My Hero: Milton Friedman

I spent some time today watching my hero, Milton Friedman.  I needed the reinforcement of principle.

This one video is a good review for today’s situations, taped in 1999.   Milton about Clinton, Social Security, etc.

I suggest you Google "Milton Friedman" and then just start watching as many of the short videos you find.  There are many topics, all still relevant today.

Best Quote:  “What do you mean Give Back?”  when talking about reducing taxes.

Too bad Milton misses it on the prediction for government size in 2009.

Economics 101:  A series of videos:  Economics 101 Videos

On The Fed:  The Federal Reserve causes the Great Depression:  The Great Depression and the Fed

On Social Security:  Social Security Myth

Have fun.

I also like the Hoover Institution at Stanford University a lot.  They prepared this video.

Milwaukee Police Chief Tells The Truth about Violence

In the perspective of the Michael Brown incident, and the vilification of Officer Wilson, this video by the Milwaukee police chief makes an oft-missed point about the realities of violence in the black community and in some large cities.

See here:  http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/post_538.html

As counterpoint to all the protestations that are being made across the country by those who misguidedly believe that Micheal Brown needs to be avenged, why is it that there is so little caring, or indeed news coverage, for the 29 teenagers (13 - 19) who died in Chicago since Micheal Brown died?  Maybe because most of the murderers were also black?

See Breitbart: Media-Ignore-224-Teenagers-Killed-in-Chicago-Since-Michael-Brown-Was-Shot
(It appears this number is not really correct, and that the author grabbed the wrong number.  See the comments to the Breitbart article, and below on the heyjackass site.)  However, the expression of wonderment at the lack of publicity is the key point.

Here is a running list website that lists Chicago victims:  http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2014-chicago-murders   I am not sure that this site contains a full listing.
Here is another site:  http://homicides.suntimes.com/
And another:  http://homicides.redeyechicago.com/   11 Deaths between Nov 13 and 19.

It is interesting that these sites disagree on actual numbers.  EXCEPT, that the numbers are horribly high.

So, continuing my investigation, here is another site that has numbers similar to Brietbart, but the 244 number is for teens were shot and injured, while 29 teens were killed and total murders of all ages were 155 (74% black males).   http://heyjackass.com/  My impression is that Heyjackass has the best numbers, but I have not tried comparing to Chicago PD stats.

An scary stat on the Heyjackass site is the clearance rate for murders.  Only about 1/3 result in charges. 

Another stat of note:  Almost 80% of victims are black, while almost 69% of attackers are black.

Psuedo-Social Justice Has Harmed the People It Intended to Help

Draft:

http://eaglerising.com/8439/psuedo-social-justice-harmed-people-intended-help/

Smart Aid for the World's Poor - Matt Ridley at WSJ

This is one of the most important articles I have read in years.  Matt Ridley is a UK Parliamentarian with an outspoken attitude and often right-on ideas. 

Context:  Since 1990, the number of the world's extreme poor has decreased by 50% because of globalization, free markets and the spread of easy to access energy and technology. 

To continue this trend, Ridley asks what are the five most important things people can do to continue the improvement.  He suggests the United Nations needs new goals that are discrete, quantitative and achievable.  He suggests using a method from Bjorn Lomborg, who has brought together 60 economists and asked that very question.

Ridley picks his own list of five, which I can agree with.  However, I would add number zero:  A massive improvement in sanitation, especially in countries like India, where malnutrition caused by chronic diseases is endemic and cultural. 

The entire article is at the WSJ for July 26-27, 2014.   
      Smart Aid for the World's Poor,  How can rich countries best help poor ones? 
See article here at WSJ:  smart-aid-for-the-worlds-poor

Ridley proposes these five ideas:

"What would my own list of five 2030 goals look like, based on the work of the Copenhagen Consensus group?

1. Reduce malnutrition. When children get better food, they develop their brains, stay in school longer and end up becoming far more productive members of society. Every dollar spent to alleviate malnutrition brings $59 of benefits.

2. Tackle malaria and tuberculosis. These two diseases debilitate huge populations in poor countries, but they are largely preventable and curable. In the most harshly affected countries, two people often do one person's work because one of them is sick. Benefit to cost ratio: 35 to 1.

3. Boost preprimary education, which costs little and has lifelong benefits by getting children started on learning. 30 to 1.

4. Provide universal access to sexual and reproductive health, which would save the lives of mothers and infants while enabling women to be more economically productive. It would also lower birthrates (when fewer children die, people have fewer children). Benefits could be as high as 150.

5. Expand free trade. This isn't considered sexy in the development industry, and it may seem remote from humanitarian issues, but free trade often delivers phenomenal improvements to the welfare of the poor in surprisingly quick time, as the example of China has demonstrated in recent years. One of the discoveries of the Copenhagen Consensus process is that incremental goals such as expanding free trade are often better than supposedly "transformational" goals. A successful Doha Round of the World Trade Organization could deliver annual benefits of $3 trillion for the developing world by 2020, rising to $100 trillion by the end of the century."

Some articles about sanitation in India:  

This article got me linking these two article.  Especially look at the chart comparing countries:  http://www.delhifoodbanking.org/index.php/latest-news/60-poor-sanitation-in-india-may-afflict-well-fed-children-with-malnutrition.html

or here at NYT:   http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/asia/poor-sanitation-in-india-may-afflict-well-fed-children-with-malnutrition.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0 

 

More articles:

poor-sanitation-not-malnutrition-may-be-to-blame-for-indias-notoriously-stunted-children/ 

how-indian-states-stack-up-on-access-to-toilets

half-billion-indians-still-need-better-access-to-toilets

health-nutrition-unicef-india

http://www.gatesnotes.com/Development/Next-Great-Opportunity-Sanitation-for-Indias-Poor

11 Facts that Show We Live in a Country Run By Idiots

The following list has been attributed to comedian Jeff Foxworthy.  But Snopes says Foxworthy is not the author.

The original compiler is apparently a man named Fritz Edmunds.
1. If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally, you live in a country run by idiots.
2. If you have to get your parents' permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion, you live in a country run by idiots.
3. If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor or check out a library book, but not to vote on who runs the government, you live in a country run by idiots.
4. If the government wants to ban stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines with more than ten rounds, but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy leaders in Egypt, you live in a country run by idiots.
5. If, in the largest city, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not a 24-ounce soda because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat, you live in a country run by idiots.
6. If an 80-year-old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a woman in a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched, you live in a country run by idiots.
7. If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more, you live in a country run by idiots.

8. If a seven year old boy can be thrown out of grade school for saying his teacher's "cute," but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable, you live in a country run by idiots.
9. If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing and free cell phones, you live in a country run by idiots.
10. If the government's plan for getting people back to work is to incentivize NOT working, with 99 weeks of unemployment checks and no requirement to prove they applied but can't find work, you live in a country run by idiots.
11. If being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you more "safe" according to the government, you live in a country run by idiots.
If you are offended by this article,  you probably voted for the idiots who are running our country into the ground.

Here's a video with a slightly different list:  Idiots List