There's a Right Way and a Wrong Way

The proper method is to blow one nostril at a time... said Dr. Anil Kumar Lalwani, chairman of the department of otolaryngology at the New York University Langone Medical Center.

Well, now you know.

Elections 2009

Israel went to the polls today. Will it be the center-right Tzipi Libni, or old Likud horse Bibi Netanyahu? And how much power will the hardline Avigdor Lieberman wield in the new Knesset?

Walworth, the "Free Stuff" Poet

Somebody in rural Walworth frequently posts on Craigslist's "free stuff" board random knick-knacks and household items to give away. Somehow, this is poetry.

Let Us Pray Cross Stitch Book
i didnt realize until leafing through
this book that it is a cross stitch
book with patterns

Cross Stitch Book
a book and a magazine
they are a bit musty
must have been stored in
a damp spot

Rocking Horse Decoration
about 11" long
could use a bit of
polishing but cleaned up
it will look great

Baby Toy
in good working shape
does have a bit of yellowing
maybe due to being older but
otherwise in good shape

Fire Extinguisher
dont know if it works but
pretty sure it would need
charging

Free
not pictured i have a pkg
of 3 hoover vacum bags
type G short bag
says they fit handivac
pixie and quick broom cleaners

Silver Plated Vase
looks to be new comes from
the international silver company
it is 7 inches tall
it does have a tiny bit of tarnish
developing but i am sure that can
be removed with silver polish/cleaner

Doll with Pacifier
good shape

Wooden Box
very heavy and sturdy but
the paint is peeling
it measures 13" across
8" tall at higest point
6" tall at the lowest point
and 10" wide
maybe good for storing things
in a shop or garage?

Happy Truck Day, Boston!

Spring is inexorably coming to Boston. Quiet your mind, and softly blow the snowy cobwebs from your ears. Can't you hear it - the crack of the bat? The soft thump of ball into worn leather?

It's Truck Day in Boston.

Honor Among Thieves

Beware lest you ever be praised by these men:

"I don't know of a person more honorable," said Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).

"It's an innocent mistake," added John Kerry (D-Mass.).

"My breast is clear, and my support is strong," intoned Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).

"I will vote for Senator Daschle," the committee chairman, Max Baucus (D-Mont.), read from a prepared statement.

These statements of unqualified support - echoing president Obama's own - are for a man who used his massive past-and-future political power to earn $5.2 million over two years in a series of sinecures. If Venezuelan or Russian politicians did this, we'd cite it as evidence that they are kleptocracies where the will of the people is ignored. In America, however, we're sophisticated: "retired" Senator Daschle wasn't being bribed - he was being paid for "important work".

Send me to Iraq (where I'll be safe)

The U.S. military suffered 16 deaths in Iraq in January. Of those, 12 were from accidents. By comparison, the Rochester murder rate for a recent year was 58 among 218,000 residents. Thus, if the 152,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq were living near me, we'd expect them to suffer 3.4 murders a month, barely lower than the 4 combat deaths last month.

How do you say, "the war is over" in Arabic?

Economists on the New Deal

Two well-known neoclassical macroeconomists, Cole and Ohanian, weigh in on the New Deal:

Why wasn't the Depression followed by a vigorous recovery, like every other cycle? It should have been. The economic fundamentals that drive all expansions were very favorable during the New Deal. Productivity grew very rapidly after 1933, the price level was stable, real interest rates were low, and liquidity was plentiful...

So what stopped a blockbuster recovery from ever starting? The New Deal. Some New Deal policies certainly benefited the economy by establishing a basic social safety net through Social Security and unemployment benefits, and by stabilizing the financial system through deposit insurance and the Securities Exchange Commission. But others violated the most basic economic principles by suppressing competition, and setting prices and wages in many sectors well above their normal levels. All told, these antimarket policies choked off powerful recovery forces that would have plausibly returned the economy back to trend by the mid-1930s.

They don't mention the worldwide shift from free trade to protectionism during the same period, but that was another large factor in the continuation of the Depression. Let's not start another trade war!