<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="0.92">
<channel>
	<title>The Shrubbloggers</title>
	<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com</link>
	<description>Justin M. Stoddard and Eric D. Dixon</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:57:19 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<docs>http://backend.userland.com/rss092</docs>
	<language>en</language>
	<!-- generator="WordPress/3.2" -->

	<item>
		<title>Rantitrust Rediscovered</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I just stumbled across a cache of old email, from the heady days of POP boxes and MBX files, and found this old rant about antitrust and technology that I have no memory of writing. It looks like I actually sent it to Orrin Hatch, though. Dated June 29, 1998: An Open Letter to Orrin [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2012/01/29/rantitrust-rediscovered/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Problem-Solving for Fun and (Meager) Profit</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Doing freelance work for a living presents the opportunity to tackle a wide range of problems. Although I&#8217;m no programmer, one recent gig called for me to figure out a way to protect website content for a limited period of time, each article becoming accessible to the general public at exactly 6:00 a.m. after it&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2012/01/27/problem-solving-for-fun-and-meager-profit/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>To Protect and Subvert</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Public choice article of the day, from The Atlantic: Roughly 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to healthy farm animals to foster rapid growth and make up for unhygienic living conditions. Many bacteria that live on animals adapt and transfer to humans, spreading superbugs that are often resistant to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2012/01/24/to-protect-and-subvert/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Reign of Fonzie Economics</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When I was a kid, I loved watching &#8220;Happy Days,&#8221; even at its shark jumpiest. A big part of the appeal was the adolescent power fantasy of Arthur Fonzarelli, a disco-era caricature of a 1950s motorcycle hoodlum-with-a-heart-of-gold. As the series progressed, Fonzie developed an almost mystical aura, becoming somebody who could make almost anything happen [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/12/10/the-reign-of-fonzie-economics/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Steve Jobs: A Man of Good Works — Part I</title>
		<description><![CDATA[First, allow me to clarify a few points about the video below before I start into the meat of the matter. The video is obviously edited — for what purpose, I do not know. It could have been to cut down its length or to stitch together a narrative that puts the person being interviewed [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/11/06/steve-jobs-a-man-of-good-works-%e2%80%94-part-i/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>A Life of Good Works</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Over on Reddit, I stumbled upon this post in the Atheist subreddit: Idolize Bill Gates, Not Steve Jobs: At the end of his life, Steve Jobs obsessed over his legacy: Apple. Bill Gates stepped away from Microsoft in 2006 and has devoted his genius to solving the world’s biggest problems, despite the fact that solving [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/11/02/a-life-of-good-works/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>What I&#8217;m Reading</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been thinking that I should probably start posting around these parts again on a semi-regular basis. The problem is, I always have a ton of things to write about, but it all seems so laborious when I get down to it. So, I figured I&#8217;d start writing about what I&#8217;m reading. Maybe that will [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/11/02/what-im-reading/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>&#8216;We Don&#8217;t Need a Special Master to Level the Playing Field&#8217;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Cafe Hayek&#8216;s Russ Roberts tells the House Oversight Committee that he wants his country back. Highlights of his testimony: We are what we do — not what we wish to be, not what we say we are — but what we do. And what we do here in Washington is rescue large companies, large financial [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/10/26/we-dont-need-a-special-master/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>More Bailouts for the Rich</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The rich on Wall Street are demanding more bailouts: The Demands Working Group of Occupy Wall Street unanimously endorsed and is circulating for discussion the following demand, which will be submitted to the General Assembly of OWS: Jobs for ALL – A Massive Public Works and Public Service Program We demand a massive public works [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/10/20/more-bailouts-for-the-rich/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Keynesian Celebration of Destruction</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Here&#8217;s a great cartoon from Completely Serious Comics published earlier this year, currently being passed around on Facebook by critics of Keynesian stimulus: I doubt the cartoon&#8217;s creators were thinking about government stimulus of aggregate demand when they conceived this, so it has become a piece of appropriated satire. And, like pretty much all great [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/10/19/the-keynesian-celebration-of-destruction/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Moving On &#8230; To Another Venue</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Not moving the entire blog, that is, but moving a discussion from elsewhere to here. The other day, Andrew Hanson posted a blog entry recounting a series of Tweets between us. I would have been happy to make additional conversational headway in the comment section there, but I seem to have been blocked from posting [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/10/13/moving-on-to-another-venue/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Wherin I Clarify</title>
