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Wait... people who prefer decentralization and resist hierarchy are less organized? Really?

Ahh, I loved traveling in the Czech Republic. the beer is incredibly good, the food is surprisingly bad, and don't even get me started on the beauty of the country's women. Furthermore, the people while not overtly friendly were nonetheless very helpful and tolerant of loud(read me) tourists. I found the hideousness and persistence of soviet architecture far more fascinating than the baroque architecture the predominates the tourist section of Prague.

the answer to the prague buildings question: they are that beautiful because they were built in an aristocratic society.

that answer comes, as sooo mnay other do, from alexis de tocqueville

Prague's reasoning for exquisite architecture is shades from Brooklyn's.

Take it from a guy who's spent low-price leisure time in Prague: there is no single reason for the hitch-gasp beauty of Prague 1 and 2. What you're witnessing is the orgiastic Hayekian order of post-Vatican command-and-control. Prague is the very cradle (both geographic and philosophic) of the Bohemian movement.

And the best parts still survive.

I saw them in the loony bastards swinging their broadswords on a soccer pitch only to knock back a pitcher of perfect pivo next to the Lord's own knedli.

Anyone who tells you Czech food is bad never bothered to look harder. A forgivable fault, to be sure, but take Tyler's advice and shimmy your ass over to Prague 6 for the best restaurants.

Don't take this post as adive though. I am superby drunk at the moment. I'll try to catch up with you later in person.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a fantasic move for the idle economist, in case anyone is interested...

Not that there are any idle economists anymore.

spell check is 4 suckers.

Once again, we have the ideology that experts know best. The alternative viewpoint is to respect the evolutionary processes of markets and traditions.

How do you know if your insurance is "good"? Most people have no way of knowing. All they can base it on is "do they approve what I want?", which leads us to a market where insurance companies compete on giving us access to tests and procedures, even if this isn't what is best for our health.

If you are a client of Mayo, Kaiser, Cleveland, or VHA, though, the "panel of experts" is how your decisions get made. The clients seem very happy and very healthy with the results.

I don't think these options should be made mandatory, since I value freedom. But we should work on expanding these options to the rest of the country, so people who value getting good health for their money can choose them.

Fancy details in old buildings were used to cover or distract attention away from unaesthetic joints or other limitations of old construction methods (I think I read that in an Ayn Rand essay, her point being that modern architecture need not copy classical elements just for the sake of being classical).