tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59994532008-07-17T11:31:38.326+12:00A traditional working holiday weblog (at least at first...). Transmogrified (love that word) into random thoughts and links, driven by a restless mind. Whoops, that's a line the good Captain uses. WTF. Damn, the Cap'n has jumped ship. It's up to the rest of us RWDB's.Waymadnoreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-3049315118903191102008-07-06T17:51:00.015+12:002008-07-06T17:56:56.537+12:002008-07-06T17:56:56.537+12:00

Heh. Couldn't have put this better meself. There are two mass delusion abroad IMHO: AGW being one (natch) and the notion that financial Ponzi schemes will not cause pain, the other. Sigh. As Dylan sings (Things have Changed): People are crazy and times are strange I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range I used to care, but things have changed

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-81503334684359609212008-06-25T14:52:00.047+12:002008-06-25T15:11:35.519+12:002008-06-25T15:11:35.519+12:00

Thanks to the wunners of globbelisation, I have three hot new books to devour. That's right: ordered 11 June on Amazon, delivered 25 June to my very doorstep. Brave New War - John Robb. John's website (Global Guerillas) is compulsory reading for those who are trying to make sense of the increasing disorder that seems to surround us. I long ago read (in Rees-Mogg and Davidson's 'The Great

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-75962902815093877042008-04-28T15:48:00.003+12:002008-04-28T15:54:36.297+12:002008-04-28T15:54:36.297+12:00

Bruce Sheppard, the quinessential provocateur, has wondered publicly about the relevance of Te Tiriti in 2008. I've added a little comment, but Bruce has touched on the edge of an issue that's interested me for quite some time. Is the political support currently behind the re-tribalisation of Maori, a Good Thang? If you look at Ngai Tahu, who want to be capitalists, why yes. Probably. If

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-35908813261081838072008-04-08T13:32:00.040+12:002008-04-08T14:02:45.947+12:002008-04-08T14:02:45.947+12:00

Spengler has, as always, a pithy comment - turn the whole show into a Theme Park. The money quote (soon, to be tariff-free, even, thanks to the FTA): “The monks do not practice a religion so much as a sort of folkloric animism that is out of place in the modern world. That is what makes them appear so charming to the spiritual tourists of the West. Attractions of this sort aren’t rational, and

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-91280225306828228872008-03-29T21:32:00.050+13:002008-03-29T21:45:58.962+13:002008-03-29T21:45:58.962+13:00

This just has to be a No Shit, Sherlock moment for the hapless central planners of our funny little economy. For the otherwise unenlightened, the backstory is that, due to Clean Air fixations, wherein chimneys emitting smoke are deemed to be a Bad Thang, there is a movement afoot to replace open fires and old wood fires, with 'clean' heat sources. And to encourage the masses, there are Gummint

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-34358057917992376372008-03-28T14:55:00.019+13:002008-03-28T15:01:57.873+13:002008-03-28T15:01:57.873+13:00

Couldn't agree more with This (ht Tim Blair). While I'm wholly in favour of reducing consumption (and am well ahead of the curve, in that I have LED lights drawing 1-3 watts each as downlight replacements), I abhor the collectivist pressure inherent in EH. And there's a less-well-publicised aspect to dimly lit precincts and premises that you won't hear about anytime soon from the promoters:

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-2830368482666692032008-03-26T08:47:00.005+13:002008-03-26T08:51:31.524+13:002008-03-26T08:51:31.524+13:00

The proposal to streamline the building industry consents etc process is gathering steam. Not PC has easily the best summary of my views - planners, who needs 'em? They don't have anything to say about boats or cars. So why houses?

