More Gaffes From the Would-Be Rulers
Eh, I’m sorry, but I don’t think this allegedly outrageous Sarah Palin gaffe regarding Paul Revere is so terrible.
I really think if you followed anybody around for a long time–and the person was trying to get people riled up, as any politician does–that person would eventually say a list of really dumb things. I stand by my opinion from the campaign: I don’t want Sarah Palin tutoring my son, but she’s not nearly as dumb as everybody is making her out to be.
Remember, during the campaign Obama said–and he was being really pensive about it–that he had visited 57 U.S. states, and just the other day he botched a joke saying they were celebrating “Cinco de Quatro.” Can you imagine the cries of racism and uptight-whitey-hood that would have ensued, had Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney made the same mistake?
Any plans to write about bitcoins?
Yes but I have a co-author who’s a technical guy.
Man, the bitcoin people have been coming out in force lately… Not just here, but all over. Ok, I’ll be honest, bitcoin is entirely tied to the US dollar, and has a fixed exchange with the dollar (though, there is a deflationary aspect just so long as more people get into bitcoin). But, the only thing that I have ever used bitcoin for is Silk Road. Basically, I have not found any other real use for it but for purchases that are entirely on the DL. Otherwise, I just use dollars (of which bitcoin is exchanged).
Ok, I’ll be honest, bitcoin is entirely tied to the US dollar, and has a fixed exchange with the dollar
What are you talking about? There is no one to fix such an exchange rate in the first place; bitcoins freely trade against other goods and currencies. In fact, the value of a bitcoin in USDs has grown very fast, from a few cents per BTC to $17/BTC today (probably more as I type). It’s gaining momentum recently — it was only $10.50 as of Thursday.
Sorry, I should not have said fixed. But, at any given time it exchanges with the dollar at a certain par. Basically, all of the bitcoin prices that I pay for goods are done on the exchange of the dollar. So, say that something costs $40, and the current bitcoin exchange is $20 ber bitcoin. Then the cost of that good will be 2 bitcoins. That’s all that I was trying to say, that all bitcoin purchases are done in relation to bitcoins exchange with the dollar (or, other currencies in a given region).
That’s the state of things currently but it is perfectly conceivable that someone* might say “you don’t have to pay for this wardrobe in dollars, just the bitcoins” in the future.
*actually what I mean here is “more people”, I am sure a very small number already do say this.
So, you were saying bitcoins are the same as every other good then?
(Above reply is directed at Joseph_Fetz.)
No, not exactly. What I am saying is that the bitcoin price isn’t as disconnected from the dollar (or other currencies) as many people try to say. Sure, there is no central authority that can increase/decrease its value, and the number of bitcoins is dependent upon the number of users. But, its value in exchange is entirely tied to the value of other currencies. It is not a currency whose value is independent of other currencies, rather everything that you purchase with bitcoins is merely a weighted exchange of the region you are engaging in such purchase.
Bitcoin is not truly an independent currency because it trades as a float against other currencies. While it is true that there is no central administrator over the number of bitcoins, its value is entirely determined by the value of other currencies in circulation and the regional importance in exchange of such currencies. It doesn’t have its own price, rather its price is determined by the price of government currencies.
Oh yeah, I should also mention that the only way that a bitcoin can be created is by exchanging government money for bitcoins, there is no other way. This further shows the bitcoin’s inextricable connection to government money. It is not a fully independent currency with its own prices.
Hi Bob,
Just to let you know, the Anon above must be new to your blog (at least I’ve never seen another person post with the same SN I have used). It is not the same Anon who likes to debate you about Christianity. That’s me. I’ll go by Anon1315 from now on.
okay
The best way to refute the anti-Paline meme is to link to some of her witty, well informed impromptu comments or speeches.
Alright, Bob. Now you’re starting to scare me. So, I will just ask you once… Who is your candidate for President in the 2012 election?
It doesn’t take much thought, just throw out the first name that comes to you….
🙂
i don’t know, that was quite the gaffe.
Nothing beats Obama saying the Austrians speak Austrian. If it’s Palin vs. Obama, just turn the lights off the party is over.
Well, she is NOT entirely off base. When Paul Revere rode to warn of a suspected British military action, by troops already in Boston, it was not just to save Lexington from the British, where they hoped to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams, but to save the stores of arms and munitions in Concord. So, in effect, it was somewhat to preserve arms possession and rights thereto.
I am always entertained by how the so called left’s candidates or the Demcrat candidates are all so smart and every Republican or so called right’s candidate is so stupid. Neither statement is true.
JimS
She usually screws up pretty bad when talking about American history. A few examples are that she made a statement that the Constitution was based on the bible and the 10 commandments, that the Founders said the Pledge of Allegiance, that Susan B. Anthony was against abortion (Anthony never once made any statements or writings on abortion), that the 1st amendment protects people from negative media attention, etc. There are more, but I think you get the point.
I watched Sarah Palin’s Alaska on Wild Planet or National Geographic or something. It’s very awkward because she really struggles with her rebelious teenage daughters but of course they can’t show that all on camera, but it seeps through everywhere its one of those things where when you watch, you facepalm yourself cause you’re embarassed for someone else. Her husband is also an awesome dude from that one episode I watched. He is really humble but incredibly skillful, they went fishing and Sarah was showing off how she’s the world’s best fisherwoman or whatever and this guy just said nothing the whole time and caught something around 20 fsh while everyone else caught 0.
But I digress. From that show it is clear that Sarah Palin *is* intelligent. Maybe not book intelligent, she’s clearly not book intelligent, but as a management, get the task done sort of intelligent. She would have made a really good business woman, I can imagine she’d be great at bargaining. But alas politics is a way of increasing family wealth too, and it makes sense that her skills would transfer almost 1:1 to running a small town while still extracting as much wealth from it as she can for her family.
Turns out, not a gaffe:
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/06/06/historians-agree-palin-was-right-about-revere/