Happy New Year!

That's all folks..

History of the Amiga Cont'd..

History of the Amiga part 7.. A little late with this one but i must..

Stoopid Spotting..

Darpa budget cut.. Via Instapundit. Wow, i mean f@ck me, a government agency that's spending your money wisely and has some left over from the previous year gets shafted and their budget cut for the next.. must be so those agencies with the 'special' accountants can have more of your money to squander on building bridges to nowhere, monuments to nothing and paying contractors to do some work, what kind of work you ask..? Who cares, as long as that money's being spent stoopid..

European Banks worse off than US banks..

European banks in worse shape than US banks. Spotted via EU Referendum.. Bloody Europeans, telling off the Americans for the financial mess they're in and a week later suffering worse than the US is.. Fascinating this whole mess is, in Europe raising interest rates too aggressively to fight inflation has caused serious problems in some EU countries, while here in Australia the same thing occurred, only here, the rate rises caused some financial pain to one or two households without affecting the whole country adversely, the same cannot be said for some EU members who's economies are starting to look rather shaky.. So much for that European wonderland they're trying to build, there's too many differences between European countries for this to go on, either quit now and just leave your trading in place, as you would anyway, or completely integrate which is the least preferred option and unlikely to happen due to those existing differences.. I vote for just give it up, if it's meant to happen it will, stop trying to force the issue..

Financial Crisis, brought to you, by the government..

Who caused “the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression?” Great article that's to the point by Roger Kimball.. My take, screw any bailout that doesn't include massive changes to legislation, changes to the effect of the government staying the f@ck out of business.. As i have stated before, economics ain't that hard, it's common sense which seems to be missing in abundance nowadays from a lot of people. Screw the Sub-Prime collapse, i would have taken a fine and tied up payment in the courts for years.. Australian banks are doing just fine, billions of dollars in profit year after year, (They're screwing us with fees..? WTF..? ed.) I know, but at least they're not making bad loans to the tune of a trillion dollars..

Which is it..?

Two articles from the same source, The Canberra Times, two hours apart and two conflicting messages.. First article talks about a massive storm across NSW with high winds and rain, the second article talks about the growing drought in NSW.. Well, which is it, i thought rain lessens the drought, yet two hours after reporting on lots of rain across the whole of the state, we seem to be in a greater drought then before.. Please make up your minds, my heads starting to hurt..

Ok, breaks over, hopefully..

Just lost interest, not that anyone cares. Upheaval's out of my control haven't helped, but i might be regaining some need, nay, desire, to voice my thoughts to the public at large, all 270 that have visited as of this writing.. Woohoo, broke that 250 barrier in no time..

We'll see how things progress, slowly at first and then who knows. I've changed the title to reflect my quest in life, the discovery, dissection and ultimate understanding of Stoopid.. Stoopid is everywhere and i am fascinated by it in a morbid kind of way, i believe that by ultimately understanding Stoopid, i can understand the universe, and possibly take over it thereafter.. mmmhh possibly..

More half arsed privatizations..

This time in Romania.. pathetic, economics ain't that hard..

Why bother then..?

Small part of national asset privatized.. in Germany only 24.9 percent of the rail operator Deutsche Bahn AG will be privatized.. why bother then..? If you don't privatize the whole lot, forget about it, this way you raise some money for your government coffers but will not enable the market to take this business forward as the government still has too much control and say in matters, a bit like Telstra in Australia.. just sell the whole lot or don't even bother, companies in limbo between private and government hands are undervalued, restricted and held back due to government stake still existing and interfering..

UN chief not being timid..?

"Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Monday for immediate presidential elections in Lebanon without foreign interference and told Syria and Iran they must support the disarmament of Hezbollah's well-armed militia." This isn't the first time Ban Ki-moon is hitting the right cords lately, i really need to fish up those links to the other occasions.. ahh, here on Zimbabwe, on biofuels, talking about Cambodian justice and unlike previous UN Chief's, he's condemning both sides when talking about Gaza.. It's kind of refreshing, but maybe it's just cause he's new in the job, i mean, you get kinda tired after a while hearing yourself call for all kinds of things you have no control over, while the people and their countries that do, just continuously ignore your pleas.. mmmhh, only time will tell..

