Quote of the Day
That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity.Simple can be harder than complex:
You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.
But it’s worth it in the end
because once you get there,
you can move mountains.
Steve Jobs
Congratulations, Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks!
As a long-term frustrated Minnesota Vikings fan (0-4 in Super Bowl history), I am an NFC fan, although to be honest, I wouldn't have minded if Denver had pulled it off because I didn't like the lack of sportsmanship of a certain notorious Seahawks defensive player and I would like to have seen the best quarterback in the game (Peyton Manning) win his second championship under different teams. (No, I'm not a Minnesota/surrounding area native; I was an Air Force brat. My first Little League baseball team was the Twins; I subsequently followed the MLB team, and when I started to watch pro football in high school, my loyalty transferred to the Vikes and the Purple People Eaters.)
This game was never in doubt from the very first play when Seattle scored a safety off a bad center snap over Manning's head and a subsequent next possession three-and-out. Other than one brilliant third-quarter drive, Manning never got on track despite completing 34 of 49 pass attempts, less than 10 yards a completion. You have to give the Seattle defense props for sticky coverage and key turnovers, without making turnovers of their own. There's an old saw in football that a good defense will beat a great offense; one columnist recently pointed out how of the 12 most prolific offenses in recent football history, only one managed to win the Super Bowl.
Chart of the Day:
The Minimum Wage: Weapon of Mass Youth Unemployment
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| Courtesy of Cato Institute |
There are seven European Union (EU) countries with no minimum wage (Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, and Sweden).... the average unemployment rate in the seven nations without a minimum wage is about one third lower – at 7.9%.Image of the Day
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| Via Jeffrey Tucker |
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| Via LFC on FB |
No doubt the red state farmland coalition has something to do with the House's decision to approve the farm bill from hell; we still see perversions of free market principles like production/import quotas, price supports, etc. Whereas there are some modest reforms to direct payoffs, there's a disingenuous bait and switch going on in terms of a taxpayer-backed crop insurance program. Why can't we take New Zealand's step 30 years ago of repealing crop subsidies?
Facebook Corner
(Drudge Report). What event, person or thing was most influential in shaping your political views?
The politicization of the Robert Bork SCOTUS Senate nomination process.
(Cato Institute). Cf. Chart of the Day
Don't confuse liberals with facts! They have a poorly conducted, widely debunked "study" from the 1990s they cling to!
Card and Krueger: what I call "kaleidoscope economics"....
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| Via LFC |
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Nate Beeler and Townhall |
Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers"
