Monthly Archives: October 2005

Price Gouging?

This entry was posted in Business US Economics Energy Environment Federal Government Libertarianism Regulation on by

Post Katrina gas prices maybe went up 10-15% depending on where you lived and in most cases they have rolled back down. Nevertheless, cries of price gouging were rampant and continue. But that is gas. If it is some other good like, say, oysters then it is a feel good story:

With two-thirds of Louisiana oyster beds wiped out by the Aug. 29 storm, prices of Pacific oysters have soared as Gulf Coast processors scour for alternatives thousands of miles away. That’s allowed Taylor Shellfish to raise its prices 38 percent in the past month to $40 per gallon of oysters.
“It’s the strongest demand that I’ve ever seen for oysters,” says William Taylor, ……
Prices have surged as much as 50 percent since the hurricane, according to the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, giving the Northwest growers some relief, even as they sympathize with the hurricane victims 2,000 miles away.

Imagine the outcry if gasoline prices had gone up 50%!
Seems like so-called market forces working the way they should in both cases. It can, though, be a bit hard to tell if the market is really working in the extensively regulated and subsidized oil and gasoline business.

Serenity Shindig

This entry was posted in Anarchism Economics Government Libertarianism Science Fiction on by

Over at Catallarchy.
Jonathon Wilde explores Firefly at length and presents a review of each of the episodes.
Oh, if you haven’t seen Serenity yet just what are you waiting for? Go now!
Update: I just got around to reading Julian Sanchez’s review having previously bookmarked it until I’d seen the movie due to some spoilers:

Of course, you don’t have to have read Camus, or even be fond of berets or clove cigarettes, to be a fan of Serenity. The film’s genius is that it works on so many levels—political, philosophical, and (not least) narrative. If you show up in theaters just looking for a tightly plotted, smartly scripted sci-fi action flick, you’ll come away happy. For the attentive viewer, though, Serenity is not just a string of good chase scenes, but an “absurd reasoning,” a surprisingly profound meditation on what freedom means—both in politics and, perhaps more importantly, as a source of personal meaning.

Read the rest.

Would You Volunteer for This Group?

This entry was posted in bush Conscription Constitution Federal Government Law Military Politics US Foreign Policy on by

If even a fraction of this is true then why would one volunteer for the US military?

The most appealing explanation lies in the motives of those driving this ostensibly schizophrenic conduct. Plainly, they view sexual morals as something to be manipulated for the accomplishment of political objectives. Hence, lewd and offensive sexual conduct can be deliberately used as a tactic against detainees. On the other hand, officers who earn the leadership’s ire will be humiliated and disgraced using innuendo of sexual misconduct as a tactic.
The cynicism and immorality of this mindset is staggering. It reflects a wholesale repudiation of traditional military values.
One can well question the efficacy of sexual humiliation practices as tools for interrogation and intelligence gathering. However, no one can question their highly inflammatory effect in the War on Terror: they tarnish America’s reputation and put our soldiers at risk. And they may well claim another victim. Experts are already noting that at Rumsfeld’s current burn rate, the volunteer army cannot be sustained much longer. Rumsfeld’s cynical sexual policies are destroying military morale and discipline and hastening the volunteer army’s demise.

Yep, why would anyone volunteer for this environment? Unless, well, they think they might like it….
Read all of Scott Horton’s post: Sexual Perversion in Rumsfeld’s Pentagon.