If you're sniffing the money, do it quietly

So here we go again, where business freedom, religious values and equality laws clash. At "The Way the Ball Bounces" Richard recounts two cases, one in the UK and one in PEI, of devoutly Christian accommodation owners running into the wrath of Stonewall - a gay advocacy group - and the HRC. 

We cherish business freedom as a foundation of the free market, and our own freedom to do as we please as the bedrock of democracy. When these appear to conflict with the law of the land, we are quick to cry foul and demand legislative change. Is this rage always justified?

"Money doesn't stink" - Adam Smith would say if he were explaining the market to an ignoramus as me. Picky owners of businesses that provide a service to the public (a.k.a. all businesses) sniff the money before taking it. Should they have the right to? Definitely, but it's not smart.

Denying an advertised service based on nothing but personal belief flaunts the law, and advocate of personal freedom as I may be, I recognize the supremacy of the statute book. Business owners have a duty to know the letter of the law of the jurisdiction they operate in. Would you argue in favour of a Christian who is being done in Iran for selling alcohol? Or a Muslim shopkeeper who refuses entry to women not wearing a headscarf? I wouldn't.

There isn't a law that can't be circumvented. The B&B owners who want to discriminate should simply make their services by invitation only. Have prospective bookers fill out a form online asking several questions and waive their right to appeal if the invitation is denied. Denying services to people who misrepresented themselves is perfectly legal, or at least gives you more of a case. After all, you're still pushing the envelope without a cost justification.

If you can't prove a cost, comply.

Establishments have no-pets policies because of the added clean-up, no-children policies because of potential insurance issues and over-occupancy policies because of perceived fire hazards, to say. 

Washing sheets that have been bonked on will cost the same, whoever soiled them.

A prosecutor who takes no crap

Recently, the Telegraph ran a profile of Ilda Boccassini, a firebrand public prosecutor in Italy who hounds organized crime in all its forms and manifestations. She haunts Berlusconi's nightmares.

Today I appreciated the full extent of her chutzpah. Never a softie - her mentor was Giovanni Falcone - she today ordered an uncooperative victim of mob usury into the slammer. The fight against Italian mobs is plagued by the omerta' - zipped mouths and no cooperation. It's the equivalent of saying you saw nothing when a person was shot in front of you, or that you fell down the stairs rather than your debt shark beat you up.

Adding insult to injury, the guy was advising another victim against giving evidence to the point of threatening repercussions against the witness' family.

He will now go to trial for aiding and abetting his tormentors, and this kind of no-sh*t approach is the correct way to stomp the mob out of its newly-found turfs. Carrots can work and fear can be a justification for not being cooperative. But lying and choosing the mob over the State should carry an exemplary penalty, for it is treason.

Boy, I hope her bodyguards are good!

Is it such a revolutionary concept?

Minimize expenses and maximize returns, also known as don't let debt eat your earnings. I was raised in a debt-averse family and society, where saving and parsimony weren't dirty words or concepts that made one "uncool". The whole concept of the credit crisis hits me as something both rational and yet astonishingly idiotic.

So reading the common sense in the National Post fills me with admiration for a newspaper that aims to educate the masses about the mathematics of personal finance. The bitter aftertaste comes when I realize there's a need for such an article, hence its printing.

My comprehension of the money world stops at the surface, for want of a financial education. My wallet, nevertheless, compels me to look at interest rates, taxes and opportunities to make sure my money doesn't burn on the inflation bonfire. If I can do a simple compound interest calculation, how hard can it be to know  you're flogging a dead horse? 

Taking control of your finances rarely goes beyond having a basic knowledge of Excel and where your money is. Do it!

Johnston as Governor-General

A strong candidate for the job and a welcome diversion from the quirks of the Jean-Lafond couple, despite Her Excellency's wise tenure.

A law-educated federalist with a good financial focus, he is our best insurance against the nationalising and over-regulating left should the Opposition resurrect a Coalition and oust the Tories.

As an official figure, he would be almost unable to influence the political debate. But in the private meetings with both PM's and Leaders of the Opposition he would be a fountain of knowledge.

Considering the latest business-bashing frenzies across the border and across the pond, Johnston is the right GG for the times. He's an all-out Canadian, and that is good.

Free markets, air conditioning, physics and the Internet

Now here's an article to link them all.

Humid heat makes me slightly irascible and it is therefore a blessing that me and my girlfriend have bought a portable AC. Facts speak louder than words, and it says a lot about the current weather that 27 degrees feels like heaven compared to the living room. 

As it is no intention of mine to plug the Pinguino De Longhi brand (italian, funny name and a classic advertising campaign in the 90's), I'll address the issue of common sense, so dear to me.

See, the free market operates well when both buyers and sellers operate rationally and true information is available. Which means capitalism won't work when people think (or write) with their backside. And boy, does one see that in action while navigating the ocean of junk consumer reviews that litter the interwebs.

Let's begin with an easy one. Middle school physics and chemistry teaches us that nothing can be created and nothing is destroyed, including energy. Cooling your room means the heat has to go somewhere, usually in the form of the scalding hot air from the compressor being sent packing. As inevitable as our tax bill and our ultimate demise, comes the zero-star review proclaiming "dude, this portable AC has a huge exhaust hose! No-one ever mentioned it! Do not buy!". Oh man, your science teacher is proud!

Another gem can be found in the noise department. Usual complaints about the cheaper portable ACs include the fact that they're noisy buggers. I give, this is a very fair comment, particularly on hearing it soon after having started it up. Yet we're talking online reviews here rather than first impressions. As per previous constatation that the compressor is incorporated into the unit, how can one review a cheaper portable AC expecting the firm to fit a mother-of-expensive silent compressor into it?

Classic but subtler, the criticism of the AC requiring extra air from outside (ergo, hotter) to work properly. Well, thinking about it rationally, if there's a big fan blowing air from your room onto a hot heatsink and out through a big hose into the street, where does one expect the replacement air to come from? The trick, naturally, is that the massive temperature difference between the exhaust and replacement air results in a net loss of heat from the room. Ergo, it cools.

Among the crassest, an Italian's review on ciao.it. The customer in question, after consulting with his cousin who used a 7000 BTU through-the-wall unit to cool his bedroom, proceeded to purchase a 6000 BTU portable AC to cool off his 600-odd square foot living room. The obvious result is no cooling, a negative review and a distortion of the AC's rating on the site. Now can someone please tell me how I am supposed to make an informed choice when given such garbage?

Which brings me to my final point, though there would be many others. I am pretty satisfied with being spared the risk of snapping at people for no reason but the heat. However, while trying to filter out the junk and idiocy from the various AC units' reviews, I altogether forgot to contemplate, or ask about, the presence or not of an inverter.

So I am presently stuck doing research as to whether letting the compressor trip into action three times an hour at a setting of 27 degrees is a wise choice for the welfare of my wallet. Given that lower settings are expensive, higher settings are uncomfortable and an inverter-endowed AC unit would have set us back far more than this one, I reckon I shouldn't be complaining. Those 9000 BTUs are surely very appreciated.

I wonder what Jefferson thought

Well, I'll be darned: the founding fathers were indeed human, and did change their minds from time to time. An already-known edit in a draft of the Declaration of Independence shows Jefferson's careful erasure of the word "subjects" and its replacement with "citizens".

I haven't much to add to the CSM's commentary, except for an important deduction.

Semantics count!