A Mistaken Way of Advocating ‘Individual Rights’ December 12, 2005
Posted by Resident Egoist in : Politics , comments closedDELAND, Fla., December 8, 2005—Stetson University has announced that parody, “derogatory” or “demeaning” comments, and even jokes from The Tonight Show are out of bounds for its students. Stetson’s chilling declarations came after the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) protested the private Florida university’s censorship of a student magazine.
Well, so much for Individual Rights when those who claim to fight for them apparently have no clue that the words “private” and “censorship” are mutually exclusive.
Technorati Tags: Individual Rights, F.I.R.E, Censorship, Stetson University
Microsoft Live December 12, 2005
Posted by Resident Egoist in : Sci-Tech , comments closedMicrosoft seems to be engaging in a lot of “live” stuff lately. The latest addition to its stock is Microsoft Office Live — which is in beta testing. Business owners might want to check it out: besides the ability to use the Microsoft Office suite and the various tools that come with it online, all approved beta testers will get a free domain name, a website freely hosted by Microsoft, company email, and more.
As to the residential Windows users, first of all, I would tell you to throw that thing away and get a Linux box B). If you are unwilling to do that, then check out Windows One Care Live (Beta), and Microsoft Antispyware (Beta). I’ve had both of these installed on my desktop for quite a while, and they seem to be pretty good — although that is a computer that I use only if I absolutely must.
Technorati Tags: Micosoft, Microsoft Live, Windows One Care, Linux
Economists ‘Discover’ that Artificial Restrictions on Supply Lead to High Prices December 12, 2005
Posted by Resident Egoist in : Culture, Economics, Politics , comments closedFrom the Washington Times, via FEE:
Escalating prices that have made houses unaffordable for many people in Washington are mostly the result of homeowners using political and regulatory means to block construction of new housing, economic studies show.
[...]
The remarkable run of record housing sales and prices since 1998 has become a major puzzle and topic among economists. The high prices have put homeownership out of reach for many young people and low-income households hoping to break into the market.
Economists increasingly are concluding that the shortage of affordable housing in Washington and other major U.S. cities on the East and West coasts is a result more of man-made restrictions on development than high construction costs or other market forces.
Well, stop the presses, ladies and gentlemen! “A major puzzle and topic among economists” has been solved … if only this groundbreaking discovery weren’t at least three centuries behind the times! It’s almost sad really: that most contemporary econmists are still in the process of catching up to Adam Smith. It’s good to hear however that Capitalism isn’t being falsely blamed for once.
You should read the whole article. It might surpise you the things people are ready to do in order to actualize and protect their petty aesthetic visions — if only they spent half that effort defending their individual rights …
Technorati Tags: Adam Smith, Economics, Capitalism, Supply and Demand, Unintended Consequences