Life as a Hermit

I thought hermits were early Christian phenomena. It seems that there is a revival movement from what I read in this Newsweek article. Although as a catholic I respect the church different approaches to faith, and that I enjoy being alone, I think this is a little bit extreme. You can find everything in the lord’s vineyard.

Milton Friedman did it again

Two in a row. This is another article this time an op-ed by Milton Friedman at the WSJ about the idea of Vouchers. Another practical idea in order to have less government in the education area. Once again according to Friedman an old proposal dating back to an article in 1955 on “The Role of Government in Education“. Another good idea that has taken root in countries far down south like Chile.

Please give a visa to this guys

This is not the first time that I have seen this, but this is the first time that I am going to propose this. Regardless of where cubans are found at the sea or on the Florida beaches, the BCIS should give permanent residency to this guys that are entepreneurial and creative in their ways to modify things to be able to escape the socialist “paradise” Cuba. Can you imagine how much the USA benefits by accepting this guys into this country, a society that is perfectly characterized by its enteprenurial drive and rewards to creative people?

Milton Friedman recollections on Social Security Reform

This is an interesting piece published on the SFGate regarding Milton Friedman’s recollections about the begginning of a movement for Social security reform. He talked about the proposition to abolish Social Security first in 1962, with the publication of “Capitalism and Freedom”, not because it was not efficient but because it was inmoral, a huge Ponzi scheeme run by the government. What I found fascinating and is not mentioned on the interview was that I always wondered how the chileans (Piñera among others) came up with the idea of changing their Social security system and to turn it into a privately funded one. Tweenty years later it has been so succesful that it has become the example for reform in the developed world. In spanish we say nobody is a prophet in their own land and I think this perfectly applies to Milton Friedman. Only if he had been heard in the USA 20 years ago like the Chileans did, how different things would be. (thanks to Marginal Revolution)

Another fallen government in Bolivia?

I think is a matter of time before Bolivia breaks up or becomes another story of a failed democracy. Spanish newspaper el Mundo is telling that Mesa has abandoned the presidential palace. Lets see what happens next. At least in my native country Ecuador means a new government. The problems that Bolivia faces are not easy to resolve. Bolivia has reached a tipping point and anything can happen. Also check this link from an Op-ed of Oscar Ortiz of Compromiso Ciudadano.

Update:The President of Bolivia has returned to the palace, unfortunately El Mundo instead of adding a new link rewrites the whole story. So the previous link has the news.

El Salvador in the Road to prosperity

Juan José Daboub former economics minister of El Salvador in this interview by Libertad y Desarrollo offers his opinion on how El Salvador in the last 15 years has positioned itself on the Index of Economic Freedom position #24. Among the sucesses achieved Daboub claims that poverty has been reduced 20%, mortality rates have gone from 47 per thousand to 25 per thousand and iliteracy have fallen from 33% in 1992 to 13% in 2004. He also outlines the work of America Libre Institute, directed by former Salvadorean President Francisco Flores.

Where would you live

Living in the Washington area I am always worried about being able to buy a home in this are. With soaring prices and yearly increases in the prices of 50 and 60% I have been looking for places outside the beltway. This WSJ graphics shows a spillover effect, sleepy cities increasingly becoming the alternative option for people that cannot afford the hefty prices. In my case I don’t know if I am willing to move to Baltimore (I work in Arlington). On the TV I have seen this days ads promoting Stafford and Fredericksburg counties as good places to live south of the Capital Beltway. In any case if I decide to do something like this I will have to live close to a train and work in DC to consider it. In the meantime I will have to continue living and overpaying here.

VR Pacman

Check this out. The link is an interesting one, Pac Man as virtual reality game. Seems an interesting concept. I wonder how long before you start seeing people on the streets running or chasing somebody with goggles on they head.

Update: This seems to be another interesting game, although this one to watch.

Insight into the Podcasting

It seems that PodCasting is becoming mainstream. Podcasting according to Wikipedia:

“Podcasting is a method of publishing sound files to the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed and receive new audio files automatically”

Curious about it for some time while browsing the blogs I read, I got to a post that mentioned the Podcasting Blog of Slashdot Review. The 10 minute show runs daily and features tech news and comments. To close the podcast they feature alternative music bands. This bands are usually new groups or independant groups and they use this shows plus their own podcasts to promote themselves. On Thursday June 2 show I discovered this Roanake Virginia band “Barefoot West” that has this cool music with a catchy tune and soft lyrics. “You are You are” song is perfect to be in the caribean or at the beach having a few beers. I have added in my list of links a category for Podcasting. As I discover interesting podcast I wil add them to that category, watch my links. Join the podcasting revolution and start by listening. Now I need someone to give me an IPod to do real Podcast listening.
P.D. BTW check Garage Band for other independant, free and legal music.

Would you dare to eat in a restaurant like this?

Check out this restaurant in Taiwan. I wonder if all the equipment is functional or if they had clients that try to use them. See for yourself. (Warning don’t eat while seeing this)

New ways of attracting faithful

This might be a good community service and a good way to attract new faithfuls to church.

Blogs at Atlas

Atlas Economic Research Foundation where I currently work has started a Blog written by their top executives. At the same time Atlas has started a BlogHub where all the free market bloggers or free market think tank bloggers are listed. I encourage people wanting to know about what Atlas does and hence what I do for a living to visit these links.

CAFTA DR Progress

Here is an interesting link if you want to know what is going on with the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) from the perspective of The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). I encourage you to follow the CAFTA-DR debate as US Congress prepares to vote on the agreement. Some say that securing passage of this accord is a priority for President Bush, and it will set the stage for further achievements in advancing political and economic freedom in the Western Hemisphere. I just hope that it works and it does not becomes a straight jacket for liberalizing further the Central American countries, or an excuse to avoid doing more profound reforms in the trade aspects and other aspects.

Richard Posner Chief Justice?

I am probably navigating rough waters with this comment, especially being new to this country and to judicial issues, but certanly this comment by PrawfsBlawg does an interesting analysis of why Richard Posner would make a good case for a Supreme Court Chief Justice. Being my inclinations on the libertarian side I admire a lot of Posner and Becker’s blog and I often hear them being quoted in free market – Libertarian -Conservative lectures. Would not be great to have a Supreme Court Justice like him? Thanks for the pointer to Instapundit

Blogging as a Job

This little article that appeared on the WSJ yesterday is interesting. It tells how blogging is becoming a respectable profession and as companies recognize the value of blogs for their corporate image they start hiring bloggers to do the company blog. Altough the article says that the leash is relatively long for Bloggers I wonder how long would that last as it becomes a main stream trend.