The Filter^

The Eagle Joke

Two climbers were climbing roped together in the Scottish Highlands. They saw some eagles soaring above them. Later the climbers slipped over the edge of a precipice and unfortunately plunged to their deaths. Their souls left their mortal bodies and ascended to heaven. As they rose they saw the same eagles and one soul cried out to them, 'Ah - Eagles' But the eagles, being polite, said nothing.

Do you get it?

It comes from Paul Sloane: dotty and worthy of attention. Also check out his soccer quiz.

Thanks to David "shut the window you tit" Skinner for sending me the link.

Where are all the heroes?

This was a question posed in a recent class, and people lamented the lack of "heroes" that the free market has provided. For those that lean leftward, the likes of Che Guevara, Lenin, and even Tony Benn stand out as inspirational icons around which to focus a movement. The leaders of freedom are less pronounced, and considered far far less romantic.

But to search for heroes, to hope for one great man to arise and lead us toward utopia is wholly a socialist device. Classical liberalism is decidedly anti-hero. Heroism is dispersed widely, and barely noticeably: every early morning that we head into work is a heroic step for one, but together we leap. Each individual's contribution to heroism is uncelebrated and therefore true. The shopkeeper, the bus driver, the accountant: all heroes.

Of course modern "heroes" such as David Beckham, P Diddy and Donald Trump are products of capitalism, but to idiolise them misses the point. They are recipients of the prosperity a free market can provide, but they did not create it. The true heroes are Real Madrid, and all the other fans who pay the wages. And the factories and offices that employ them. Modern icons are unpleasant, garish and vulgar: my point is not to present them as alternatives to Marx. Be wary.

And whilst Libertarians might lament Hayek's support for compulsory education, it is the role of heroes that makes me whole-heartedly agree with him: we shouldn't look at education as being academic research, rather the foundation for learning. I'd like to see the higher education budget diverted in its entirety to primary and secondary schools, for positive and normative reasons, and i'm not so fussed about scientists shouting Eureka! because vast funds with a definite goal is both a socialist/free market device. Rather, a catallaxy requires knowledgable citizens, and we all benefit from modest advances across the spectrum. I'm calling for a fattening of the PPF rather than concentrating on expanding the frontiers.

Note, I am not trying to sketch out a utopia. On that issue, here is the furthest i'd go. Here on earth I am: to find the free market heroes, just watch the commute.

Saddam to stand for election?

Zaman Online have reported a story from a Danish newspaper claiming that Saddam Hussein intends to run for President in Iraq's democratic elections, in January 2005.
Unless he's on trial before the bout (which I doubt), international law seems to permit him the right to stand.

Question of the Day: What if they voted him back?

Straw and Mugabe

We all know the feeling: you're in the Raz, you're drunk, it's dark.... birds everywhere.... you're having a grope and only until you either get outside, notice your mates laughing, or (heaven forbid) wake up the next morning next to "it" do you realise you've been copping off with a horror.

From the Daily Mail:

Jack Straw shook hands with Robert Mugabe at a UN meeting, it has emerged.

Mr Straw said: "Because it was quite dark in that corner I was being pushed towards shaking hands with somebody just as a matter of courtesy."

To see just how dark, click here.

Appendum 28th Sep
Or is this the picture? Sorry, it's a bit dark here.

Diversity, at a Price(formerly Maybe "Markets in Everything" is True)

From the The Festival Shop, click image to enlarge.

£149.95 for a set of dolls? What kind of "diverse world" do they live in? One without any poor people?

Agenda Setters 2004

Silicon.com has released a list of 51 Agenda Setters of 2004. Of note are:

2. Steve Jobs
CEO of Apple Computers. Mac OS X, iMac, iPod...crap after-sale service, though.
22. Lawrence Lessig
Fair-use lawyer who understands the differences between the markets of goods and ideas. A left-Coasean.
5. David Blunkett
According to Silicon.com (without any irony, of course!): With an eye on the future, it seems Blunkett will carry on his agenda setting pace, making sure technology insinuates its way further into the lives of even the most ordinary of British citizens. But another popular tech website, The Register is less keen on Mr B (see here, here and here).
7. Linus Torvalds
We all love Linux. It's free, for a start! And development doesn't seem to dry up. Defies all expectations from traditional conservative economics.
43. Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley
Thanks to these two, I have been employed by a Blue-chip for the past two years, writing up documentations of the company! Whether it's worthwhile or not it's another debate...
44. Richard Stallman
The philosopher of the open-source age. A bit lefty, but inspirational.

Bobby McMahon

Here's to the nearly men: in the Aussie Rules Grand Final, the Brisbane Lions were going for their fourth consecutive title. Only Collingwood have previously managed such a feat, in 1927-30.
Alas, Port Adelaide were too strong in the second half and the unique achievement remains. An unanticipated benefit of watching Fox Sports World is their the devotion to Aussie Rules.

