Incompetence of the powerful
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Hey here’s an idea
I realize that “ideas” and “thinking” are not features of the current regime in America — or should I say “Amerika” — but here’s one anyway. If trade deficits are such a crucial thing, maybe review an industry where we have a big trade surplus: education. Thousands of foreign students want to come here to… Continue reading
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Did you know…
The Nobel Prize in Economics is not a Nobel prize. It’s a fake created by the Swedish central bank in 1968. It “honors” Alfred Nobel, but the Nobel committee does not award a prize in economics. I believe that’s because they do not consider economics an actual science. And neither should we. Milton Friedman, who… Continue reading
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It’s not just the cursed repubs
From Cory Doctorow:“Trump couldn’t have pulled this trick off without the Dem establishment’s total unwillingness to confront the hollowness of their economic policies. From Pelosi’s “We’re capitalists and that’s the way it is” to Hillary Clinton’s catastrophic campaign slogan, “America is already great,” the Dems’ answer to workers’ fear and anger was, “You are wrong,… Continue reading
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Not an April Fool Joke
The EU and France are more rational and intelligent than the orange baby’s régime; there’s no question about that. Nevertheless, French regulators just did something ridiculous: France fines Apple €150M for “excessive” pop-ups that let users reject tracking. John Gruber at Daring Fireball explains. In short: “App Tracking Transparency actually accomplished, in practice, via user-focused… Continue reading
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The last man in the Canterbury waste land
Cold misty rain, supposedly all week. it’s not a soaking rain, but the damp chill seems icier than even the silent cold days of midwinter. The forecast for the week is gray and dank; every day shows rain. I wonder how long weather forecasting will continue. I wonder about the mediocrity of “the world’s richest… Continue reading
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Inept, faithless, and arrogant
Steve Schmidt put it eloquently: “Donald Trump’s national security team has been exposed — and permanently unmasked — as moral degenerates. They are incompetent clowns, who beggar description because they stand peerless in the entire history of America as singularly inept, faithless and arrogant. Michael Waltz, JD Vance, Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff, Stephen… Continue reading
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Look on my works and despair
I met a traveller from an antique landWho said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desart. Near them, on the sand,Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them… Continue reading
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Lying, cheating, and laziness
Capitalists love to talk about markets and competition — up to a point. But when market competition gets difficult, like when the capitalists in question are faced with a competitor offering a better product, or a better price, or really any other advantages, well…then they reveal that they hate competition, and their real preference is… Continue reading
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Disturbing hints continue
“Shortly after the [2024] election, a newspaper reporter asked Nikolai Patrushev, who is close to Putin, if Trump’s election would mean ‘positive changes from Russia’s point of view.’ Patrushev answered: ‘To achieve success in the elections, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. And as a responsible person, he will… Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.