Category Archives: Jack Handy

By now, we’re all accustomed to talk about government action “stimulating” the economy. I wonder, though, if we give enough thought to how this can possibly work: How can government increase economic activity above its natural level — and why, … Continue reading →

Hey, want to get angry? Check this out. From the article: That Anthony Graber broke the law in early March is indisputable. He raced his Honda motorcycle down Interstate 95 in Maryland at 80 mph, popping a wheelie, roaring past … Continue reading →

As of today, I’ve been posting regularly for two years. Yay me. The lists of anniversary gifts by year are almost always good for a chuckle. The 10th is aluminum, which is cool, but they seem to have overlooked titanium. … Continue reading →

From an interview with William Gibson: I read an account somewhere — very possibly in Karl Taro Greenfeld’s “Speed Tribes” — of an actual idoru in Japan who had not existed at all. The real idorus, as the Japanese have … Continue reading →

We should ban car radios. They: Can annoy others Can distract the driver with, e.g., tuning Can stimulate emotions that lead to unsafe driving There is simply no excuse for allowing these dangerous devices to be used on our public … Continue reading →

From Calvin Coolidge’s 1926 4th of July address: If no one is to be accounted as born into a superior station, if there is to be no ruling class, and if all possess rights which can neither be bartered away … Continue reading →

Winston Churchill was a man of many great quotes. On his defeat in the 1945 elections, in response to the suggestion that perhaps this was a blessing in disguise, he remarked that: “If this is a blessing, it is certainly … Continue reading →

As I’ve been (vaguely) following the Kagan hearings, I’ve come to a somewhat surprising conclusion: I think the sort of person for whom “intelligence” is a matter of being cute with language and/or logic is not just unhelpful, but actively … Continue reading →

So, I see that Tesla’s stock is off to a strong start. Well, not to violate Quentin Tarantino’s sage advice (“The less a man makes declarative statements, the less apt he is to look foolish in retrospect.”) but Tesla is … Continue reading →

I saw this last week: it’s an interesting comparison of what 152 hours worth of labor (at the average hourly wage) would have bought you in 1964 vs. what it would buy you today. (Via, once again, Jonah at The … Continue reading →