		<description><![CDATA[With my previous post, I waded full-on into our ongoing gender war, though that really wasn&#8217;t my intention. After a good bit of discussion with friends and loved ones about the issue, I feel that I should &#8216;walk back&#8217; some of my comments, clarify others, and expound on the issue as a whole. My concerns [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/07/10/wherin-i-clarify/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Wherein I Go Apoplectic</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m going to write two blog posts about this, because it fascinates me so much and I&#8217;d like to approach it differently, for different audiences. This first post will be followed up by a second on The Lesson Applied at a later date. You can expect this one to be a bit more charged. This [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/07/08/wherein-i-go-apoplectic/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>What Depression Is</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Depression is an agglutinative affliction, combining unease and malaise. It shirks confidence and pushes it towards the bottom of a medicinal bottle, where it lingers, offering an unworthy and self-destructive release. It&#8217;s a weary temptation, crowding out the rational, promising the unattainable. When its shadow crosses my mind, I attempt to throw my thoughts towards [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/04/14/what-depression-is/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Language of Markets</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Diane Ravitch of NYU talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in her new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. Click here for the podcast and the supplementary information. Here&#8217;s the money quote from the very end of the discussion: I [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/04/14/the-language-of-markets/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Burn This Post</title>
		<description><![CDATA[William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? William Roper: Yes, I&#8217;d cut down every law in England to do that! Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/04/04/burn-this-post/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Here&#8217;s Not Looking at You</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s bad enough when the mobile version of a website won&#8217;t let you view the full version of the site on a mobile device unless you trick it by setting the device&#8217;s user agent to &#8220;desktop.&#8221; (I&#8217;m looking at you, Onion.) It&#8217;s even worse when not only does a site insist on giving you the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/03/17/heres-not-looking-at-you/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Corn Indeed Toxin</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I just this evening realized that &#8220;CORN INDEED TOXIN&#8221; is an anagram for my name! Clearly, my low-carb lifestyle was meant to be. This is right up there with &#8220;ODD INN EXCRETION,&#8221; &#8220;OXEN ROD INCIDENT,&#8221; and &#8220;EXTEND IRONIC NOD&#8221; as an inadvertent descriptor of life&#8217;s great truths. Seriously, though — no matter how much I&#8217;ve [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/03/07/corn-indeed-toxin/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Transcendental Differentiation</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A song for my math geek friends.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/03/05/transcendental-differentiation/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Government Is a Broker in Pillage</title>
		<description><![CDATA[H.L. Mencken summed up public choice theory in 1936: The state—or, to make the matter more concrete, the government—consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. Their principal [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/03/05/government-is-a-broker-in-pillage/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Mugged by the State</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Cops who do this should be spending time behind bars — decades of time: According to the Houston Chronicle: Eight officers were suspended without pay while Houston Police Department Internal Affairs and the DA&#8217;s office investigated the incident. In June, four were charged with misdemeanor official oppression and violating the civil rights of a prisoner. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/02/04/mugged-by-the-state/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>I, Toaster</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This guy reinvents the lessons of &#8220;I, Pencil,&#8221; by trying to build a toaster from scratch: [Cross-posted at The Lesson Applied.]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2011/01/15/i-toaster/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Denise Pearson Dixon, R.I.P.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For those of you who knew my mom and weren&#8217;t able to attend her funeral, or want to remember it anew, this is my eulogy. I wrote it on Friday, Oct. 15, and delivered it the next day on Oct. 16. Video of the service is embedded below.&#160; Eulogy For as long as I can [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/10/19/denise-pearson-dixon-rip/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Concert Ticket Fairy</title>
		<description><![CDATA[My sister Michelle sent me this email on Friday: I had a dream last night where I was running errands in Ashland and all of a sudden you appeared with sweet concert tickets for that night (I don&#8217;t recall the group, though). You said I had to hurry and find someone to watch the kids [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/08/29/the-concert-ticket-fairy/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>A Flagging Stupidity</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;The essential difficulty of pedagogy lies in the impossibility of inducing a sufficiency of superior men and women to become pedagogues. Children, and especially boys, have sharp eyes for the weaknesses of the adults set over them. It is impossible to make boys take seriously the teaching of men they hold in contempt.&#8221; — H.L. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/05/20/a-flagging-stupidity/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Countering the Keynesian Appetite for Destruction</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Working as an intern for the Cato Institute in 1997 was one of the most formative experiences of my life. During that time, I participated with the other interns in a series of lunchtime discussions with Tom Palmer, a Cato senior fellow, director of Cato University, and also now at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/04/03/countering-the-keynesian/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Pop the Corn Bubble Burst</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When first I saw the headline &#8220;Israeli MP plans &#8216;popcorn law&#8217; for movie munchers&#8217;,&#8221; I was sure the corresponding article would have something to do with either taxing or banning popcorn at movie theaters because of supposed health concerns. It turns out, the reason given was much less nuanced and rather refreshingly honest: Carmel Shama, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/31/pop-the-corn-bubble-burst/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Markets Make Everything Better</title>