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-15393083628351794142008-03-18T16:20:00.007+13:002008-03-18T16:26:23.082+13:002008-03-18T16:26:23.082+13:00

Great thread here, where the comments throw up all the usual suspects. And the lead paragraph is just it: what Were they thinking? Scapegoat time, methinks.... My own take on things is that of a Bear of Very Little Brain: Sadly for conspiracy theorists, the US debacle is much simpler, much more widespread, and much more worrying. There are four underlying causes: 1 - the US has for many

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-72451581141131639722008-03-13T12:51:00.028+13:002008-03-13T13:55:41.310+13:002008-03-13T13:55:41.310+13:00

I seem to have been infected by a Rhyming Bug, and to exorcise it, have commented all over a bunch of otherwise blameless victims. To hell with posterity, here they are, each with their context: Cullen and tax cuts: There was an old teacher named Michael who chortled at down trending cycle They'll have to vote we back Instead of that Key hack Let's nationalise Fisher and Paykel! Damn

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-59602739388364776382008-03-13T12:42:00.025+13:002008-03-13T12:49:51.147+13:002008-03-13T12:49:51.147+13:00

This leetle bombshell affects, oh, around half the marine organisms in the world. In essence, by omitting the 'assumed in the current paradigm' step of releasing oxygen while consuming carbon dioxide, these organisms have never done a darn thing in the carbon cycle. That sound you may hear if you listen closely is a whole bunch of Gerbil Worming gravy train riders saying 'bugger' and

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-2887581414356911932008-02-27T12:20:00.001+13:002008-02-27T12:23:58.099+13:002008-02-27T12:23:58.099+13:00

ht: smalldeadanimals

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-37889693005814211982008-02-26T10:46:00.028+13:002008-02-26T10:55:24.728+13:002008-02-26T10:55:24.728+13:00

My math is far too weak to follow Black-Scholes, but it's been the standard paradigm for pricing of exotic financial instruments for a quarter of a century. No longer. Ever since I read Nassim Nicholas Taleb's 'Black Swan', and bought/read his 'Fooled by Randomness' I've had this intuition that there was a big soft spot right underneath the main pillar of the financial establishment. The

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-72192238908461001912008-02-22T16:14:00.029+13:002008-02-22T16:38:23.685+13:002008-02-22T16:38:23.685+13:00

The always indispensable Spengler has done it again, with a piece about the wisdom of getting in your retaliation early. And of course the appeasement rhetoric of the ArchBish gets yet another hammering. As Warren Buffet has siad, it's not until the tide goes out that you can tell who's swimming naked. And with a harder, colder, wind blowing through the world, Spengler's piece is a reminder

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-15244269141422765302008-02-16T14:05:00.050+13:002008-02-16T14:24:57.250+13:002008-02-16T14:24:57.250+13:00

This piece (ht: Instapundit) is a useful reminder that the good ol' entrepreneurial business is the way forward. Earnest Gummint committess won't cut it. Bit like the UN in Darfur - no skin in the game, so no real incentive to step in and help. Moore's law: explanation here - capability rises/price halves roughly every 18-24 months. Works for me. The money quote: "You may not like their

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-83284419275406498752008-02-14T11:31:00.030+13:002008-02-14T11:52:12.583+13:002008-02-14T11:52:12.583+13:00

The dear sainted Archbishop of Canterbury does seem to have gottem his fluffy self into a spot of bother with his all-too-public musings on sharia law and its applicability to England. Having been to High Wycombe for a radio station client, I had actually rather thought it (sharia) was there in all but name, but no matter. Anyhoo, this little gem of an extended Burma Shave sign did flash past

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-9590561681715841912008-02-10T22:02:00.024+13:002008-02-11T12:26:54.351+13:002008-02-11T12:26:54.351+13:00

I follow Anthony Watts, and he's come across this, from the wonderfully named Joe Bastardi. JB sees a re-run of the early-50's pattern of a La Nina which stopped the global warming (which had peaked in the '30's) in its tracks. Yup, we need to be more worried about cooling than warming. As someone who actually farms for a living notes, one nights cooling can kill your crop. One night's

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-39910701763071096862008-01-24T11:36:00.000+13:002008-01-24T11:43:42.314+13:002008-01-24T11:43:42.314+13:00

A chilling but essential read for all who harbour Pollyanna thoughts about the Long War. Belmont Club has always turned out excellent analysis, and the comments thread is simply breathtaking. Especially Zenster. Plus there's a link to dear Steven Den Beste, on Triage. Compare this thread with the pathetic namecalling on, say, DPF's comments threads. Pick almost any one. Sigh.

