John M. Browning, economist

A fine internet  perk is running across things far more valuable than what you were  looking for. I was Binging for an insignificant detail about John M. Browning and found a passage about him at age 13 or so.

A freighter stopped by his dad's gun works and gave John M. a "high-quality shotgun" which had been smashed up. The boy set out to renew it. His first efforts fizzled.

"Finally the idea came. A good idea starts a celebration in the mind, and every nerve in the body seems to crowd up to see the fireworks. It was a good idea, one of the best I ever had, and so simple it made me ashamed of myself. Boylike, I had been trying to do the job all at once with some kind of magic. And magic never made a gun that would work.* I decided to take the gun apart, piece by piece, down to the last small screw, even though [the] parts that were mashed and twisted together. And when I did, finally finishing long after supper that night, the pieces all spread out before me on the bench, I examined each piece and discovered that there wasn't one that I couldn't make myself, if I had too. If I had been in school that day, I would have missed a valuable lesson"


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*Or an economy, either,  he surely would have said if someone had asked him.


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I probably would have found that less striking if I hadn't just reviewed the magical incantations about the Greek bailout.

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Thank you Ron Shirtz

The Keystone Pipeline

I am undertaking a study of the Keystone Pipeline controversy. When you do something like that it is a good idea to examine the basic mindset of the opponents. 

I conclude that pipeline naysayers know that a candle of biodegradable soybean wax is a near-perfect accompaniment to a romantic dinner with Jean Seberg. 

A series of logical steps takes them from there to belief it is also useful for powering Consolidated  Edison's dynamos.

Who's winning? Ron Paul. That's who

A  report on Iowans' contributions to presidential candidates through mid-October:


Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney led the Republican candidates in contributions from Iowa. Paul garnered more than $77,000, while Romney pulled in more than $67,000.

Gee, you'd think the leader, who outpaced the runnerup  -- a man with a much better haircut -- by better than 12 per cent,  might have rated his own little paragraph.

The other GOPers shared $110,000. Obama collected $200,000

Oh, go ahead and close the damned post offices. See if I care.

Pokey, my RFD postman,  comes by every day but Sunday.  I get the mail about twice a week. It's a gift.

I haven't achieved that self autonomy of Travis McGee who once told us that the true test of independence was throwing away mail without looking to see who it came from. He adds that women never achieve this satori. "They always have to look."

So do I most of the time. Such as this morning. A complete list of USPS leavings since last I trudged the 80 yards to the box

-- A sincerely personal  birthday card from my state rep, bar coded.

--  A Capitol One come-on for a high-limit, high-reward credit card, promising in the large print that I can buy everything I want and fly free in the bargain. I didn't read the agate because I suspect that, depressingly, it says I have to pay it all back.

-- A J.C. Penny announcement that as an "amazing customer"  I can earn discounts and  "points" for spending a lot of money over two separate shopping days. I amazed Mr. Penney by getting a credit card last year (two minutes, at the  checkout) and buying a couple-three hundred worth of Christmas gifts strictly for the 15 per cent discount to new credit slaves. I amazed him further by walking directly from checkout to customer service and writing a check for the balance due-- the prices less 15 per cent. Haven't been in the place since. A human accountant would find this an amazingly good reason to jerk my Penney plastic. His computer programmers may eventually get around to it.

--  A spritely brochure from Congressman Steve King warning that my president is balancing the budget (bullshit) on my back and those of my fellow old farts. King, a small-government conservative, awakens my fear that I might not get as much free shit as I want unless I call to thank him for being a great small-government conservative who makes my neighbors pay for my health care.

--  A  dignified letter from a regional funeral outfit, offering me the chance to "pre-plan" my departure ceremonies. I reject this instantly on grounds of  linguistic asymmetry. The single alternative is to post-plan the party, and, despite some formal training in logical processes, I can't think of how this could be effectuated.

-- Two more reminders that it's open enrollment season for insurance switching. These get pitched unopened.  Even if AARP and United Health Care aren't lying very much, I don't figure the free shit I'm already getting from my neighbors, thanks to small-government-conservative Congressman King,  can get much freer.

-- A cable/net connection bill. Check for rate increase (yep, but small). Then pitch it. Thank you Autopay.

-- The local shopper from last Wednesday which I should read in order to identify the good auctions occurring last weekend.