On this day:
30 BC
Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian’s forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
1492
Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian’s forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
1492
The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
1790
The very first U.S. patent is issued: to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
2007
Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
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Slavery was “peculiar” in the United States only because human bondage was inconsistent with the principles on which this nation was founded. Historically, however, it was those principles which were peculiar, not slavery.--the always underestimated Sowell
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All 55 European (soccer) football associations have now unanimously agreed to boycott FIFA events if Gianni Infantino pushes ahead with his polarising plan to sell parts of the World Cup to private investors.
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From the NATO Department of Pretend Control:
Cobalt is critical in a Li-ion battery since it forms the cathode (positive electrode), which gives the battery its high energy density and stability. The Copperbelt is the Congo (DRC ) is where most of the world’s supply of cobalt comes from. However, in this region, cobalt naturally co-occurs with uranium. Unless the uranium is removed from the cobalt, it stays along with it during the extraction and processing and is exported as raw material.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Princeton in the US have found that between 2000 and 2024, large quantities of uranium were extracted, concentrated and exported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of the country’s cobalt supply chain. Estimates suggest that 2,000-5,000 metric tons (4.4 – 11 million pounds) of radioactive material were exported, even as the DRC has not reported uranium production in decades.
China is home to about 95 percent of the world’s cobalt refineries. So, much of this uranium was sent to China. The estimated 2,000-5,000 metric tons of uranium is sufficient to produce anywhere between 600-1,500 nuclear warheads.
The researchers do not think that this was done intentionally. The team also estimates that between 1,000-4,000 metric tons of uranium was released in mine tailings – waste stream from mining, which raises health concerns for miners and communities near the mines.
***
Reverse warrants are a technology-driven version of a general warrant. “Reverse location warrants” (or “geofence warrants”) allow the government to demand the identity of an unlimited number of people based on their electronic devices’ location tracking data. “Reverse keyword warrants” operate similarly but identify people based on the words they type into internet search engines.
***
1790
The very first U.S. patent is issued: to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
2007
Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
***
Slavery was “peculiar” in the United States only because human bondage was inconsistent with the principles on which this nation was founded. Historically, however, it was those principles which were peculiar, not slavery.--the always underestimated Sowell
***
All 55 European (soccer) football associations have now unanimously agreed to boycott FIFA events if Gianni Infantino pushes ahead with his polarising plan to sell parts of the World Cup to private investors.
***
From the NATO Department of Pretend Control:
Cobalt is critical in a Li-ion battery since it forms the cathode (positive electrode), which gives the battery its high energy density and stability. The Copperbelt is the Congo (DRC ) is where most of the world’s supply of cobalt comes from. However, in this region, cobalt naturally co-occurs with uranium. Unless the uranium is removed from the cobalt, it stays along with it during the extraction and processing and is exported as raw material.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Princeton in the US have found that between 2000 and 2024, large quantities of uranium were extracted, concentrated and exported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of the country’s cobalt supply chain. Estimates suggest that 2,000-5,000 metric tons (4.4 – 11 million pounds) of radioactive material were exported, even as the DRC has not reported uranium production in decades.
China is home to about 95 percent of the world’s cobalt refineries. So, much of this uranium was sent to China. The estimated 2,000-5,000 metric tons of uranium is sufficient to produce anywhere between 600-1,500 nuclear warheads.
The researchers do not think that this was done intentionally. The team also estimates that between 1,000-4,000 metric tons of uranium was released in mine tailings – waste stream from mining, which raises health concerns for miners and communities near the mines.
***
Reverse warrants are a technology-driven version of a general warrant. “Reverse location warrants” (or “geofence warrants”) allow the government to demand the identity of an unlimited number of people based on their electronic devices’ location tracking data. “Reverse keyword warrants” operate similarly but identify people based on the words they type into internet search engines.
***
Economic Decisions
Adam Smith explained how wealth develops. von Mises explained pricing.
Without the market forces of supply and demand (the trade that creates these forces) and private ownership of the means of production (which enables supply and demand to operate), all factories and industries would lose access to meaningful profit-and-loss accounting. Accounting signals relay information to owners about the success or failure of their enterprises. Without such accounting, there is no basis for managers to make informed decisions. You have no data on which to base your purchases, investments, production, hiring, wages, inventories, or anything else. You lose touch with the reality of the world around you. Such a system will be, quite literally, irrational and thereby subject to the whims of political elites. (Tucker)
Since pricing cannot guide purchasing, producers cannot anticipate demand or assign products. This creates shortages. And shortages substitute bribery for pricing and create a culture of corruption.
It is not necessary to destroy an economy, as in Venezuela, to prove the point. There are all sorts of examples of "Socialism Lite" which disable pricing signals and create shortages and distortions. Rent control fixes the price of rental units, diminishing the surplus available for repair and enhancement. So rent control leads to disrepair and shortage. Price controls on gasoline in the 1970s led to gasoline shortages.
Adam Smith explained how wealth develops. von Mises explained pricing.
Without the market forces of supply and demand (the trade that creates these forces) and private ownership of the means of production (which enables supply and demand to operate), all factories and industries would lose access to meaningful profit-and-loss accounting. Accounting signals relay information to owners about the success or failure of their enterprises. Without such accounting, there is no basis for managers to make informed decisions. You have no data on which to base your purchases, investments, production, hiring, wages, inventories, or anything else. You lose touch with the reality of the world around you. Such a system will be, quite literally, irrational and thereby subject to the whims of political elites. (Tucker)
Since pricing cannot guide purchasing, producers cannot anticipate demand or assign products. This creates shortages. And shortages substitute bribery for pricing and create a culture of corruption.
It is not necessary to destroy an economy, as in Venezuela, to prove the point. There are all sorts of examples of "Socialism Lite" which disable pricing signals and create shortages and distortions. Rent control fixes the price of rental units, diminishing the surplus available for repair and enhancement. So rent control leads to disrepair and shortage. Price controls on gasoline in the 1970s led to gasoline shortages.
Wage controls in California will reduce job availability.
If you want to eliminate smoking, fix the price of cigarettes.
These are not theories. These relationships are well understood.
We know that violating these specific economic laws leads to a virtuous glow, followed by disaster. Yet somehow in our information-obsessed culture, this crucial knowledge is ignored. Somehow these politicians purposefully create these socially destructive scenarios despite knowing full well what will happen.
How can anyone be so casual about such risks? And how can anyone supporting the agent of such dangers present themselves as "moral?"
How can anyone be so casual about such risks? And how can anyone supporting the agent of such dangers present themselves as "moral?"
Or, is it possible these people purporting to be our leaders really just don't know?
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