Government spending, fiat currency and systemic collapse

Writing from Mexico, analyst Hugo Salinas Price has published two articles that I think express very well the political and economic reality that's looming over us like a tsunami.

In the first, 'The house has burned down', he analyzes Europe's current dilemma and points out that it applies equally to many other countries, including the USA.  Here's an excerpt.

In 1999 the Euro was installed as the single currency for a central group of European nations. The interest rates of the various nations were to be set by “diktat” of the European Central Bank. No nation was to be allowed to have a Fiscal Deficit of more that 3% of GNP.

Thus was set up the orgy of government and private sector borrowing and spending on the part of the hot-blooded nations of Europe, that is to say those that form the “Club Med” of Europe: Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, with the participation of Ireland and even France. Never were seen nor dreamt of in dreams such low interest rates and such easy credit in those nations.

The spending was gigantic. Never was Europe so happy. The governments showered benefits upon the governed. Life was pleasant, free of worries. The good life was assured: modern housing, autos (his and hers), free education for the kids, medical and hospital insurance, generous pensions for early retirement, a monthly check in case of unemployment; in Italy, three months’ vacations. The standard of living in Europe was the wonder of the world.

What nobody saw, was that the Europeans were burning their financial house down while they went on vacations, munched their tasty “hors d’oeuvre” and washed them down with delicious wine ... Europe burnt down its house when its governments and private sectors took cheap credits in gigantic quantities and spent the funds on current expenditures to please the people with benefits and services, on maintaining a bloated bureaucracy in comfort, and on unprofitable investment projects.

. . .

It’s not only the European house that has burnt down. Right here in our own back yard, the US house is on fire and burning brightly; the Americans who live in the US house have still not quite caught on; the people in MSM are doing their best to keep expectations up. But sooner or later the fact will be self-evident. Watch for teepees being set up.

There's more at the link.

In the second article, 'Reflections on the effects of War as compared to the effects of Fiat Money', he claims that fiat currency has been as devastating as armed conflict to the world's economies.

Cheap goods from the under-developed countries began to flood the economies of the developed countries, with insufficient compensating purchases of goods on the part of the under-developed countries. Industries began to move out of the developed countries and into the under-developed countries which enjoyed burgeoning export sales.

De-industrialization of the West set in under globalization, which was constantly extolled as the new, modern and progressive structure of the world’s economy. Old industrial buildings were transformed into structures harboring cafés, restaurants and art shops.

The de-industrialization was masked with credit expansion facilitating consumption, not production, which was un-economic under the globalization scheme. Stagnant or falling wage earnings were supplemented with easy credit for the masses.

This all happened because the money the world has been using since 1971 is fiat money, not real money. But still, at this date, you hear very few voices recognizing this fundamental fact.

Modern war means destruction and death for masses of people. When WW II was over, the destruction began to heal. The cities were rebuilt, the survivors went back to what they had been doing when the war broke out: they returned to earning their livings with work, doing what they knew how to do. Normality returned, generally speaking.

But consider the effect of fiat money on the whole world.

The whole productive structure of the world has been overthrown. The factories that have vanished in the developed nations cannot be rebuilt. Globalization makes them un-economic.

The apparent prosperity of the developed nations of the world today has been sustained by credit expansion, not by savings. The West has been living like an heir to a great fortune, wasting away its inheritance. It is now bankrupt. The continuance of a whole way of life is now in danger of collapse, because it is becoming impossible to expand credit any further.

Again, more at the link.

One must acknowledge that Mr. Price is writing for a Web site whose very name, the Spanish word 'plata', means 'silver' in English.  It's clearly in his own commercial interests to promote the importance of precious metals as an investment counterweight to the perceived 'evils' of fiat currency.  However, even making allowance for that 'professional bias', I can't find much with which to disagree in his analysis, even though it may be a bit 'over the top' in places.  I think he's got the fundamentals right.

What say you, readers?

Peter

Around the blogs

Let's begin with my friend Oleg Volk.  A few weeks ago he wrote an interesting blog essay titled 'The mis-directed fetish of marksmanship', in which he examined the widely-held myth that marksmanship in and of itself can serve as the foundation for an effective militia or guerrilla organization.  It can't, of course, as any student of military history, strategy and tactics will readily attest.  (He's just followed that article with another, 'The Preferred Role of Guns in the Political Process', suggesting that their existence helps to keep the ballot box in play, rather than resorting to the cartridge box.  Those of us who've experienced prolonged, violent civil unrest will confirm that the first sort of box is greatly preferable to the second!)

His first article has led to many analyses and responses around the Internet - a quick search will bring up many of them.  I've been particularly interested in those posted by the author of the American Mercenary blog.  He's written no less than five (so far).  In sequence, they are:

1. Marksmanship Matters
2. Marksmanship Matters, the big picture
3. 20 Million Deer hunters, guardians of freedom?
4. Deer Hunters and Mao
5. How much Organization?