Australia now bigger..

Thanks to the UN Australia is now bigger than ever.. WTF??? Couldn't we have just said we are bigger without UN involment..? If anyone complained, we could have threatened them with our bb guns.. (We don't have any bb guns, they're illegal.. Ed.) illegal eh, crap..

Quote of the day..

"He joked about having me arrested for bringing one of Icke's books through customs. I mean, book-burning carries a lot of baggage, doesn't it?" by documentarist Jon Ronson.

Located towards the end on page 5 of this Macleans article on Canada's various human rights commissions and Richard Warman in particular who Jon Ronson was speaking about. Article spotted via Instapundit.

Growing number of Starving Billionaire's..

That's nigh impossible you say, billionaire's starving.. what madness, well yes, unless you live in Zimbabwe. I had thought of things to say in relation to that basket case Mugabe who has managed to screw Zimbabwe every which way, but enough people have weighed in with all that, plus i got distracted by people's ability to find humor in even the worst of conditions..

CTA Symposium: Iraq v. Mahdi Army..

Fadhil Brothers, Ledeen, Peters and Roggio Join Discussion on Iraq, Basra and Iran's Hand.. Read it all. This kind of discussion and sane analysis should be widely distributed, so i'm doing my bit, (No one reads your blog! ed.) as long as one person finds it through this blog i've done my job.. Via Winds Of Change.

Stoopidity all around..

The Captain Ed Stoopidity.. There's a lot of talk about US presidential hopeful Barack Obama's failure to properly distance himself from his church's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who has made some stoopid speeches. As it seems, the man has some mental problems which hinder his ability to live in reality and therefore tends to believe in conspiracy theories.. oh, and it seems he's a racist to boot which Captain Ed points out while Andrew Sullivan defends.. well not really, he defends Obama as far as understanding why he was drawn to Christianity and not necessarily to the stoopid paster, the Rev. Wright..

Where i get confused with all this nonsense is that Mitt Romney and his faith gets brought into this posting, by Captain Ed, pointing out what Mr. Sullivan said about Romney's religion, and then clarifying the differences between the two politicians, hey look, Obama's stoopid cause of Rev. Wright, and you claimed that Romney is because of Mormonism but it's not the same.. umm right..

I have a lot of respect for Ed Morrissey, he's got a breadth of knowledge and a great writing style, but he's gunning for stoopid if he's defending Romney in any way whatsoever.. look, Obama's an idiot for being associated with someone like Rev. Wright, the reverend is obviously stoopid and a racist, but Romney's just as stoopid to be a Mormon, I mean come on, Mormonism, go on read it, sounds like a cult to me, like say Scientology which the Captain would surely agree with. The Captains argument in defending Romney and his repudiations of the stoopid parts of Mormonism don't cut it, Mormonism originally started with Joseph Smith Jr., a supposed prophet, wacko cultist sounds more like an apt description, so i'm not really interested in what if any parts of Mormonism have been repudiated by Romney, the fact he hasn't repudiated the whole sect of Christianity called Mormonism or The Church of the Latter Day Saints as they like to be called, makes me think Romney is just as stoopid as Obama. How someone can believe in an even modified version of something created by a demented individual is beyond me, 'ohh people are getting upset about this or that part of our religion, quick lets change it to seem more normal' doesn't change the fact that the whole thing was based on a big pile of shit, you can massage and change it anyway you want, but in the end it's still a pile of shit..

Defections, from Cuba, come on..

Defections from Cuba's Olympic soccer team. Cuba's Olympic mens soccer team are currently in the USA for their qualifiers, Florida to be exact, and it seems that they had to start their latest game with only 10 men, why you ask, well, it seems the rest of the team has defected. Who would have thought, Cubans wanting to defect from their home country.. more proof of what a magnificent socialist paradise Cuba really is..

