Whatever

• The impedance mismatch between the wishes of planners and the reality on the ground. "The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not."
• Government bailouts work both ways it seems. One of the big problems with this trend is that it won't be true privatization, and in a few years unfettered capitalism will take the blame.
• On Biden
• What's that old line about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?
• Andy, Fannie, and Freddie
  

Whatever

• The high price of energy is a political, not economic, problem. "Windfall" profit taxes and consumer subsidies, i.e. more politics, will only exacerbate the problem. And along with those economic inefficiencies comes corruption.
  
• Um, whoops?
• Ok, I take back what I said last week about science making Science Fiction boring
• Sometimes you win by just letting your enemies be themselves
  

Whatever

• Yes, let's give a stupid movie that will literaly have 15 minutes of fame more attention that it deserves
• Science is making Science Fiction boring
• Ah, rent seeking at its finest (pun intended, of course). So, is the problem here that businesses are lobbying those who will attain power or the power itself?
• This is why Obama was marginally appealing to me
• Man! If you can't rely on the "Republicans are in the pocket of Big Oil" shibboleth what can you rely on
  

Whatever

• Obama wants to tax (i.e., reduce) the production of and subsidise (i.e., increase) the demand for oil. People, this is not hard: reducing the supply of or increasing the demand for a good, ceteris paribus, means the price will increase. Encouraging both as a plan to ease higher prices should be a sign of insanity (or political prowess).
• What's the big deal? We weren't using the Fourth Amendment anyway.
• Oooh! LHC is sexy (in a sciency sort of way)
• An interesting video explaining why, even if you are 100% innocent, you should never talk to the police (HT: Bruce Schneier)
• I agree with Perry's comment at the end of this blog post, but it won't be long before it is considered anti-social
• More significant than the iPhone?? How dare you say such things!
• The food industry, in an effort to avoid dealing with a problem itself, calls for more regulation. "More important than the financial loss is the loss of consumer confidence," says an industry representative. Well, getting consumers confident in your product is a cost you should have to bear. Calling for government to regulate makes you sound noble, but it has the added "benefit," I'm sure, of pushing out marginal competitors.
• Don't think that raising the minimum wage had no part is bringing this and this about