All are interesting and thought-provoking expansions on Oleg's theme.  Having had extensive exposure to insurgency and counter-insurgency warfare, I can attest from experience that many of the author's points are entirely valid.  These and other articles at American Mercenary lead me to believe that the author has also 'been there and done that'.  Recommended.

# # #

Firehand brings us two posts mentioning his son's dog's encounter with a skunk - terminal for the latter, and fragrant (?) for the family dwelling!  They reminded me of my own article about 'How (not) to hunt the skunk', published here on only my third day of blogging back in 2008.  The memory of that incident still makes me giggle!

# # #

Hurricane Sandy has given rise to many articles in the blogosphere (including here).  Among those I found interesting were:

• Karl Denninger - To Whiners On Response To Sandy: STFU
• 357 Magnum - One More Time For Emphasis: In a Disaster You Are On Your Own for 3 Days
• Revdisk - Disaster Recovery planning (a professional field in which I worked for some years)

All make interesting reading.

# # #

Bearing in mind next week's elections, Robb Allen waxes lyrical about a 'Primate Based Home & Life Management System'.  Here's an excerpt.

Now the first chimp I had was excellent at security. His poo flinging skills were, bar none, the best; nobody would dare step foot onto my yard.  However, when it came to my medical care, this chimp made some seriously poor choices, not to mention my financial situation was not in the best shape it could be, plus I noticed the strict diet of bananas and ticks had made me soft around the middle.

Like millions of other Americans, I decided to take control of the situation and when my 4 year contract with this chimp was up, decided to get another chimp to do the work (unfortunately, due to contractual obligations, I still have to pay for Chimp A’s retirement).

There's more at the link.  Amusing and topical.

Also of interest in this election season, Charles Hugh Smith points out that most efforts at reforming a dysfunctional political and/or economic system trigger lead, not to its reform, but to its collapse.

The dream of every conventional reform movement is to rid the system of its dysfunctional features while preserving the Status Quo.

But what the reformers don't understand is that the Status Quo is dysfunctional not because of bad policies or a few corrupt officials--it is corrupt and dysfunctional from the ground up.

Dismantle the dysfunctional parts and you've dismantled the entire Status Quo.

This is why it is so difficult for countries to reform their dysfunctional regimes.

. . .

Doesn't this apply not just to China but to Greece, Spain, Italy, the E.U. itself, the U.S., Japan and a host of other developed nations all depending on financial slight-of-hand "extend and pretend" to prop up the dysfunctional Status Quo?

Again, more at the link.  The whole article is well worth reading.

# # #

The Adaptive Curmudgeon waxes lyrical about TV writers.  A sample:

Many years ago the media was atwitter about a strike of TV writers.  I remember joking that it’s like the neighbor’s dog formally announcing it will henceforth no longer crap on your doorstep without a cost of living increase.

# # #

David McElroy describes an uncomfortable encounter with a strange, but very interesting man, which provided him with much food for thought.  His article did the same for me.  Recommended reading.

# # #

Here's a 'blast from the past' - The Art Of Manliness reminds us of an article in Harper's Magazine dating back to 1933, titled 'What the Young Man Should Know'.  I can remember my father teaching me quite a lot of those lessons, or their British or Colonial equivalents.  I don't think most young men today have benefited from them . . . more's the pity, IMHO!

# # #

Theo Spark brings us 'The Gospel According to St. Titleist'.  A couple of sample 'biblical texts':

• Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child. Just how childlike golf players become is proven by their frequent inability to count past five. John Updike
• If profanity had any influence on the flight of the ball, the game of golf would be played far better than it is. Horace G. Hutchinson
• They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that. Gardner Dickinson

There are more at the link.  I still say a golf course is an unconscionable waste of a perfectly good rifle range, so you can guess where my sympathies lie!

# # #

Finally, Cafe Hayek links to what its reviewer describes as 'the best essay on health care, ever'.  The linked article is 25 pages long, in .PDF format, but for those interested in the field it's well worth reading.  I didn't agree with all the author's points, but he gave me a great deal of food for thought.


That's all for this week.  More links soon!

Peter

Attacked by a grizzly!

Well . . . sort of.

Peter

The post-Sandy whining is starting to annoy me

I'm finding the post-Superstorm-Sandy angst more and more irritating.  Here are some samples of news reports from just one source (click each headline for more information).


Feeling Forgotten After The Storm

In Staten Island, Yonkers and Bridgeport, Conn. officials lashed out at power companies for responses they called slow and inadequate. And in Coney Island, residents roamed the streets, looking for help and wondering if they had been forgotten.

As millions remained without power for the fourth straight day, tempers began to fray. A growing number of neighborhoods expressed fears that somehow in the massive recovery effort, they had been left behind—even as their supplies dwindled and temperatures dropped.

I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous!  With over 60 million people affected by this storm, which subsided less than four days ago, how the hell do officials expect power companies to respond any faster?  The USAF is flying in power trucks and personnel from as far away as California to help out.  It's not that they're not doing enough - it's that they can't possibly do more!  The same goes for other forms of assistance.  The government doesn't exist to look after you at all times.  If you want more of that, try joining the military, or going to jail.  You get three hots and a cot, most of the time - but not always, and only in exchange for a significant loss of personal liberty.  The latter is the price you pay for the former.

