Sunday Reads...

​An irregular round up of interesting reads.  Most of these made me go "hmmmmm," none of them imply concurrence:

Quote to ponder:

F.A. Hayek’s 1944 book, The Road to Serfdom; from chapter 5, which is titled “Planning and Democracy:"

Those most immediately interested in a particular issue are not necessarily the best judges of the interests of society as a whole. To take only the most characteristic case: when capital and labor in an industry agree on some policy of restriction and thus exploit the consumers, there is usually no difficulty about the division of the spoils in proportion to former earnings or on some similar principle. The loss which is divided between thousands or millions is usually either simply disregarded quite inadequately considered.

• Pain sensitivity’s coloration to ideological dispositions explored.
• GRE scores by profession: here. 
• Apparently, two-thirds of self-identified “liberals” cannot bring themselves to agree that two parents are generally better than one for children. 
• Revisiting the Sixth Amendment.
• A “Separation of Investment & State” a most intriguing idea.
• Projected US job growth plummets.
• Playlists from some 2024 political candidates.
• The Federal government official adopts mysticism over science.  Nuts!
• Health Insurance companies continue to demonstrate their lack of market value-add.
• Who knew!  High-pollen days can make us more unsafe and dumber?
• Heavy posters seen as more feminine.  Clearly this explains much of our current political class. 
• In an age where “diversity” gets little definition and even less understanding yet voluminous mentions, this paper adds some insight.  Namely: Diversity is good when it promotes the person or individual.  “City air sets you free,” was a principle of law but also a common proverb that in a city with many factions, none could impose their will upon all.  Or, in the America experience, the Republic moderated the democracy.  However, when diversity devolves into disunity or polarization it can foster tribalism and group conformity.  After which all sorts of ills fester from mere nuisance to outright evils. 
• Dress for success?  Apparently, it starts with dental work.
• This makes sense:  The UFO “distraction” is mostly a confluence of nepotism and lazy “journalists.”   As usual, incompetence explains most things relative to government “action.”
• America’s electric infrastructure is largely a creation of government interference in market dynamics.  This is a fact from which we cannot escape – much like “healthcare.”  So when you realize that we live dependent upon an electrical infrastructure that is fragile, be concerned.  Government did this.  They aren’t the ones who will fix it. 
• Intelligence correlated with hobbies.  Spoiler alert, collectors are more intelligent. 
•  Vexillologist Alert: Rebranding a state flag - not an easy task.

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