Submitted by Jeff Thomas via InternationalMan.com,

In 1906, Alfred Henry Lewis stated, “There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy.” Since then, his observation has been echoed by people as disparate as Robert Heinlein and Leon Trotsky.

The key here is that, unlike all other commodities, food is the one essential that cannot be postponed. If there were a shortage of, say, shoes, we could make do for months or even years. A shortage of gasoline would be worse, but we could survive it, through mass transport or even walking, if necessary.

If you've ever been to Houston, you know that the city has decided not to limit expansion with restrictive zoning laws. The city sprawls as far as the eye can see, with apartments next to restaurants, which are next to gentleman's clubs, which are next to luxury hotels. While not the "norm", this type of model has actually led to declining home prices since 1980.

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

It’s not an easy time to be a construction worker in China. In some cases, economic frustration bubbles over into the streets such as the other day, when workers from rival companies used their bulldozers as battle tanks.

The AP reports:

BEIJING (AP) — Police in northern China say an argument between construction workers escalated into a demolition derby-style clash of heavy machinery that left at least two bulldozers flipped over in a street.

 

It goes without saying that if the people of any country want something done efficiently, and in the most cost-efficient manner, they do it themselves or outsource it to private third-party service providers, instead of entrusting it to a bunch of bureaucrats and unmotivated government workers.

Finally, airports in the United States are starting to come to that realization as well. So far, private security agents monitor at least 22 airports in major cities like San Francisco and Kansas City. The latest airport to replace the TSA is the Punta Gorda Airport in Florida.

Trevor Thrall describes the five stages of U.S. military intervention: