Guardian is AGAIN forced to correct false claim on ICJ ruling
18 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, media bias, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
As we wrote in a post last week, a Guardian article by their Beirut correspondent William Christou (“US imposes sanctions on Palestinians for requesting war crimes inquiry“, 5 Sept) included the following erroneous claim: In an interim judgment in January 2024, the ICJ ruled that the claim of genocide was “plausible”… As we’ve noted in communications […]
Guardian is AGAIN forced to correct false claim on ICJ ruling
We Can’t Value ‘Ancient Wisdom’ Over Scientific Fact
18 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, health economics, liberalism
Robert Bartholomew writes – Over the past decade there has been an explosion of interest in indigenous knowledge. The United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa have been at the forefront of the movement to integrate ‘ancient wisdom’ with modern science and decision-making by applying it to everything from public health to climate change. […]
We Can’t Value ‘Ancient Wisdom’ Over Scientific Fact
More corporate welfare for airlines
18 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, politics - New Zealand, survivor principle, transport economics
The Government announced: The Coalition Government will support at risk regional air routes with up to $30 million in loans from the Regional Infrastructure Fund for small passenger airlines, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Associate Transport Minister James Meager say. “Reliable air services are critical for the economic and social wellbeing of regional New […]
More corporate welfare for airlines
Robert Redford 18.8.36 – 16.9.25
17 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in movies
Actor and director Robert Redford has died: Robert Redford, who has died at the age of 89, appeared in more than 50 Hollywood films, won an Oscar as a director, and became a champion of independent film-makers, founding the annual Sundance Film Festival to showcase their work. Success meant he could pick and choose his projects, […]
Robert Redford 18.8.36 – 16.9.25
The United States vs. Europe, Part IV
17 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: European Union
I put a lot of focus on “convergence” and “divergence” because economic theory says rich countries should not grow faster than poor countries. So when there are examples of divergence, especially when looking at decades of data, we can learn very important lessons about economic policy. Those lessons, in every single case, teach us that […]
The United States vs. Europe, Part IV
PRESCOTT on quality adjusted medical price indexes
17 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economic history, Edward Prescott, health economics, macroeconomics
Alarmists Fail to Refute Realistic Climate Report
17 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - USA Tags: climate activists, climate alarmism
They shoot, they miss, we score. David Wojick reports on the laughable failure of alarmists in his CFACT article Attack on DOE Climate Report is a comedy of criticism. Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images. The DOE science report saying the impact of CO2 on climate is exaggerated was quickly followed by […]
Alarmists Fail to Refute Realistic Climate Report
A blueprint for better Government
17 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice
The NZ Initiative has put out a great report proposing a much more efficient structure for both Cabinet and the wider Executive. NZ currently has 81 ministerial portfolios, 28 ministers and 43 executive agencies. By comparison Ireland has 15 Ministers and 18 departments. The Initiative propose a Cabinet of 15 Ministers, being: Incidentally I proposed […]
A blueprint for better Government
Bill Maher: The price of free speech (clearly “offense”)
16 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, television, TV shows Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Here’s the latest “New Rules” interlude from Bill Maher’s Real Time show, called “New Rule: The price of free speech.” It’s a big hooray for the First Amendment, including Maher’s opposing (as I do) Trump’s ban on flag-burning. But he also call’s out the Left’s attempted curbs on free speech (I didn’t know that Lisa […]
Bill Maher: The price of free speech (clearly “offense”)
Ferris doubled down on his racism
16 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: racial discrimination
The Herald reports: Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris has doubled down on social media comments he made last week which led to “racist” allegations and an apology from his party. In a new Instagram video, Ferris said it is “unacceptable” for people of other ethnicities to campaign to “take a Māori seat from the […]
Ferris doubled down on his racism
Short (?) review: “Sex is a spectrum”
16 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Reading time: Whatever. . . You’ll probably guess from the title of this short (150-page) book by Agustín Fuentes (Princeton University Press) that I am not keen on its thesis, and you’d be right. In fact, the thesis is nothing new, even if you have read Fuentes’s article about it in Natural History and Scientific […]
Short (?) review: “Sex is a spectrum”
Sir Les Patterson (Barry Humphries) on Parkinson in Australia 1981
16 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in television, TV shows
BBC Verify’s experts on proportionality include Corbyn ‘Gaza tribunal’ participants
15 Sep 2025 2 Comments
in defence economics, International law, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
The concept of proportionality – or as it is more often presented, ‘disproportionality’ – has long been a theme that is widely used in BBC reporting on armed conflicts involving Israel. However, contrary to the narrative frequently advanced by the BBC, that concept does not relate to the relative numbers of people killed on either […]
BBC Verify’s experts on proportionality include Corbyn ‘Gaza tribunal’ participants
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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