Stay In School!

Jobless rate by education level. Pretty impressive difference.

HT: Carpe Diem

US Defense Spending as % of GDP

I was discussing with a friend the other day about the spending on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was under the impression that defense spending in the US is much larger than it really is, that it is the cause of a lot of the US’s budget troubles, etc…

Well, whatever one thinks of the war, the current US administration, the other places the US gov’t spends its money, it is important to get the facts straight. Defense spending is not the largest item in the spending of the US. The chart below shows defense spending as a percentage of GDP, the proper way to measure any spending item.

It is 4% of GDP.

More info here on defense spending and other spending items in the US budget.

Merkel says she will not attend opening of Beijing Olympics

Good for Germany.

First Poland, then the Czech Republic, now Germany.

Interesting where sometimes moral leadership comes from in today’s world.

Merkel says she will not attend opening of Beijing Olympics

Beijing evicts foreigners

Beijing evicts foreigners, sends in paramilitaries to quell dissent

I find it hard to believe that more people or governments are not threatening to boycott the Olympics in China. Has sports become that important? Do people really believe that it wont make a difference? Truly amazing.

There are a few examples of governments threatening to boycott, particularly from Taiwan, which is having their presidential election tomorrow. And in Australia there have been calls for boycotts from some senators. Also, some athletes are starting to speak out. More here.

I for one will be boycotting the Olympics.

Individual Tax Burdens Around The World

Article in the Economist comparing individual tax burdens around the world. Its not comprehensive. It ignores taxes like VAT/Sales tax, local government taxes, etc… However, it is enlightening nonetheless.

Tax Burdens

I don’t think these high tax regimes can last. With a global mobile workforce nowadays there is and will continue to be a lot of ‘brain drain’ to lower tax economies.

Climate alarmists pose real threat to freedom

A great speech. Worth a read.

Climate alarmists pose real threat to freedom

“The ideology will be different. Its essence will nevertheless be identical: the attractive, pathetic, at first sight noble idea that transcends the individual in the name of the common good, and the enormous self-confidence on the side of its proponents about their right to sacrifice the man and his freedom in order to make this idea reality”

Outsourcing Email

More and more Google mail is becoming a legitimate options for all kinds of organizations, not just small businesses.

Outsourcing email

(HT: Carpe Diem)

AGW BS Exposed

Finally, a broader platform for the skeptics of AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming, i.e. man made GW) BS.

NY Climate Conference: Journey to the Center of Warming Sanity

The best quote:

“…consensus is not science, and science is not consensus”

Download the PDF from the conference and read it all.

Maybe one day we’ll learn something…

(HT: Brussels Journal)

Kabul to Copenhagen

More than 200 lawmakers shouted “Death to the enemies of Islam” during an angry demonstration outside the Afghan parliament protesting the reprinting of a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad in Denmark and an upcoming Dutch film criticizing the Quran.

Copenhagen to Kabul

Danish aid is helping schools to re-open in Afghanistan, but critics say the curriculum is based on fundamental Islam.

I’m back

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I was using Safari to do my posts and I found it quite cumbersome. The formating for posts in WordPress do not work as they’re supposed to. So, I’ve trashed Safari and have moved to FireFox as my sole browser. A nice and welcome change. Now posting is at least twice as fast.