how is it different from Communism? My entire life, the popular press has equated Fascism with right-wing and right-wing with American conservatism. Well, I'm sorry to say, this is wrong and is close to a slur. 

There's a reason the second word of NAZI is Socialist. Check out this link for a good compare-and-contrast.

Do Not Pass Go!

I'm going to bet that only five percent of Americans have a practical knowledge of World War II. (My own, beloved, daughter could not place the American Civil War in the correct decade of the 19th Century.) If you fall in the 95 percent, here is your chance to see a real, vivid, honest look at a key point in world history.

Go see Darkest Hour, now. Some of its facts are flawed but it is an excellent portrayal of one of the great persons in history.

If, by the time you read this, it's out of theaters, then find it and stream it. Do not hesitate, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Go.

Remember to Pull the Ripcord!

This article at CIO.com says there are nine lies that CIOs tell themselves. (My cynical response is, "only nine?".) Here's my favorite that I wish I'd obeyed more than once, "they start a job search before the project tanks their reputation".

There are eight more and well worth a look.