It's going to take weeks, possibly months, to deal with all the damage left by the storm.  Come on, New Yorkers - suck it up, live with it, and get on with what you can do right now to help yourselves.  As President Theodore Roosevelt (himself a New Yorker) famously urged, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are".  I don't think he'd be impressed if he could see you now.


A Grim Fear Engulfs Areas Lacking Light

With floodlights, police patrols and power outlets, authorities in and around New York sought to deter looters and calm nerves in swaths of the region where the lights remained off.

In many places, they succeeded, catching would-be looters and reassuring residents. In others, they failed.

At least 41 people have been arrested in Brooklyn and Queens on looting charges, police said. Some were caught taking food, while others are accused of stealing items such as alcohol and electronics.

. . .

Still, fear and rumors swirled in darkened neighborhoods, including lower Manhattan. Residents worried about thieves posing as officials to get into apartments complexes. Lawmakers voiced concern about those preying on vulnerable, disaster-stricken homeowners.

Too bad, New Yorkers.  You've permitted your city government to restrict your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for decades - in fact, for over a century.  This is the result.  Your criminals have guns, because they don't care about obeying the law in the first place!  If they're prepared to break laws against theft, assault, drug-dealing, murder, etc., what makes you think they'll obey those prohibiting them from possessing firearms?  All you've done by accepting such laws is to disarm yourselves, the law-abiding citizens of the city - and that makes you prey for the (armed) predators among you.

Even owning (let alone carrying) a handgun in New York City involves jumping through so many bureaucratic hoops that it's effectively impossible unless you know (and/or bribe) 'the right people'.  For those who conquer the somewhat lesser bureaucratic obstacles to owning a long gun (i.e. a rifle or shotgun), they at least have available an effective means of home defense (although they're not allowed to carry it with them outside their homes, or in their vehicles).  However, if they use it,  even in legitimate self-defense, they're very likely to be arrested and charged with a crime, because the New York City prosecutorial system is set up to presume that a shooter is, by default, a criminal.  Only those in NYPD uniform are given the benefit of the doubt.

I wouldn't live under a system like that if you paid me . . . but if you've chosen to do so, the consequences are on your own head.  This outbreak of crime is one of them.


Scramble for Cash In Sandy's Wake

Banks hustled to make cash available as persistent power outages in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania from superstorm Sandy kept hundreds of ATMs offline just as the same woes left many businesses demanding cash payments.

. . .

In some areas, it was hard for banks to keep up, as people seemed to be withdrawing more cash than usual.

A Chase ATM housed in a Duane Reade pharmacy in Brooklyn, N.Y., ran out of cash at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to store manager Elizabeth Almonte, who described the lines for the machine since the storm as "insane."

On a typical day, she said, there are generally about four people waiting in line for the ATM. Sunday, she said, lines snaked across the pharmacy and out the doors. She said Chase had said it would put more money in the ATM on Monday but by midday Thursday she hadn't heard from the bank. Customers "understood but were annoyed," she said.

. . .

The demands for cash post-Sandy have come from customers who have fewer withdrawal options thanks to power outages and storm damage, and businesses that are accepting cash only due to communications woes that leave them unable to accept credit and debit cards.

We experienced the same thing after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.  I warned then (and ever since), and many others have warned, of the need to keep a 'nest egg' of cash on hand, available for emergencies like this . . . but too many people either didn't or wouldn't listen.  The result is financial gridlock as everyone discovers at the same time that their bank and credit cards won't work without power, and that banks are unwilling to cash checks if they can't electronically verify that the balance in your account is sufficient to cover the sum you want.

The same goes for keeping basic emergency supplies at home.  Those who've been following my series of articles on emergency preparation (see the list in the sidebar) know that I'm not a manic doomsday prepper.  I've written all of them as encouragement to keep on hand a basic, thirty-day stock of essential supplies, including cash for emergencies, food, a means to prepare it, fuel for cooking and your car(s) (and a generator if you have one), medication, etc.  If you've achieved that level of preparedness, or close to it, you'd most likely be sitting pretty right now in almost any of the areas affected by Sandy.  Unless your home had been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable (which has happened to less than one per cent of the buildings affected), you'd have food, light, and all the essentials you need.  It's pretty clear that by the time your supplies ran out, most of the essential services would have been restored.




I suppose the most frustrating thing for me is to read all the appeals for 'the government' - be it federal, state or local - to 'do something'.  They are doing something - they're doing everything possible - but that's simply not enough to cover all sixty-million-odd victims affected by the storm.  If our various governments and their agencies had stockpiled sufficient supplies, and hired and trained enough workers, to cater for every need in a situation like this, they'd have absorbed most of our economy, leaving nothing over to live on!  As President Gerald Ford put it, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have".  I will not live under such a government.  Neither, I trust, will anyone who has any love for liberty, personal responsibility and human and constitutional rights.