What with their world class health and education system i just don't understand why anyone would want to defect. /end sarcasm.

Another one sees the light..

Why I am no longer a 'Brain Dead Liberal'. By David Mamet. I'm fascinated by the blinkers that are worn by 'Liberals', 'Progressives' or whatever you want to call them, when they come off and are able to admit what they see and not dismiss it as some sort of right wing conspiracy. I changed, when i started looking at the facts and came to my own conclusions about any given situation, instead of just spewing forth what ever was hip at the time with no thought as to it's truthfulness or basis in reality.

The first sentence in this essay is beautiful - John Maynard Keynes was twitted with changing his mind. He replied, "When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?"

That's a poignant question, unfortunately still too many just shriek and run around like headless chickens as if the world was coming to an end and nobody but them could see the impending disaster. Since changing my first misled youthful opinion, I've lived by that motto, when the facts change, i change my opinion to exhibit the facts as they stand. Essay spotted via Tim Blair.

High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas..

The Race to Save the Cougar Ace. A great read about some extraordinary people with a fascinating job. Spotted via EagleSpeak.

Sydney FC buy well..

Good signings for Sydney FC.. Two great buys, one not so much. I've always thought highly of Simon Colosimo, good player and Mark Bridge is a talent to look out for, Aloisi on the other hand, not so much, he will add experience and probably have more chances in front of goal with the way Sydney play, but i don't rate him, great penalty to send us to the world cup old boy, but that's about it..

Credit Crunch my shiny @ss..

Australia's Credit Crunch..? What the..? I call bullshit on the FT, whoever wrote this article is a doom mongering nitwit, i know where this article belongs on the stoopidity curve, right next to stoopid.. and another thing, you're quoting Citigroup, not an individual who works at Citigroup, but Citigroup itself..? this is the same Citigroup that only recently needed financial help to stop it from bleeding to death, ok that's overexaggerated, the bleeding to death part at least, but come on FT, what a load of bollocks.. if you're going to quote some experts, try and quote one that hasn't lost a sh!tload of money recently due to bad decisions..

Expert? Define Expert..?

UN expert wipes mouth after uncontrollable flow of bullsh!t spews forth.. It's all Israel's fault, blah, blah, blah.. Israel's fault, blah.. fault, Israel, blah blah blah..

Maybe we just never noticed before, or people are really becoming polarized.. I think it's the latter, i also believe that this internet thingy that we in the modern world can no longer live without, has brought attention to this polarization.. what polarization you ask..? the one between left and right, Democrat and Republican or Liberal and Labor, (Liberal and Labor..? There's no policy difference! What polarization..? Ed.) no, I'm talking about the only polarization that exists in the world today, stoopidity vs. the rest of us.. profound, i know, but that's just the way i am..

Hungary allows Forint to float..

Forint to float.. Excellent. Economics is a rather difficult balancing act, or so most people would have you believe, who are these "most people", it's the idiots running a host of countries across the globe.. The market will always correct itself, it's when governments interfere that you see the problems extended in time and scope past anything market forces would have produced.

This is a step in the right direction for Hungary that will benefit the country in the long run.

Just remember, it took Australia nearly 20 years of reforms to get the country out of debt and into the superb economic shape it is in today, you have to make some short term sacrifices for the long term benefits to kick in.

Quote of the day..

"Name an old standby: CBS—Rather and the “memo”; Newsweek—the Periscope flushing of the Koran lie; Reuters—the photoshopped smoke over Beirut; New Republic—the Beauchamp mythology. The examples could be multiplied, but the theme is the same: a media elite, well educated and sophisticated, believes that their own biased means are necessary to achieve a utopian and just ends for the rest of us."

By Victor Davis Hanson, commenting on the attempted hit piece by the New York Times on John McCain.

What, me alarmed?

Mark Steyn: So what would it take to alarm you? Spotted via Instapundit.

Hostility against EPL's plans..