Although I'd never subscribe to Sky, I have Fox Sports World here in the US, since it is the only means to watch Everton at all. Yesterday there were three Premiership matches, and today I'll be watching Everton live on pay-per-view. The commentary is the same as in England, but the presenters are American. Except one.
"Expert Soccer Analyst" Bobby McMahon has a thick Scottish accent, and enjoys a prophet-like aura of complete respect. His opinion every night on Fox Sports World Report is treated as definitive, and his credentials taken for granted.
But who the hell is he?? Obviously he's not set foot in the Premiership, and I don't recognise him from any of the great Liverpool, Arsenal, Forest, Villa teams of the 70s. I could only assume he was a journeyman in the mid 70s and his accent's done the rest.

From Friends Reunited:

Living in Winnipeg, Canada since 1979. Married with a 22 year old stepson.
Operate my own company that provides advice and assistance to cities holding
major sporting events.
Still follow football very closely and I do newspaper, radio and television work
on world "soccer", as they refer to it here.
You get away with murder if you have an accent!

Mersey Redivivus

This week's Economist surveys Liverpool's mix of culture and commerce.
Article here.

The jist, is that the City should permit commerce to fuel the cultural aspirations, rather than devoting resources to titles such as World Heritage Site or City of Culture.

Downtown Liverpool's aim is to encourage a more dynamic city centre, one that will help Liverpool to “regain commercial power and cultural richness.” In that order. If the city's history teaches anything, it is that art follows money, not the other way round. The neo-classical Walker Art Gallery, with its Corinthian columns and exceptional collection of high Victorian art; the Anglican cathedral, which celebrates its centenary this year, with its shimmering west window by Carl Edwards; and the magnificent town hall, designed by John Wood and James Wyatt, two of Britain's greatest 18th-century architects: all are testament to the generous industrial patronage responsible for most of the city's heritage.

The two go hand in hand. The Capital of Culture title has clearly played a role in current cultural resurgence, for example Henry IV once more deserves a mention. I think that the Council is looking ahead, and attempting to create a platform for culture to flourish. As long as they don't stifle the actual innovation, that seems fine.

Boris Johnson's Blog

Get in! Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson has a blog.

Boris reporting for duty

Hi folks, this is Boris Johnson here. Welcome to my blogsite, where I hope to be blogging for some time to come. You may ask yourself why on earth I am filling the electronic ether with yet more of my stuff, given that I can already be discovered in the pages of the Henley Standard, Daily Telegraph, Spectator etc.

It is a damn good question.

The answer is that very persuasive man called Tim has recently been to my office in the Commons. He told me that blogging is the future. He spoke of the online community, and its rapid expansion. He said that newspapers were outmoded.

He spoke of a new kind of politics. He waved his hands and rolled his eyes. So I have acceded to his advice, and begun to blog.

Tim tells me that the idea is that I fall out of bed every morning, blazing with inspiration, and thunder out 3000 words on the issue of the hour, so generating a pandemic internet controversy. I am not sure, frankly, that I will manage that. But I hope that there will be some other bloggers out there who may feel moved to give me some advice - not least on the funding of the Arts, to which I am now devoting my meditations.

Must blog off for the time being.

For those who know little about Boris, there's a good Observer article about his new novel "72 Virgins". (Or should that be 72 raisins?)

In his salad days, when up at Oxford, Boris Johnson took it upon himself to put on a play loosely based on the scribblings of the Roman historian Suetonius. Only, a typical Johnson wheeze this, the youthful classicist decided to give the venerable work a Dadaist slant, producing a culture clash that bitterly divided his three-strong audience

Apple Stew

In August 2003 I bought an iBook G3 for £799, but having installed a memory card it became apparant that the slot was faulty. It went into repair, and came back having not been looked at. It went back in, and after returning, applications kept quitting at random. Back in the UK I sent it in again, and it still wasn't fixed.
In August 2004 Apple Store replaced it with a G4 with a market value of £799.

Today I went into the Tysons Corner Apple Store, because Apple Care US, Apple Care UK, and Apple Store UK all said that my compensation claim would have to go through them. I explained that by replacing the machine Apple have admitted that it was faulty, and because it was faulty I spent a year with a dodgy computer. In total, it was in repair for a month, and spent a month without any applications installed for "troubleshooting". Also, my Airport Card and Memory card are not compatable with the replacement machine, so in order to get the same level of performance as the original, i'd need to spend £££ on Apple products.

The Manager tried to convince me that since the G4 is far superior to the G3 I was better off. I agreed that a G4 is better than a G3. But I disagreed that a G4 in 2004 is better than a G3 in 2003. She explained the increase capabilities of the G4, but slower, and slightly louder. So I asked this question:

If a consumer is better off buying the more advance model one year from now, why would anyone buy a computer. Ever?

Latest22nd Sep
US Apple Care are to send me a new Airport card.