If people have been so deaf to entreaty and blind to reality that they've ignored suggestions about emergency preparation from government agencies (federal, state and local), and from people like me who've been through disasters of one sort or another, they're just going to have to suck it up and live with it.  I'm not going to waste any sympathy on them unless they were too poor to afford any preparations at all - and there are vanishingly few such people in the USA today.  Even most of the homeless are better prepared than that!  Just visit one of their camps, and you'll see what I mean.

Finally, more details are beginning to emerge of just how big a job it's going to be to reopen New York's subway trains and road tunnels.  Much will have to wait for the restoration of power and the availability of rail cars to replace those damaged by Sandy.  The armed forces are actively involved in pumping out the tunnels - Wired has a good article illustrating what's involved.  Reading the details in both articles, I doubt whether full service will be restored before next month - possibly some individual tunnels and stations will be out of action for much longer than that.

If you're one of those still suffering from Sandy's after-effects, I hope you're better prepared, and coping better, than most of those reported in the news articles cited above.  Please let us know in Comments how you're doing, and share with us any important lessons you may have learned from this experience.

Peter

About Disney buying the 'Star Wars' franchise . . .

. . . my favorite South African cartoon strip, 'Madam And Eve', has its own take on the matter.

Peter

Emergency preparation, part 15: Looking over the post-Sandy mess

Those who've been following this series of articles will have found much food for thought in the events in the north-eastern United States as Sandy - first a tropical storm, then a hurricane, then a so-called Superstorm - moved through.  I hope my readers in the areas affected by Sandy are as well as may be expected, and that your emergency preparations were (and will continue to be) sufficient to see you through.  Unfortunately, to judge from news reports, very few appear to have been sufficiently prepared.

One story that really got my goat was the tragic tale of a mother and her two sons, aged 2 and 4.  Her vehicle got stuck in flood waters, and she took her two children with her to a nearby house to ask for assistance.  Unbelievably, the man who answered the door turned them away, refusing to help - and shortly afterwards, while she was clinging to a railing and struggling to hold onto her kids in the storm, a wave washed them out of her arms.  Their bodies were found today.  I can't say what I'd like to do to the man who refused to help her and her sons, because such actions would be illegal . . . but that doesn't stop me hoping that the Golden Rule still applies.  I hope he really needs help soon;  and when he does, may he receive precisely as much assistance as he rendered to that poor woman and her children.  At that time, I hope he remembers that "what goes around, comes around".

It seems that gasoline shortages will endure for at least another week.  There have been reports of fistfights and guns being drawn over access to gasoline pumps, queue-jumping, etc.  I hope my readers stored extra gasoline at home, so they could fill their tanks without having to be part of the post-storm madness.  (This is likely to be even more important in the light of the ongoing closure of New York's subway system, which doesn't look like coming online anytime soon - certainly not until next week.  Certain routes may be shut down for weeks or months while spare parts are ordered and repairs made.  Since parts of the subway are well over a century old, few of the firms that made the original equipment are still around, and they don't have stocks of spare or replacement parts any more.  That's going to cause big delays.  Until mass transit systems are fully operational once more, private transport is going to have to take up the slack - but with limited gasoline supplies, that'll be impossible in the short term.)

I've been particularly annoyed by attempts on the part of big-government supporters to portray the recovery effort as essentially a big-government operation, 'proving' the necessity for FEMA and other agencies to be expanded.  This is complete and utter nonsense.  I presume you've already read my comments about FEMA, the Red Cross and other relief agencies after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, so I won't repeat them here.  Suffice it to say that private individuals, organizations and agencies did a heck of a lot more, a great deal more efficiently, than any government body.  (Have we so quickly forgotten the tens of thousands of formaldehyde-contaminated trailers distributed by FEMA, and the effects this had on the health of those who survived the hurricanes?)  As Breitbart points out, private businesses do a better job of relief than government organizations.  I'm thinking that right now, those living within range of a Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes or other big-box store are going to have much better access to essential supplies than those relying on FEMA!

As PawPaw puts it (and living in Hurricane Alley in Louisiana, near where I used to live, he should know):

Get to work, quit whining, and start rebuilding.  That's what Louisianans and Floridians do after a storm.  Y'all had a little measly Cat 1 and I didn't even see that it spawned any tornadoes or anything.  The death toll is what?  About 30?  Sucks to be them, but that's not hardly enough to talk about.  Hell, Tuscaloosa lost more than that to a tornado last year.

I thought New Yorkers were tough.

I can't help thinking that he has a point.

Finally, in the wake of Sandy (and remembering my comments a few weeks ago about 'bugging out' and vehicles in which to do so), if you're flush with cash, a California company has just what you need.  It's overkill to the max (insanely so), but if you want it, they'll build it for you!  (I'd use the money to buy several more normal vehicles, plus travel and cargo trailers and emergency supplies.  For the maximum price quoted, I reckon I could equip a dozen people to survive for a decade - with vehicles, clothing, food, medication, firearms, ammunition, the lot!)

