no third solution » ponderings
Going for Two
I’ve often thought about the football situation FSK describes in NFL Fnords. A football team scores a touchdown with no time remaining, an extra point will tie the game and send it to overtime, but a successful two-point conversion will win it. I always say “Go for the two point conversion!” There is rarely a better opportunity to win a football game than from the 2-yard line. Going for two points gives you an immediate opportunity to win the game, your chances are in the neighborhood of 40%. If you go for the tie, you’ve only got about a 95% chance of making the kick, and a 50% chance of receiving the kickoff. You only have a 45% chance that you’ll even have the first … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blog Reactions, Fun Stuff, ponderings
A Question on the Price Elasticity of Lift Tickets
The local ski “resorts” raised their lift prices by $2 or $3 this year. I suppose that’s to be expected, but it’s still a pain in the ass. Fortunately, we’ve had a little bit of snow, I was able to hit the slopes the night before Thanksgiving. I don’t ever remember (in 18 years of skiing/boarding) being able to ride before Thanksgiving. The local hills opened the week before, the bigger resorts up north opened Thanksgiving Day or the day after. Anyways, I also made it out on the day after Thanksgiving for the evening session at one of the local dirt-hills. The morning pass is good from 10am to 5pm, and the evening pass from 3pm to 10pm, so there is some overlap. As … Read entire article »
Filed under: Economics Lessons, ponderings
Why Can’t We Secede?
I read about a Zogby Poll a few months ago, that suggests something like one-fifth of Americans support the idea of secession (at least at the state level), unfortunately, The more education a respondent had, the less likely they were to support secession – as 38% of those with less than a high school diploma would support it, compared to just 10% of those with a college degree. I think the correlation here is: The more pro-State brainwashing an individual has received, the less likely he is to believe in anti-State ideas, like secession, or freedom. In What Libertarianism Isn’t (Part 2), John from Blagnet inquires: Why is it a violation of the Statist moral code to non-violently abstain from participating in State functions? That’s a damn good question, Mike, and it’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Anarchy!, Democracy is Great!, Government is Slavery, Left Libertarian, ponderings