Spent the day putting away Xmas decorations. Was very cold and I hurt. Tomorrow will see a few extra hours at the hospital to keep in the groove. So not much time on the internets today and probably not a lot tomorrow.
Riding a horse over a frozen lake in Siberia. Wow.
What comes as a surprise (to no economist who works without an ideological bent) is that the austerity measures the IMF enforced on the European (and other) countries needed economic help turns out to not work they way they thought it would. Instead of having an economic impact multiplier of 50%, it runs out it's actually 150% (that is, every euro of government spending cut removed 2.5 euros form the economy - the original euro and the 150% multiplier). That's one quick way to decimate your economy. Of course the correction isn't getting nearly as much press as the whole, "You've gotta cut to the bone" original advice did. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
Another economics article, this time on how the gold standard in Middle Earth allowed Smaug to cause a long term economic crisis. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Why the robot apocalypse will be short lived. Norman, coordinate! (Pointed to by Dan)
A long (but fascinating) story about Apollo Robbins, pickpocket. I think I remember seeing him on a PBS special (NOVA I think, at least I remember some of the things being discussed). (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Jay Lake outlines one of the reasons I continue to support health care reform. Health insurance often is not so much insurance, especially when it comes to statistics. Insurance companies are companies,their goal is to make money. And if they can make money by denying you service, they will.
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