hostmaster's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=hostmaster2005-03-28T02:31:51ZI will kiss her blemish (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster/writeups/I+will+kiss+her+blemishhostmasterhttp://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster2005-03-28T02:31:51Z2005-03-28T02:31:51Z<p>Last night C said he didn't understand our <a href="/title/fascination">fascination</a> with <a href="/title/Sarah+Jessica+Parker">Sarah Jessica Parker</a>, after all she wasn't even beautiful. She had <a href="/title/horrible+legs">horrible legs</a>, her <a href="/title/calves">calves</a> extend to her ankles. This made me think of our <a href="/title/Things+men+want+when+they%2527re+drunk">drunk love-affair</a> with <a href="/title/Her+perception+of+how+gorgeous+she+is+will+be+evident+in+her+lack+of+movement+during+sex">perfection</a>, and the need to remark on, even deride every blemish. Why not simply appreciate the beauty that exists alongside the blemishes? <a href="/title/Mississippi+John+Hurt">Mississippi John Hurt</a> isn't much to look at, but can he sing.</p>
<p>I'm <a href="/title/Success+is+Counted+Sweetest">striving</a> to become a much <a href="/title/There+was+a+time+when+I+was+a+better+person">better person</a>, one who doesn't mock others faults and fallings. I wonder, will that make me boring and <a href="/title/Jesus+doesn%2527t+care+if+you+say+the+word+%2522fuck%2522">sanctimonious</a>? Where is the line between gentle ribbing and a hurtful comment. Since <a href="/title/Sarah+Jessica+Parker">Sarah Jessica Parker</a> couldn't hear Chris, was he really being hurtful? Am I being vaguely<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Exotic option (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster/writeups/Exotic+optionhostmasterhttp://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster2003-03-02T15:33:59Z2003-03-02T15:33:59Z<h3>Exotic options are <a href="/title/cool">cool</a></h3>
<p>Exotic options are cool because they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. They have extremely odd risk characteristics, can be path dependent, are difficult to price, are even more difficult to trade and require constant vigilance when hedging. Perhaps most importantly, even good options traders can <a href="/title/blow+up">blow up</a> when trading exotics so exotics teach us to <a href="/title/Standing+on+the+Shoulders+of+Giants">be humble</a>, <a href="/title/So+Long%252C+and+Thanks+for+all+the+Fish">enjoy the ride</a> and <a href="/title/It%2527s+never+too+soon+to+start+lying+to+your+kids+about+drugs">remember the world will destroy us unless we are true to ourselves</a>.</p>
<p>It's best to <a href="/title/Alice%2527s+Evidence">begin at the beginning</a>, so let's make sure we all know what an option is. An option grants the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a particular security (the underlying) at a specified price, at some point in the future. An exotic option is an option with one or more twists on this basic formula. For example, the option<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…The Morals of Markets: An Ethical Exploration (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster/writeups/The+Morals+of+Markets%253A+An+Ethical+Explorationhostmasterhttp://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster2003-03-01T14:31:07Z2003-03-01T14:31:07Z<p>A review of <a href="/title/Harry+Burrows+Acton">Harry Burrows Acton</a>, <a href="/title/The+Morals+of+Markets%253A+An+Ethical+Exploration">The Morals of Markets: An Ethical Exploration</a>; in "The Morals of Markets and Related Essays"; ed. <a href="/title/Jeremy+Shearmur">Jeremy Shearmur</a> and <a href="/title/David+Gordon">David Gordon</a>; <br>Liberty Press, 1993; ISBN: 0865971064</p>
<blockquote>
We're millions 'n' millions
<br>We're coming to get you
<br>We're protected by <a href="/title/unions">unions</a>
<br>So don't let it upset you
<br>Can't escape the conclusion
<br>It's probably <a href="/title/God%2527s+Will">God's Will</a>
<br>That <a href="/title/civilization">civilization</a>
<br>Will grind to a standstill
<br>--<a href="/title/Frank+Zappa">Frank Zappa</a> "Flakes"</blockquote>
<p>The Morals of Markets perhaps demonstrates most