Australia against Premier plan.. Too right.. I'm yet to hear anyone say it's a good idea other than those who thought of it. I love the English Premier League, the way it is, by having an extra round in some other country, you would be turning the best football league into a bit of a joke.. Only desperate sports go to play their game in another country, in an attempt to spread the gospel or make more money.. The EPL does not need to do this.. Football does not need this..

The History of the Amiga.. Cont'd..

The history of the Amiga.. Part 6.. Woohoo, the next installment is here, thanks Ars.. (I'm impressed, you didn't steal this one from Glenn Reynolds.. Ed.) Heh.. (I'll let that one pass for original linking.. Ed.)

Great Mystery of the World Solved..

Why paper cuts hurt so much.. H/T: Instapundit.

One mystery solved, many more to go in my endless search for the truth.. (The truth is, this is the second link you scabbed from Glenn Reynolds today! Ed.).. Heh.. (Seriously dude, this has got to stop.. Ed.)

A New Middle East, After All..

A New Middle East, After All.. That about sums it up, read the whole thing.. H/T: Instapundit.

What the f@ck..?

Taxing illegal drugs.. Now hang on a minute, this is so absurd I'm lost for words.. oh wait, you mean you can tax something that's not technically legal and therefore you don't "actually" have it in the first place.. this doesn't make any sense, the only bright light in this woeful tale of stoopidity, is the fact that taxing illegal drugs is what most people with sound mental functions have advocated for years, except these guys obviously didn't hear or chose to ignore (more likely, ed) the other part of that argument where you make the product legal first..

We're half way there, that should be of comfort, somehow, it's not..

What the..?

Sweden to study belching cows.. Not sure what's worse here, the fact that there's going to be nearly $600,000 spent on watching cows burp, or the fact that the Canadians are already on top of this..

Here's an idea, slaughter that bovine and let's have a barbie, problem solved, no more methane exhalations for that little f@cker..

Who would have thought..?

There's gold in Sweden..

Shame on you Hungary..

Hungary first country in EU to ratify Lisbon Treaty.. to sum up where this is all heading with a snappy little picture, behold.. image originally from Skender, first spotted via The Brussels Journal..

How low can you go..?

Absolutely disgusting.. please go read it. Chuck Adkins is a despicable little man (actually he's quite large.. ed.), i think the more exposure this individual receives for his disgusting behaviour the more likely he'll be shunned in future by the world at large, or maybe someone will just kick him in the nuts, multiple times, this will help in maintaining the integrity of the gene pool (look at the man when you follow the link, do you really believe propagation is possible.. Ed.), well, just to be sure..

No more wealth and property tax..

Sweden abolishes wealth and property taxes for 2008.. Another good move by the new government to make taxes more fair. Overtaxing the wealthy disproportionately is not good policy, the wealthy can always afford to hire the best minds to find loopholes to reduce their taxes and if they make a loophole free tax system, (does it even exist? Ed.) they can always move to Switzerland.

There will be a new municipal tax with a 6000 Kronor ceiling to replace the federal property tax and something about lowering the tax break on private savings for certain peoples or something, i am getting distracted, more on that later.. back to business. It was to be compensated by a decrease in the tax break granted to private pension savings, which is not the way to go, especially with an ageing population. The ultimate financial situation would be for the government never having to pay a pension for anyone, one day maybe, but for now it's just a dream..

..as to my distraction, I had a visitor yesterday from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) to my site, this person was taking a look at the privatisation in Sweden article i wrote up yesterday, wow, i'm impressed i have such important visitor's on matters of economics. Hopefully there will be more visits, for longer, because i'm sure they could use some forward thinking ideas and of course since it's the OECD, even a fifth grader could give them some sound advice that would have them gasping in awe, cause you know, it's the economy stoopid..

Quote of the day..

"Mohammed Elmasry, head of the Canadian Idiotic Congress, today clarified his views on a number of issues in an attempt to construct a Grand Unified Field Theory of Retardation based on the stupidest things he's said in the last 5 years." Quote by Kathy Shaidle.