		<description><![CDATA[David Boaz reminds us just how amazing markets are when they&#8217;re allowed to work: In 1982, Motorola produced the first portable mobile phone. It weighed about 2 pounds and cost $3995. Within a very few years they were much smaller, much cheaper, and selling like hotcakes. Today there are some 4.6 billion mobile phones in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/31/markets-make-everything-better/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Metaphysical Movies</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I just noticed on Facebook that Bryan Caplan listed as his status message that he&#8217;s &#8220;watching *Frailty* yet again.&#8221; That reminds me that two and a half years ago, I created a list of my &#8220;Top 5 Religious Films&#8221; for The Cinematheque&#8217;s Top 5 Project. I didn&#8217;t submit my list before the deadline, so it [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/31/metaphysical-movies/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Noncensus</title>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;ve had occasion to listen to the radio for any amount of time recently, you&#8217;ve probably heard the slew of commercials about the ongoing Census. What you&#8217;ll hear, unfortunately, is not an explanation of the original purpose of the census, but instead a rather inane and commonly incorrect interpretation of basic economics. The one [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/29/noncensus/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Knowledge Problem of New Paternalism</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Tom Palmer&#8216;s book reviews are more than enough to explain why Cass Sunstein is an extraordinarily sloppy thinker, but bad ideas never die — and Sunstein&#8217;s bad ideas are plentiful. One of his pet theories, developed with Richard Thaler, is &#8220;libertarian paternalism,&#8221; which posits that central authorities can frame the choices available to people in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/28/the-knowledge-problem-of-new-paternalism/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Rent-Seeking Potheads</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I honestly could not initially decide whether or not to post this, as I could not determine if it was a hoax or parody (a la The Onion). But the more I thought of it, the more plausible it seemed. Outlaw pot farmers in Calif. fear legalization could actually hurt their business: &#8220;The legalization of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/28/rent-seeking-potheads/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Environmental Polylogism</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Does cognitive brain function determine your belief in anthropogenic global warming? Or, rather, do your political beliefs determine your cognitive brain function? George Lakoff, professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at UC Berkeley would like you to believe so. Over a span of several articles on the subject, Professor Lakoff attempts to explain what he [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/26/environmental-polylogism/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>We Are All Children, Now</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Like I said yesterday, when everybody is responsible for everybody else, the logical outcome is, well, this: Proposal to ban toys in unhealthy kids&#8217; meals &#8220;One in three kids are overweight or are obese, and we&#8217;re finding out more and more that if you&#8217;re obese as a child, you&#8217;re going to have health problems your [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/24/we-are-all-children-now/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Unintended Consequences II</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I wrote earlier this evening about some possible unintended consequences of the newly signed health care legislation. While attending my daughter&#8217;s orchestral debut, I thought of a few more. -An increase in the Nanny State. I first heard this argument put forth in my Junior year at high school: &#8220;Seat belts should be mandatory because [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/23/unintended-consequences-ii/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Unintended Consequences</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It seems appropriate to start my first entry on this blog with a quote from Henry Hazlitt, author of Economics in One Lesson, which is the inspiration for the name of this new adventure. &#8220;The most frequent fallacy by far today, the fallacy that emerges again and again in nearly every conversation that touches on [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/23/unintended-consequences/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Myrosinase Maximizers</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Two and a half years ago (can it really have been that long?) I wrote over at Show-Me Daily about Barry Schwartz&#8217;s &#8220;paradox of choice&#8221; theory. An excerpt: Sometimes eliminating choices is a business strategy that makes sense. Some restaurants are getting rid of menus, some supermarkets are paring down the number of items on [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/03/12/myrosinase-maximizers/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Prinicipal Idiocy</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I know I&#8217;m late with this, but when one comes across such blatant idiocy, one must point it out for what it is. There&#8217;s not much that can be said here that hasn&#8217;t already been said. Evelyn Mastroianni certainly deserves to have her name linked to this in perpetuity. I am often gobsmacked at how [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/02/09/prinicipal-idiocy/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Camera Obscura</title>
