Sunday, December 29

Julius Ceasar and Veblan Effect

At 23, Julius Caesar was a junior politician on the way up.

But he had an advantage: confidence and brains.

Sailing across the Aegean Sea, he was captured by Sicilian pirates.

They demanded a ransom: 20 talents of silver.

(That's about 620kg, worth about $600,000.)

Caesar told them they were being ridiculous.

He couldn't possibly allow himself to be ransomed so cheaply.

The pirates hesitated, they were confused.

Caesar insisted the ransom must be raised to 50 talents of silver.

(Around 1,550kg, worth about $1.5 million.)

Now the pirates didn't know what to make of this.

Normally, their captives tried to escape as cheaply as possible.

They didn't understand what was going on.

But if he said he would double the ransom, why argue?

They let Caesar's men go back to Rome to raise the money.

And in Rome, in his absence, Caesar suddenly became very famous.

No-one had ever been ransomed for such a vast sum before.

He must be very special, he must be incredibly important.

That ransom demand put Caesar on the political map.

He had just invented the Veblen effect.

Although Thorstein Veblen wouldn't give it that name for another 2,000 years.

The Veblen effect is when consumers perceive higher-priced goods to be worth more, simply because they cost more.

Caesar had effectively made himself a Veblen brand.

He'd placed a value on himself greater than anyone in Rome.

But, as far as anyone in Rome knew, it wasn't him who had done it. 

It was an independent valuation.

So it must be true.

And because Caesar was now so highly valued, his men had little trouble raising the ransom money.

They returned to the island and freed him.

But Caesar wasn't going to allow the pirates to keep that sort of money.

As a now important and famous man, it was easy to raise a force.

He hunted down the pirates and took back all the money, plus everything else they had pillaged, then executed them all.

So Caesar was now both very rich and very famous.

And in time, with that same combination of confidence and brains, he became ruler of all Rome.

And he presided over the golden age of the Roman Empire.

Expanding it from Spain to Germany, from Britain to the Middle East.

Because Caesar knew that reality begins in the mind.

So the most important piece of real estate in which to stake a claim is the human mind.

How you stake a claim in the mind is by creating a perception.

And how you create that perception is by controlling the context.

Control the context and you control the mind.

Control the mind and you control reality.

Saturday, December 28

Suicide Bombers Go On Strike

BBC News - UK Suicide Bombers Go On Strike - A Spoof
 
 Suicide bombers in Britain are set to begin a three-day strike on Monday in a dispute over the number of virgins they are entitled to in the afterlife.The unrest began last Tuesday when Al Qaeda announced that the number of virgins a suicide bomber would receive after his death would be cut by 25%, this February- from 72 to 54.

 The suicide bombers' union, the British Organization of Occupational Martyrs (B.O.O.M.) responded with a statement saying the move was unacceptable to its members and called for a strike vote. General Secretary Abdullah Amir told the press, "Our members are literally working themselves to death in the cause of Jihad. We don't ask for much in return".

Speaking from his shed in Tipton in the West Midlands, Al Qaeda chief executive Haisheet Mapants explained, "I sympathize with our workers concerns but Al Qaeda is simply not in a position to meet their demands. They are simply not accepting the realities of modern-day Jihad in a competitive marketplace. Thanks to Western depravity, there is now a chronic shortage of virgins in the afterlife. It's a straight choice between reducing expenditures or laying people off. I don't like cutting benefits but I'd hate to have to tell 3,000 of my staff that they won't be able to blow themselves up."

 Spokespersons for the union in the North East of England, Ireland, Wales and the entire Australian continent stated that the change would not hurt their membership as there are so few virgins in their areas anyway.

 According to some industry sources, the recent drop in the number of suicide bombings has been attributed to the emergence of Scottish singing star, Susan Boyle. Many Jihadists now know what a virgin looks like and have reconsidered their benefit packages.

Negotiations are underway to include male virgins in the afterlife to accommodate the current changes in preferences.
πŸ˜œπŸ˜›πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

Friday, December 20

Angel On Top

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the pre-Christmas pressure.

Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.

Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drunk all the cider and hidden the liquor.

In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor.

He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and an irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.

The angel said very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?"

