Friday, March 06, 2009
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Collecting from the dead. (TPM) (via metafilter)
Paul Kelleher: Yes, I'm calling to inform you that my mom died on the 24th of January.
Paul Kelleher: Yes, I'm calling to inform you that my mom died on the 24th of January.
Bank of America Estates representative: I'm sorry. Oh, it looks like she never even missed a payment. That's too bad. Well, how are you planning to take care of her balance?
PK: I'm not going to. She has no estate to speak of, but you should feel free to just go through the standard probate procedure. I'm certainly not legally obligated to pay for her.
BOA: You mean you're not going to help her out?
PK: I wouldn't be helping her out -- she's dead. I'd be helping you out.
BOA: Oh, that's really not the way to look at it. I know that if it were my mother, I'd pay it. That's why we're in the banking crisis we're in: banks having to write off defaulted loans.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Bad Bank (ThisAmericanLife, mp3, free, I know money is tight, but support them if you can)
The collapse of the banking system explained, in just 59 minutes. Our crack economics team—the guys who explained the mortgage crisis, Alex Blumberg and NPR’s Adam Davidson—are back to help all of us understand the news. For instance, when we talk about an insolvent bank, what does it actually mean, and why are we giving hundreds of billions of dollars to rich bankers who screwed up their own businesses? Also, two guys go to New Jersey to look at a toxic asset.
The collapse of the banking system explained, in just 59 minutes. Our crack economics team—the guys who explained the mortgage crisis, Alex Blumberg and NPR’s Adam Davidson—are back to help all of us understand the news. For instance, when we talk about an insolvent bank, what does it actually mean, and why are we giving hundreds of billions of dollars to rich bankers who screwed up their own businesses? Also, two guys go to New Jersey to look at a toxic asset.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Mapping mutual incomprehension
Yes.
When an English speaker doesn't understand a word one says, it's "Greek to me". When a Hebrew speaker encounters this difficulty, it "sounds like Chinese". I've been told the Korean equivalent is "sounds like Hebrew". Has there been a study of this phrase phenomenon, relating different languages on some kind of Directed Graph?
Yes.
"Gonna find a cave where we can hide
Everything we crave will be inside" (ebay)
(lyrics: Banana Splits)
Everything we crave will be inside" (ebay)
(lyrics: Banana Splits)
Friday, February 27, 2009
Obama's budget reverses Reagan (nytimes)
“The tax code will become more progressive, with relatively higher rates on the rich and relatively lower rates on the middle class and poor,” said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center in Washington. “This is reversing the effects of the Bush policies,” he added, and then going even further.
“The tax code will become more progressive, with relatively higher rates on the rich and relatively lower rates on the middle class and poor,” said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center in Washington. “This is reversing the effects of the Bush policies,” he added, and then going even further.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Just came across the spy vibe blog, which makes me want to redecorate a room into a criminal mastermind's lair (but necessarily smaller).
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
The Mammoth under the parking lot (latimes)
Workers excavating an underground garage on the site of an old May Co. parking structure in Los Angeles' Hancock Park got more than just a couple hundred new parking spaces. They found the largest known cache of fossils from the last ice age, an assemblage that has flabbergasted paleontologists.
Workers excavating an underground garage on the site of an old May Co. parking structure in Los Angeles' Hancock Park got more than just a couple hundred new parking spaces. They found the largest known cache of fossils from the last ice age, an assemblage that has flabbergasted paleontologists.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Friday, February 06, 2009
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
An excellent summary of the most recent results on climate change research at Nature (via boingboing)
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
The Impossible Project aims to bring back Polaroid instant film production, on a limited scale to serve the artistic, rather than mass market.
Impossible b.v. has been founded with the concrete aim to re-invent and re-start production of analog INTEGRAL FILM for vintage Polaroid cameras. Therefore Impossible b.v. has acquired the complete film production equipment in Enschede (NL) from Polaroid, has signed a 10-year lease agreement on the factory building; and has engaged the most experienced team of Integral Film experts worldwide.
Impossible b.v. has been founded with the concrete aim to re-invent and re-start production of analog INTEGRAL FILM for vintage Polaroid cameras. Therefore Impossible b.v. has acquired the complete film production equipment in Enschede (NL) from Polaroid, has signed a 10-year lease agreement on the factory building; and has engaged the most experienced team of Integral Film experts worldwide.