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-50127806434739572322008-01-23T13:11:00.000+13:002008-01-23T13:15:36.479+13:002008-01-23T13:15:36.479+13:00

I've always been a sucker for maps, and this one (ht: Gods of Copybook Headings) is a bewdy. Yup, we're about the size of the US of A's District of Columbia. Oz, OTOH, is Ohio.

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-9565919037018428042008-01-18T15:29:00.000+13:002008-01-18T15:44:18.773+13:002008-01-18T15:44:18.773+13:00

It all sounds very technical, but it is quite important. Find out (if you're a shareholder in a bank, financial instituion or even a pension fund of any description, and with KiwiSaver, that's most of us) what value of institutions' assets are in the Voodoo bucket. There's a most useful primer here, and a bearish article from Asia Times online here. Because until we know (a) where the

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-50089035735175381292008-01-03T13:39:00.000+13:002008-01-03T13:47:15.858+13:002008-01-03T13:47:15.858+13:00

Stewart Brand should need no introduction: Whole Earth Catalog, and a personal favourite: How Buildings Learn. Edge mag invited a whole bunch of folks to say what they changed their mind about in 2007. Guess what our Stewart came out with? Good Old Stuff Sucks. The obligatory quote: "The Precautionary Principle tells me I should worry about everything new because it might have hidden

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-63552425022466130172007-12-20T17:32:00.000+13:002007-12-20T17:39:42.783+13:002007-12-20T17:39:42.783+13:00

Something I'd read ages ago, updated here by the always-estimable Martin Wolf of the FT, and commented by Naked Capitalism. If there is a crunch or three coming along (energy use, global cooling cos' of Chilling Stars, various tragedies of the commons), we humans won't react all that well. Fights. Wars. The line which best sums it all up: "People fight to keep what they have more fiercely

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-36588342732550867192007-12-17T15:09:00.000+13:002007-12-17T15:22:34.891+13:002007-12-17T15:22:34.891+13:00

This little anecdote has to be one of this season's LOL hits.... How's about: a huhu grub inside a rifleman inside a tui inside a pigeon inside a blue duck inside a little bush moa inside a New Zealand eagle I'd just be exerting my customary/culinary/cultural rights. Oh dear. Some of these here boids seem to have been extincificated. Culinary rights clearly have a Lot to Answer For.

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-36289301088312869062007-11-29T17:40:00.001+13:002007-11-29T17:58:35.276+13:002007-11-29T17:58:35.276+13:00

This is just the best news. Big award, for a deserving company. With current solar at around$USD3-5/watt, buying say 2 or 3 kw of panels is economic madness, particularly when you do the conversion to the Kiwi Peso. Best price I've seen for silicon is around $NZD9/watt. Times that by, what the hell, 3000, and that's a lot of pesos. No more. Nanosolar (hmm, I seem to have figured this out

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-83743022154240531012007-10-01T09:41:00.000+13:002007-10-05T08:27:37.194+13:002007-10-05T08:27:37.194+13:00

This is the latest (and, to my mind, clearest) statement about the origin of Oil - it ain't a 'fossil' fuel at all, according to those contararian Ruskies. It's a natural product, created deep within the Earth and slow-erupted up into the crust. Where it can be found by following geological signs, but just not the ones the Western scientific world tends to use. All this rather does blow a big

Waymadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999453.post-50815406706297258702007-09-25T15:36:00.000+12:002007-09-25T15:41:30.132+12:002007-09-25T15:41:30.132+12:00

At last, a univeristy type with a backbone. This is Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger's address to the hapless Iranian. Mr President, I'll second that.

Waymadnoreply@blogger.com