conclusively why we must be suspicious of the <a href="/title/the+unwashed+masses">millions 'n' millions</a> who would convince us of the <a href="/title/doing+drugs+for+fun+and+profit">immorality of the market</a>. Acton begins by outlining popular misconceptions of the role profit plays in the market. Profits are often derided because it is claimed, that unlike the labourer (who labours for her wages) the entrepreneur does not work to acquire them, and that the desire for<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster/writeups/Capitalism%252C+Socialism+and+Democracyhostmasterhttp://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster2003-03-01T13:23:59Z2003-03-01T13:23:59Z<p>A review of <em><a href="/title/Capitalism%252C+Socialism+and+Democracy">Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy</a></em> by <a href="/title/Joseph+Schumpeter">Joseph A. Schumpeter</a>;
Harper Torchbooks, 1976; ISBN: 0061330086
<br>Schumpeter wrote the book during the 1930s when he emigrated to the United States. It was first published in 1942.</p>
<blockquote>The man of system... seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a <a href="/title/great+society">great society</a> with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a <a href="/title/chessboard">chessboard</a>. He does not consider that the pieces upon the chessboard have no other <a href="/title/principle+of+motion">principle of motion</a> besides that which the hand impresses upon them; but that, in the great chessboard of human society, every single piece has a principle of motion of its own, altogether different from that which the legislature might choose to impress upon it. If those two principles coincide and act in the same direction, the game of <a href="/title/human+society">human society</a> will go on easily and harmoniously, and is very likely to be happy and successful. If they are opposite or different,<!-- close unclosed tag --></blockquote>…Socialism (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster/writeups/Socialismhostmasterhttp://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster2003-03-01T12:55:18Z2003-03-01T12:55:18Z<p>
A note on <b><a href="/title/Ludwig+von+Mises">Ludwig von Mises</a>, "SOCIALISM: An Economic and Sociological analysis"</b>
<br><em>Yale University Press, New Haven; 1962
<br>translated by J. Kahane <br>LCCN: 51009080; ISBN: 0913966620 (1981 edition)</em>
</p>
<p><a href="/title/Prices">Prices</a> are the cornerstone of the <a href="/title/market">market</a> and the scale by which all agents measure value. This is admittedly a presumption Mises has made before embarking on his analysis of "Socialism". Yet it is not an altogether preposterous assumption. Mises claims that without the
assistance of prices one is at sea in the market; it becomes impossible to effect any rational thought process because such processes presuppose the tools necessary for calculation. Any <a href="/title/rational">rational</a> economic process must have
some method with which to rank the various <a href="/title/means+and+ends">means and ends</a> at our disposal, without such an ordering a rational economic system (one which permits agents to make informed, rational <a href="/title/decisions">decisions</a>) is inconceivable. In the <a href="/title/price+system">price system</a> Mises finds a <a href="/title/highly+evolved+process">highly evolved process</a><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…I don't want a terrorist fighting for my cause (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster/writeups/I+don%2527t+want+a+terrorist+fighting+for+my+causehostmasterhttp://m.everything2.com/user/hostmaster2003-02-23T21:27:07Z2003-02-23T21:27:07Z<p><b>OR why you shouldn't elect a bully class president. </b>
<p>The argument is simple; no sane person should hope to be led by a group of people who are willing to use <a href="/title/violence">violence</a> against civilians to make a <a href="/title/political+statement">political statement</a>. None of us wants to be the target of a <a href="/title/random">random</a> violent <a href="/title/attack">attack</a> and you don't know what new ends might justify your murder.
<p>For example, the <a href="/title/Palestinian">Palestinian</a> people hope to establish some form of <a href="/title/government">government</a> when they do gain <a href="/title/independence">independence</a>. Leaders of <a href="/title/nationalist">nationalist</a> movements often play crucial roles when they have attained their objective (independence in this instance). In many cases, their struggles prepare them for future positions of power. Someone who leads a peaceful resistance or <a href="/title/protest+movement">protest movement</a> learns how to organize people with different interests, use <a href="/title/media">media</a> to further their interests and give strength to the wavering while honing their rhetorical skills and testing their own dedication to the cause. <a href="/title/Martin+Luther+King+Jr.">Martin Luther King Jr.</a>,<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…