[tim worstall] entrepeneur, free marketeer and blogfather

There are those who would say that it takes an economist to adequately assess a fellow economist and for any assessment to carry weight, the writer should have at least a nodding acquaintance with the Duhem-Quine thesis and the theory of volatility. There are those who would say that it is more refreshing and less incestuous to write from the sidelines and in my case, there’s no choice. We all have our rails we run on and to carry the analogy further, those rails often lead in diverse directions. They might even put us into adversarial positions … Follow this link to read this article on Tim Worstall.

[in brief] thought for the day

All tragedies are ended by a death; all comedies are ended by a marriage; the future states of both are left to faith. [1824?]

[letter from novosibirsk] tales from the former soviet union

Just looked out of my eighth floor balcony window and can’t make out what they’re doing across the road. I’m on what was once a relatively quiet street but is now a six lane highway, replete with median strip; and opposite used to be a carpark which has always fascinated. For two years I used to wake up in the early morning, golden sun streaming through and highlighting the golden parquet floor and cars could be seen, over the way, doing strange things. There’d be seven or eight of ‘em and they’d trace their way along the edges of the park, then turn in perfect synchronicity and make geometric progressions to different points on the chart, then turn about on themselves and retrace their steps. Sheer ballet in metal, affording hours of intrigue, if you’d been so inclined. The answer took a long time coming.

[iraq] secret report states the bleedin' obvious

The Bush administration has released portions of a classified intelligence estimate Tuesday that says the global jihadist movement is growing and being fueled by the war in Iraq, even as it becomes more decentralized, making it harder to identify potential ... That's as far as I got 'cause there were better things to do. There's nothing smug in seeing the global nastiness unfold according to a blueprint even Churchill and Wilson predicted. It's nothing to do with me and my kooky ideas. The 4th player has even written the blueprint for those who would read it. The good news, on the other hand, is that the morning is sunny out there today and breakfast was tasty.

[pc gone mad again] are you one of those wicked ageists

Interesting twist in Australia where PC gone mad actually benefits the middle-aged like yours truly [don’t forget I’m 90 according to my blog profile] but I want none on’t. Ageism laws come into force on October 1st. Heaven help us. The Employers Forum on Age survey of 1,000 people aged over 16 found 61% of respondents knew of cases of what they considered to be ageist behaviour where they worked. What utter balderdash. People being asked to identify wicked ageists, newspapers running full ageist-hunts plus obligatory ‘vote here’ boxes. This is a perfect, absolutely perfect example of woolly-headed do-gooder terrorists wreaking havoc. What utter … sorry, have to stop. Where's my pace-maker?

[russia & iran] launch date of nuclear power plant agreed

Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday that the two sides have signed a protocol that has set September 2007 as the Bushehr nuclear power plant start date and have scheduled the delivery of nuclear fuel to Iran for March 2007. The agreement came after talks in Moscow between Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency and Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. [