Peter

EDITED TO ADD:  I've written a follow-up article with more post-Sandy reflections.  You'll find it here.

An aviation mystery

Here's a piece - actually several pieces - of aviation history that appeared at first sight to be contradictory, but aren't in reality.  We begin in the Gulf of Aqaba in Saudi Arabia.  Artificial Owl reports:

It's a beautiful seaplane abandoned between the sea and the desert of Saudi Arabia and it's been left there for almost 50 years. The plane is a PBY-5A Catalina, a military American seaplane from the 1930's.

The aircraft ... was bought from the US Navy by Thomas W. Kendall, a retired businessman who converted it to a luxury flying yacht.

In the spring of 1960 Mr Kendall took a pleasure trip around the world with his wife and children together with his secretary and her son. A photographer joined the group to cover part of the trip for life magazine.

On the 22nd March 1960 they landed at the Strait of Tirana and anchored the aircraft a short distance from the shore to spend the night there. They heard someone shouting but did not pay any attention.

In the afternoon of the following day they were attacked with machine guns and automatic firearms from a headland nearby. The children were able to swim back to the aircraft. Mr Kendall and his secretary were wounded while trying to start the Catalina but moved it about 800 metres, unfortunately it ran aground on a coral reef.

. . .

On the beach they were captured by a group of Bedouins attached to the Saudi Arabian army, who had taken them to be Israeli commandos. They were eventually taken to Jeddah, interrogated and finally set free with the help of the American Ambassador.

There's more at the link, including many more (and larger) photographs and a link to Google Map co-ordinates.  An illustrated article about the incident was published in the May 30, 1960, issue of LIFE magazine, titled 'Nightmare Windup Of A Family's Dream Trip'.  It may be found here.

However, a commenter at Artificial Owl pointed out that Thomas Kendall's family had donated 'his' Catalina to the San Diego Air & Space Museum.  The Museum's Web site notes:  "After the war, the aircraft was used by the Coast Guard until its purchase by Thomas W. Kendall in 1956. It was donated to the Museum in January 1986 by the Thomas W. Kendall family."

The restored 'Kendall' Catalina in the museum's collection

(Image courtesy of the San Diego Air & Space Museum's Flickr photostream)

So, I wondered, which is the real Kendall aircraft?  Did he, perhaps, buy two of them - the second to replace his first, damaged by gunfire?  Is one slowly rotting away on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba, while the other resides in restored condition in a museum?

My search for more information led me to this article from the Paradise Leased blog.

In the 1950′s, Los Angeles industrialist Thomas W. Kendall and his wife came up with an interesting idea. Purchasing three World War II era PBY Flying Boats, the Kendalls’ hired noted interior designer George Erb A.I.D. of Barker Bros. to convert the surplus war planes into a set of flying and floating luxury suites. The PBY planes were particularly unique as they were designed to be amphibious with both wheels and pontoons.

Erb gave the planes their own unique color scheme and personality creating a ”Gold,” “Turquoise” and a “Red and Black” plane. Each of the giant planes had a capacity to sleep fourteen with foam rubber sofas that converted to beds, a full galley, lavatory and even a dining room with a table that seats eight. Erb masterfully took advantage of the planes’ twin “Blisters,” the glass domed spaces at the rear, which he converted into spacious and gracious lounge areas.

In 1959, the Kendalls, both licensed and experienced pilots, embarked on a year-long round-the world trip with the three planes, bringing along their four children, aged 8-20 as well several other lucky friends including prominent L.A. physician, Dr. Ellwood L. Schultz and his wife. Kendall and his 20 year-old son Bob piloted one plane, Mrs. Kendall another, and Dr. Schultz, also a licensed pilot, the third. The amphibious planes were so complete in their mobility and the luxurious accommodations aboard, the L.A. Times declared “About the only way you could improve on this arrangement would be to take an automobile or two along on the journey. Then all you need to do is drive away from the plane and do some sightseeing.”

Again, there's more at the link, including photographs of the interiors of the three aircraft.

So it seems there were actually three 'Kendall Catalinas' - and according to the article cited above, the family originally intended to buy no less than fourteen!  One's rotting in the Gulf of Aqaba, one's in a museum.  Where's the third?  Does anyone know what happened to it?  Did the family ever buy more than three?  If any reader can provide more information, please tell us in Comments.

Isn't it fascinating what an idle search for information can turn up?  This proved to be a real detective-story-type effort!


Peter

Not a marriage made in heaven?

As a (retired) pastor, I've done my share of relationship and marriage counseling.  However, I never came across a relationship problem quite like this!  The Irish Examiner reports:

Jian Feng filed a lawsuit against his wife in May after she gave birth to the couple’s daughter.

Upon seeing the "incredibly ugly" baby girl, he thought there was no way she could be the child of him and his "beautiful" partner, and initially concluded his wife had been having an affair. "I married my wife out of love, but as soon as we had our first daughter, we began having marital issues. Our daughter was incredibly ugly, to the point where it horrified me."