		<description><![CDATA[My camera and I have a very interesting relationship. There are times when it feels as if it&#8217;s literally an extension of my body. No, that&#8217;s not right. There are times when it feels as if it&#8217;s literally an extension of my entire being. In those moments, time has no hold on me. I will [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/01/23/camera-obscura/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>This is Just to Say&#8230;an Homage</title>
		<description><![CDATA[H.L. Mencken once said, &#8220;A poet more than thirty years old is simply an overgrown child.&#8221; I&#8217;m certainly over thirty years old, but I&#8217;m no poet. Though, occasionally I&#8217;ll jot something down. I wrote this one several years ago and it&#8217;s still my favorite: Stepping out on the threshold The jostling of bodies The whiff [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/01/16/this-is-just-to-say-an-homage/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>I Am Vast&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I often have counter-intuitive feelings when in large crowds. Rather than feeling boxed-in, it&#8217;s almost as if the space between me and the mass of humanity scrunched up against me is hyper-amplified. Though we all jostle for space, seeking out a vacuum to fit our bodily forms, brushing up against each other, sometimes brusquely, sometimes [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/01/12/i-am-vast/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Staging the Scene</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As I have a specific film project in mind to kick off this summer, I&#8217;ve been contemplating differing ways to use the video camera to stage a scene. This has proven to be an interesting mental exercise as for three weeks (or so), I&#8217;ll be a one-man show. Meaning, I&#8217;ll be the actor, director, cinematographer, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/01/06/staging-the-scene/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Lomography</title>
		<description><![CDATA[From the book, Diana F+, More True Tales &#038; Short Stories: The Diana loves the little things. It loves breakfast, your dog, your boyfriend or girlfriend, that crazy hat in the window, the unbelievable morning traffic, those gummed up salt shakers, a blazing afternoon sun, your nose when it&#8217;s all close-up an blurry, the shoes [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/01/03/lomography/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>What Did You Do Today?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve had this blog since 2003 and have never really thought of it as any more than an outlet for what I may be thinking/feeling at the moment. As I am wont to do, I have engaged in a few abortive attempts at something larger throughout the years (blogging the bible, one photo a day, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2010/01/03/what-did-you-do-today/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Dispatches From &#8230; Which, Till Recently, Came From Afghanistan #1</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Subject: Home! For those of you not on Facebook&#8230;I&#8217;m home! And none to soon as a winter storm came in last night while I was sleeping. I&#8217;ll write more later. For now, I have to figure out how to go get some food. :) Merry Christmas, everyone!]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2009/12/25/dispatches-from-which-till/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Dispatches From Afghanistan #37</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Subject: Leaving Kabul Greetings, all!Well, tonight is my last night in Kabul. I&#8217;m catching a flight out of here tomorrow. The next challenge is to get from here to Qatar, which could take a couple of days. Once I&#8217;m in Qatar, I&#8217;ll be looking at changing my flight so I can get to the states [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2009/12/21/dispatches-from-afghanistan-37/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Dispatches From Afghanistan #36</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Subject: Everything is fine Just so everyone knows, I&#8217;m fine. There was an explosion this morning about 1/2 a kilometer away from where I&#8217;m stationed. The news is sketchy right now and we&#8217;re still waiting for info. I&#8217;m fine, though I&#8217;d rather not have these sorts of events happen so close to me leving country. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2009/12/15/dispatches-from-afghanistan-36/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Dispatches From Afghanistan #35</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Subject: Quick Update I know I said I&#8217;d probably be writing less now that I&#8217;m so close to leaving country, but I have found myself with a bit of free time and some ideas on my mind. First, I&#8217;m not sure if you are all aware, but all of these letters have been put on [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2009/12/13/dispatches-from-afghanistan-35/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Dispatches From Afghanistan #34</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Subject: Winding Down So, if I go by my calender, I have 12 days left until I leave Kabul. Depending on how long it takes to get a flight out of Afghanistan, I may or may not be home in time for Christmas. Only time will tell. This will probably be my last long email [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2009/12/09/dispatches-from-afghanistan-34/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Incompetent Fitness Blog Item #4</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve lost a substantial amount of weight a couple of times in the past. The first time happened after heading back for my second year of college following two years as a missionary in Florida. It involved a lot of walking to and from my off-campus apartment and a purposeful rejection of any and all [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.shrubbloggers.com/2009/11/28/incompetent-fitness-blog-item-4/</link>
			</item>
</channel>
</rss>