And thus began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.
πŸ˜…πŸ˜‚

Tuesday, December 17

Nun with her Dress

Two nuns went to shop at the market. They were taking so long so one said

- Sister Mary it is getting dark and we are so far away from the convent.
- I know Sister Rose but there is a man following us.
- Oh! What does he want.
- To rape us.
- What can we do.
- Let's separate. You go left and I will go right.
- He followed Sister Rose.
- Sister Mary reached the convent and was worried. 
- After an hour Sister Rose appeared.
- What happed?
- I started to run and so did he.
- And then?
- He caught up with me.
- Oh my God. And what did you do.
- I lifted up my dress.
- Sister! And what did he do.
- Dropped his pants.
- And then?
- Its obvious isn't it. 

- A nun with her dress lifted up can run faster than a man with his pants down.

If you thought of a different ending 
Pray 188 Hail Marys and 320 Our Fathers and ask God to clean your filthy mind. 

And Don't send this back to me as I am still praying. 😜🀣🀣

Saturday, December 14

Tuesday, December 10

Eat the Grass

Teacher addresses a student and asks: "How many kidneys do we have?"
"Four!", The student responds.
"Four? Haha," The teacher was one of those who took pleasure in picking on his students' mistakes and demoralizing them.
 "Bring a bundle of grass, because we have an ass in the room," the teacher orders a front bencher.
 "And for me a coffee!", the student added.
 The teacher was furious and expelled the student from the room.  
The student was, by the way, the humorist Aparicio Torelly Aporelly (1895-1971), better known as the "Baron de ItararΓ©".
 On his way out of the classroom, the student still had the audacity to correct the furious teacher:
 "You asked me how many kidneys' we have. "  'We have four: two of mine and two of yours. 'We have' is an expression used for the plural.  Enjoy the grass". 
 Life demands much more understanding than knowledge.  Sometimes people, because they have a little more knowledge or 'believe' that they have it, feel they have the right to underestimate others.

Thursday, November 28

From the Department of Allegory: Latin Expressions

Latin, America: From Quid Pro Quo to In Flagrante Delicto to Non Compos Mentis

All Latin expressions gathered at the Taverna to discuss Quid Pro Quo's phenomenal rise in popularity thanks to impeachment hearings in the United States. A wave of resentment ran through Ad Hoc, Pro Bono, Vice Versa, Et Cetera etc., who considered themselves frontrunners in Latinism sweepstakes before Quid Pro Quo had sprinted ahead in recent weeks.

"Well, let's get real," said Bona Fide, who was always truthful. "Quid Pro Quo is being promoted by no less a person than the U.S President, even though Pro Bono is available for free." Hearing this, Pro Bono, who was selfless and always unquestioningly volunteering herself, asked Prime Facie if this was indeed the case.

"On the face of it, yes," confirmed Prima Facie. "Although the President likes Ad Hoc, Quid Pro Quo is his current favorite."

"What about me? I am always bringing up the rear… though I am used so often," complained Et Cetera.

"At least you and your comrades Nota Bena and Post Script are made of two words, unlike that useless Addendum," consoled Alter Ego, looking over his shoulder at his shadow.

"Quid Pro Quo is made of three words!" pointed out Carpe Diem, groaning, "I should have seized the moment when the poet Horace wrote me into his Odes!"

"Actually, we should have all gone to war!" yelled Casus Belli, who was always in a confrontational mood.

"We would have backed you!" shouted twins De Facto and De Jure.

"Hear! Hear!" roared Vox Populi.

Et Cetera was comforted, but he knew he could never become the favorite; he'd always be an afterthought.

"Well, fair is foul and foul is fair," explained Vice Versa, an opportunist who flip-flopped often.

"Indeed, I am sorry about our fate. If y'all want I am happy to take the blame," offered the always-apologetic Mea Culpa.

"Let's just stay rooted to the ground. Our day will come!" advised Terra Firma.

"No, let's keep on rolling and rolling and …" pressed Ad Infinitum.

"The bird walked to the toy store," said Non Sequitur.

Alma Mater, who was nourishing her children Alumnus and Alumna, watched the agitated Latinisms with Sotto Voce, who was usually quiet and spoke only occasionally in a low voice.

"Too bad everyone thinks the President has flipped for Quid Pro Quo," she whispered. "No one believes me but I've seen him canoodling with that sexy wench In Flagrante Delicto."

Suddenly they heard someone chuckling in the shadows. It was Non Compos Mentis, giggling with the knowledge that she, not In Flagrante Delicto, was the President's first love.

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