When DNA tests proved the child was his, it then emerged that before Mr Feng had married his wife, she had undergone $100,000 ... worth of plastic surgery in South Korea where the decisive knife of a surgeon, not the gene pool, crafted her flawless bone structure.

. . .

Mr Feng has since been awarded $120,000 from his wife, as a sympathetic judge agreed she had tricked him into marrying her under "false pretenses".

There's more at the link.

I don't think I'm the world's worst counselor, but even so, I haven't the faintest idea how I'd approach that mess!





Peter

Heroism indeed!

An Australian soldier, Corporal Daniel Keighran, has just been awarded that nation's highest honor for valor in action, the Victoria Cross for Australia (equivalent to the US Medal of Honor), for his actions in Afghanistan in 2010.  Here's a video report of the presentation.

And here's video footage of the firefight during which his actions took place.  I don't know whether he's among the soldiers shown in the video, but he was part of their unit.

You can read more about the award here. A tip o' the hat to reader Snoggeramus for sending me the link.

From all of us military and combat veterans to Corporal Keighran, a very respectful 'Saaaa-lute!'

Peter

Reality rears its ugly head yet again

When it comes to our economic crisis (or the world's economic crisis, if you wish), many commentators have pointed out that mathematics is inexorable.  One plus one always equals two, no matter how much some might like to pretend it doesn't.  Running up debt year after year, and never paying it down or living within one's means, will sooner or later result in bankruptcy.  That's a simple mathematical fact, and no amount of 'Keynesian economics', or  'quantitative easing', or 'deficit spending', or other creative accounting shenanigans will alter that fact.  We stand now upon the very brink of that reality taking effect.

Europe has yet another reality affecting its economic and fiscal future:  its demographics.  The Atlantic has a very useful article about it.  Here's an excerpt.

Not one country on the Continent has a fertility rate high enough to replace its current population. Heavy debt and a shrinking population are a very bad combination.

Since the invention of birth control and antibiotics, country after country has gone through a fairly standard shift. First, the mortality rate drops, especially among the young and the aging, and that quickly translates into a bigger workforce. Then, birthrates drop, as families realize that they no longer need to birth a basketball team to ensure that a couple members will survive to adulthood. A falling birthrate means that parents can invest more in each child; with fewer mouths to feed, more and better food can nourish each of them, and children can spend more years in school, causing worker productivity to rise from one generation to the next. As the burden of bearing and rearing children lightens, mothers can do more work outside the home, boosting both household resources and the national economy.

. . .

But the dividend does not last forever. Eventually, the baby bulge reaches retirement age, the labor force stops growing, and older workers start spending their savings, depleting the nation’s supply of capital. The virtuous cycle turns vicious. This is what is happening right now in much of southern Europe.

. . .

Is strong growth still possible once the demographic dividend has been paid out? Of course it is, at least in theory. Even if the workforce isn’t expanding, strong-enough gains in worker productivity can substantially lift the economy. Longer hours and longer careers can theoretically have the same effect. But it is far from clear that in practice, these solutions will work, given the advanced age of Europe’s workers.

. . .

It is somewhat ironic that the first serious strains caused by Europe’s changing demographics are showing up in the Continent’s welfare budgets, because the pension systems themselves may well have shaped, and limited, Europe’s growth. The 20th century saw international adoption of social-security systems that promised defined benefits paid out of future tax revenue—known to pension experts as “paygo” systems, and to critics as Ponzi schemes. These systems have greatly eased fears of a destitute old age, but multiple studies show that as social-security systems become more generous (and old age more secure), people have fewer children. By one estimate, 50 to 60 percent of the difference between America’s (above-replacement) birthrate and Europe’s can be explained by the latter’s more generous systems. In other words, Europe’s pension system may have set in motion the very demographic decline that helped make that system—and some European governments—insolvent.

Pension and other welfare benefits, promised long ago when the workforce was expanding quickly, are at the heart of Europe’s current fiscal convulsions, which are perhaps a harbinger of worse to come. In David Canning’s view, the 2008 crash and its aftermath have merely moved up a long-inevitable implosion by 10 to 15 years. European nations “had unrealistic systems that were eventually going to cause a crisis,” he told me.

There's more at the link.  Very worthwhile reading, particularly for those who praise the 'European model' to the skies and want us to adopt it.  That model's got more than enough troubles of its own for us to want to copy it here!

Obamacare is yet another example of the 'European model' in action - and it's going to bring with it even more of the problems Europe has experienced, unless we kill the whole damn thing as quickly as possible.  Remember that next week!

Peter

Crud

Not a good day - running a fever, unable to breathe until I went to the pharmacy and bought a nasal decongestant spray.  The current brand of crud that's doing the rounds is not a nice one.  If you haven't yet got yourself a flu shot, it might be worth getting one this year.

The new fridge was delivered this morning on schedule, with some nifty maneuvering by the delivery guys getting it through the narrow door without incident.  Miss D. and I moved the stuff over from the old fridge tonight, and we'll tackle cleaning it and preparing it for disposal tomorrow.

