The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power--Daniel Webster
In the 1960s, the U.S. federal government spent $3 on "investments" like infrastructure, schools and financial aid for education for every $1 on entitlements. Today, the ratio is flipped. In 10 years, we will spend $5 on the three major entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) for every $1 on public "investments."
Trying to explain the Greek monsters in mythology, John Boardman has argued in his book The Archaeology of Nostalgia (2002) that the Greeks were attempting to make sense of dinosaur bones they found in the landscape, and he convincingly compares the bone-white sea monster on a vase, lurking in a cave and ready to pounce on Hesione, with the fossil skull of a Samotherium, or Miocene giraffe, such as was found around Troy.
Betz law states only 59.3% of the energy in wind in the swept area can be extracted, regardless of technology.
The average price a residential customer paid for natural gas in 2012 was $10.68, while the average price of gas at the well was $2.66. The difference is in infrastructure costs and, remarkably, long term contracts where the company bet on rising prices. When they are wrong they never pay; we do.
Who is.....Hesione?
The IMF expects that in advanced economies the ratio of public debt to gross domestic product will reach a historic peak of 110% next year, 35 percentage points above its 2007 level. One of the bureaucratic solutions of the IMF, an organization with a lot of Old World Socialist baggage, is a wealth tax, a tax on what people have, not earn, after taxation. This incredible remnant of the old days of aristocracy and kings is not as far fetched as one might think. Remember Cyprus, an EU country? Holders of bank accounts larger than 100,000 euros had to incur losses of up to 100% on their savings above that threshold in order to "bail-in" the bankrupt Mediterranean state.
A 2012 study in the Southern Economic Journal concludes that "it is unusual to find any other occupation where cash wages have a stronger negative effect" on hiring than for tipped workers. Economist David Neumark, an expert on minimum-wage economic studies, says that an economic rule-of-thumb is that every 10% increase in the minimum wage reduces teen employment by about 1% to 3%. In October the U.S. teen jobless rate was 22.2% and for black teens it was 36%. The Obama minimum wage combined with the health mandate could mean up to a 10% reduction in jobs for the poor and young. But it will rally the Democrat base and thus will be a worthy sacrifice.
Obama devised a sequester--remember, the sequester was his gambit--that requires 50% of total cuts to come from national security that is 17% of the budget, but no cuts from income-transfer programs that account for well over half the budget. The Rube-publicans are considering a budget fight to increase defense spending, a notion certain to fracture their base. This proposed truce might by-pass it.
In an interview, the crime novelist Ian Rankin tells The Telegraph that it took "a good 12-14 years, and many books" before his writing began to pay.
University of Michigan data shows improvement in auto fuel efficiency, up from 20.4 mpg in November 2007 to 24.8 mpg in November 2013 or 23%. And it is still steadily rising.
Rube Goldberg: adjective: Absurdly complex or impractical. After cartoonist Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) who was known for his intricate drawings showing fantastically impractical contraptions to accomplish simple jobs. Earliest documented use: 1928.
In 2030, a typical couple reaching the eligibility age of 65 will have paid $180,000 in lifetime Medicare taxes but will get back $664,000 in benefits.
Golden oldie:
The Chinese restrict driving on days of bad pollution. In China, 8 is a lucky number, 4 is an unlucky number, so on days when air quality is particularly bad and cars with licence plates ending in 8 can’t drive, traffic is relatively light — because so many people prefer plates with that number — while on the days when the 4′s are sidelined, it’s heavy, because relatively few people accept a licence plate ending in 4.
AAAAaaaaannnnnndddddd......a graph:
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