tingilinde

immigration and canada

A different take than the US's..

 

 

the continuing war against women

The spread of virginity testing

a tip of the hat to Sukie

 

not that far from forsyth

A unique business opportunity along with a change to make a dramatic impact on a town's population.  I've been to Forsyth - but never Ingomar..

 

 

 

that capitalist paradise finland

The good high taxes, intelligently spent, can do. 

snip

...

We’ve now been living in Finland for more than a year. The difference between our lives here and in the States has been tremendous, but perhaps not in the way many Americans might imagine. What we’ve experienced is an increase in personal freedom. Our lives are just much more manageable. To be sure, our days are still full of challenges — raising a child, helping elderly parents, juggling the demands of daily logistics and work.

But in Finland, we are automatically covered, no matter what, by taxpayer-funded universal health care that equals the United States’ in quality (despite the misleading claims you hear to the contrary), all without piles of confusing paperwork or haggling over huge bills. Our child attends a fabulous, highly professional and ethnically diverse public day-care center that amazes us with its enrichment activities and professionalism. The price? About $300 a month — the maximum for public day care, because in Finland day-care fees are subsidized for all families.

...

I realize Finland has some issues, but they're in the noise compared to those of a failing American kakistocracy.

 

 

 

a couple of trumps housekeepers

Tales from a bizarre part of the kleptocracy.

a tip of the hat to Sukie

 

hamilton quote

 

1792

 

gop pop

We now have the Party of Putin.

a tip of the hat to Jim

Of course it's the same thing as the Party oF Trump (POT) recognizing ultimate authority.

 

 

 

 

diversity in nyc

A zoomable map of where various languages are spoken in NYC.

a bit confused, but still fun

 

 

rejecting gdp as a policy metric

Iceland and a well being budget

a tip of the hat to Bjarne

 

the game of oligarchy

Brewster strikes again 

snip

...

I just invented and played a game today with my family, and it worked great– it was fun and we learned an important lesson. Similar to the game “Monopoly” which shows that one person ends up monopolizing even though you think the rules are “fair,” the game of Oligarchy shows that the “free market” leads inexorably to one person getting all the money and everyone else going broke. And fast.

The reason this is important is that it disproves one basic tenet of the free-market idea– that it is a game with many winners. Rather the free market, without redistribution, puts everyone (except one) in debt bondage, and quickly. We joked that those that were run out of money had to sell organs. Our game broke up into social classes– it was not worth it to the rich to play with the poor. It was all very real for a simple game.

...

It's sort of obvious this works.. less obvious is it is also how parts of society work - more now than ever

a tip of the hat to Greg