No further posts tonight - I'm for an early bedtime.  I'll put more up tomorrow morning.  Sleep well, y'all.

Peter

That's a major "Oops!"

Norwegian rally driver Petter Solberg and his co-driver Chris Patterson had a narrow escape during the recent Rallye de France 2012.  Here are three video clips of the incident, first from the point of view of the spectators;  second, from a helicopter;  and finally, from inside the car.

I hope he bought a few lottery tickets after that, while his luck was still running hot!  I wonder what the vineyard owner had to say about his vanquished vines?





Peter

One heck of an engine

In the history of aviation there are certain engines that seem to hit a 'sweet spot' in the engineering and aeronautical development life cycle.  In Europe the famous French Gnome-Rhone range dominated the First World War, and the Rolls-Royce Merlin powered many of the most famous aircraft (both British and American) of World War II.  In the USA, the Liberty L-12 engine of 1917 went on to lasting fame, as did the Pratt & Whitney Wasp series and the Wright Cyclone series during and after World War II.

In the era of jet engines, few have lasted as long, or been as successful, as Pratt & Whitney Canada's PT6 turboprop.  Aviation Week points out that it first flew in 1961, and will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its certification next year.  Tens of thousands have been sold, and the engine continues in full production in a large number of different versions, powering aircraft, helicopters, hovercraft and other vehicles.

The PT6 is a stalwart all over the world.  I couldn't begin to add up the number of miles I've flown in aircraft using them, from single-engine bush birds such as the Cessna 208 Caravan and Pilatus PC-6 Porter, to larger twin-engined planes such as the Let L-410 Turbolet, the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and modernized South African Air Force C-47's, to military training aircraft such as the Pilatus PC-7 and the Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano.  In tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of miles I've covered behind them, most of it over distinctly inhospitable terrain, those PT6's haven't missed a beat - for which I'm devoutly grateful!  I have a very soft spot for this engine family.

Congratulations to Pratt & Whitney Canada for what remains a best-selling family of engines.  With no obvious successor in sight, I'm willing to bet PT6's will still be flying in another half-century from now!

Peter

The British tax system is as screwed-up as our own

We've known for a long time that the US tax system is dysfunctional to the point that no-one (not even the IRS) can fully understand it.  Calls for a simpler, easier-to-understand tax system have been made for years, but special interests continue to agitate against it for their own selfish reasons.  (Most State tax systems are just as bad - see, for example, this bit of convoluted Wisconsin law.)

Now the Telegraph reports that Britain's tax system is just as bad.

France’s tyrannical Sun King knew how to pick his finance ministers.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV’s most infamous right-hand man, once described the art of taxation as “so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing”.

He would have loved Britain’s shockingly opaque tax system, which sometimes feels as if it has been purposely designed to confuse and fool taxpayers: it is so incomprehensible that millions don’t even realise just how heavily they are being hammered.

With 1m families about to be told that their child benefits are being cut, using a sliding scale based on a definition of income that is different from what people actually earn, hundreds of thousands more people are going to have to fill in tax returns. They will be getting a taste of the bureaucratic madness that businesses, the self-employed and many others have suffered from for years.

Tolley’s tax guide, the Bible in such matters, reached an insane 11,520 pages at last count, more than double the number of pages in the 1997 edition, thanks to Labour’s obsession with micro-managing the economy; but instead of complexity being reduced under the Coalition, as promised by George Osborne, ever more pages are being added.

Compliance costs are still going up, forcing the public to devote ever more unpaid time to unproductive form-filling or to employ expensive accountants. Osborne’s war on Britain’s spaghetti-bowl tax code has failed miserably; not for the first time, the Coalition has been outwitted by the forces of conservatism.

The Treasury continues to tinker as if its continued existence depended upon it, and its attempts at reform inevitably end up complicating matters further. Even the most senior accountants admit that no single individual understands the tax system: I was told recently that even assembling a team of 20 crack tax experts in a room would not be enough to pass a definitive judgment on many of its more obscure features.

. . .

It is not just complexity that is crippling taxpayers: the rules keep changing, which makes planning impossible. The latest Finance Act ran to a hopeless 670 pages, on top of 404 pages in 2011. Because court cases are the only way to work out what legislation actually implies, rules can be torn up on the whim of a judge – and, increasingly, one based in Europe rather than London.

What is most depressing is the patchwork of taxes and rates. The same flow of income is routinely not taxed just once or even twice but three or four times as it moves through the system, leaving those who produced it with little more than pocket money.

. . .

Such cripplingly high tax rates would trigger a revolt if they were widely understood. But because they are so well camouflaged, the Government is able to get away with taxing even people on the minimum wage at extortionate rates.

. . .

Our tax system is a chain around the economy’s ankles, a crippling burden that is destroying jobs and wealth. It is broken and in need of radical reform.

There's more at the link.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?


*Sigh*


Peter

Still cruddy . . .

. . . but fighting it off as best I can.  Had a quiet day today, which helped.  The new fridge will be delivered tomorrow morning, if the prearranged schedule is anything to go by;  and once it's in place, I plan to go to bed for the rest of the day.  (It should be interesting getting it in:  it's 32½" deep without the door handles, and the doorway to the kitchen is 32" exactly.  I think we may have to take the doors off the fridge to get it through.)

Light posting tonight, but I'll try to put up more in the morning.  Those of you still suffering the after-effects of Hurricane Sandy, take care, y'hear?

Peter

All eyes on Sandy

Having been through several hurricanes in Louisiana, I'm well aware of how nasty things must be in the North-East right now.  Hurricanes down south tend to occur during warmer weather, but at this time of year, those affected by Sandy are having to cope with power outages during near-freezing temperatures.  Not fun . . .

There have been some remarkable photographs coming out of Sandy so far.  The US Coast Guard put this one on Twitter, showing a replica of HMS Bounty sinking off North Carolina.

The Wind Map (which we visited back in April) has this fascinating image showing wind flow and velocity over the continental US as of about 10 a.m. Eastern time this morning.  Hurricane Sandy, whose center currently appears to be over the West Virginia/Pennsylvania border region, is dominating the air patterns over a full third of the country's land mass!  That's pretty impressive.

To see the current wind patterns, visit the Wind Map's Web page.

I was surprised to read that people are actually faking images of Hurricane Sandy and posting them online.  I don't see the point, when there are so many authentic images around!  You can see a collection of some of the fakes here.  (Also, Og at Neanderpundit has his own photographic version of the threats posed by Sandy . . . )

Here's holding thumbs for all of those still caught up in this mess.  You've got an interesting few days ahead of you.

Peter

EDITED TO ADD:  The Los Angeles Times has a great collection of photographs of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.  Worthwhile viewing.

Fighting off the crud

Last night I had a sore throat, and by this morning it had developed into a full-blown case of the crud.  I'm really not feeling at my best tonight, so blogging will be light.  Look for more posts tomorrow morning.

To keep you happy in the meantime, here's the latest Simon's Cat video.

Peter

Fridge-shopping

The old fridge we've used since moving here is on the verge of final collapse.  It's leaking water into the fridge compartment from the freezer and ice-maker, and even cutting off the water supply to the latter hasn't cured the problem.  This morning, when I opened the door, my sleepy tootsies were baptized in ice-cold water, which caused me to remember a few relatively expressive words I thought I'd forgotten.  I called a serviceman, but he recommended that I not call him out, because it'd cost me $150 up front, without parts, and given my description of the problem, he thought I'd be wasting my money.  He pointed out that it's cheaper to replace most fridges today, rather than pay for a major repair.

The last time I bought a fridge was about a decade ago, in another state, so I wasn't prepared for the sticker shock of going online and pricing what was available.  Their prices have at least doubled since last time - no doubt due to the fact that they're all imported, because thanks to the Fed's printing of money like there's no tomorrow, the dollar has lost a significant amount of value against foreign currencies over the past few years.  I rapidly decided that there was no way Miss D. and I could afford something new.

Fortunately, our housemate told us about a 'seconds' store nearby that sells goods damaged in transit, or repaired after a malfunction under warranty that caused the original to be replaced with another unit.  Their prices are significantly discounted from list, and I was able to find a very nice Whirlpool unit, with only minor cosmetic blemishes, that was affordable.  It'll be delivered on Wednesday.

I have to say, though . . . looking at the prices of appliances today, I honestly don't know how couples starting out in life together can afford them - at least, not new.  When I furnished my small home in 2003, I spent about $1,500 to buy a decent-size fridge, a washer, a drier, and a chest freezer.  Today, that sum would buy me only a new fridge, and it wouldn't be as nice as the one I bought in 2003!

Peter

'The toughest bridge in the world'?

That's the title of this video clip.  A tip o' the hat to reader S. M. for sending me the link.

I note that despite all those crashes, the bridge is still there.  It's tough all right!

Peter

Could this be described as a 'grave' error?

Courtesy of Australian reader Snoggeramus, we learn of an interesting . . . er . . . facility in the town of Millaa Millaa, Queensland.  The Courier Mail reports:

IT'S the loo that is taking the term toilet humour to a whole new level - and it has Millaa Millaa residents in a spin.

After being told by council it would cost more than $80,000 to build a toilet at the local cemetery, the Chamber of Commerce group decided to take issues into their own hands and build their own - in the shape of a coffin.

"You have to be careful, not everyone is going to have our macabre sense of humour," Chamber president Pat Reynolds said. "But we did it with good intentions. It's for firstly, the cemetery, and secondly, maybe a few more people will notice Millaa Millaa now."

This is no shabby construction, it has a cement foundation, a septic system and solid walls, one of which bears a cross and the letters RIP.

There's more at the link, including more (and larger) photographs of the offending outhouse.

Sounds to me like a practical application of the well-known Australian (and colonial) practice of 'taking the p***' - in this case, quite literally!





Peter