“You don’t have ‘best people’!” Mr. Stewart shouted. “You lost $27 billion! Do you live in Bizarro World?”
Wall St., A Financial Epithet, Stirs Outrage (nytimes)
Krugman on the same, also nytimes
Wall St., A Financial Epithet, Stirs Outrage (nytimes)
Krugman on the same, also nytimes
The Ultimate Hall of Shame
Apparently for those who willingly participated in the 8 year blood orgy, and are kinda proud of it.
Apparently for those who willingly participated in the 8 year blood orgy, and are kinda proud of it.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Bailed out CitiGroup stimulates French economy by buying a $50Million Executive Jet
Nice. Let's throw tomatos next time these jerks show up asking for money.
Nice. Let's throw tomatos next time these jerks show up asking for money.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
DailyKos has a great, stat-packed article about how we're in the midst of the largest consumer price decline since the Great Depression.
I will have a lot more to say about this in the next week or two. For now, take away this point: we will almost certainly know in the next 60-90 days whether or not we are starting the first full-fledged deflationary wage-price spiral in over 70 years. If that happens, it will make the entire crisis up until now feel like a walk in the park.
I will have a lot more to say about this in the next week or two. For now, take away this point: we will almost certainly know in the next 60-90 days whether or not we are starting the first full-fledged deflationary wage-price spiral in over 70 years. If that happens, it will make the entire crisis up until now feel like a walk in the park.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Hacking the Hill (National Journal)
How the Chinese -- or someone -- hacked into House of Representatives computers in 2006, and what it will take to keep out the next electronic invader.
How the Chinese -- or someone -- hacked into House of Representatives computers in 2006, and what it will take to keep out the next electronic invader.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Bill Frisell's infinite styles (newyorker)
Just saw him play in Trenton, NJ last week. Spectacular.
Just saw him play in Trenton, NJ last week. Spectacular.
In an attempt to ruin a great story and bring shame on themselves, Spirit Airlines is trying to charge flight 1549 passengers a cancellation fee for not using their return tickets from North Carolina. The flight there only made it as far as the Hudson River.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Google Earth brings astounding resolution to art at the Prado Museum
To access the pieces from The Prado, turn on 3D buildings in Google Earth. Then fly to "Prado Museum Spain." You can choose to wander around the museum or click on the collection icon to peruse the available works.
To access the pieces from The Prado, turn on 3D buildings in Google Earth. Then fly to "Prado Museum Spain." You can choose to wander around the museum or click on the collection icon to peruse the available works.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Hidden Cost of War
In 2003, Donald Rumsfeld estimated a war with Iraq would cost $60 billion. Five years later, the cost of Iraq war operations is more than 10 times that estimate. So what's behind the ballooning figures? Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilme's exhaustively researched book, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict, breaks down the price tag, from current debts to the unseen costs we'll pay for many years to come.
In 2003, Donald Rumsfeld estimated a war with Iraq would cost $60 billion. Five years later, the cost of Iraq war operations is more than 10 times that estimate. So what's behind the ballooning figures? Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilme's exhaustively researched book, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict, breaks down the price tag, from current debts to the unseen costs we'll pay for many years to come.
Friday, January 09, 2009
William Zantzinger, asshole, portrayed by Bob Dylan in his 1963 song "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carol" recently died. (Guardian, UK)
Link to 2004 Daily Jive post on same.
Link to 2004 Daily Jive post on same.
The slander couldn't have happened to a nicer person. After getting out of jail, Zantzinger became involved in real estate, only to be arrested in 1991 for fraud. He was fined $62,000 and sentenced to 2,400 hours of community service.
"[Dylan] is a no-account son of a bitch," Zantzinger told Dylan biographer Howard Sounes in 2001. "He's just like a scum bag of the earth. I should have sued him and put him in jail. [The song is] a total lie."
So Burger King wants you to destroy 10 of your facebook friends ("sacrifice" !?) for a free whopper.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
W and the Damage Done (salon)
To get a sense of what kind of balance is due, Salon spoke to experts in seven different fields. Wherever possible, we have tried to express the damage done in concrete terms -- sometimes in lives lost, but most often just in money spent and dollars owed. What follows is an incomplete inventory of eight years of mis- and malfeasance, but then a fuller accounting would run, um, somewhat longer than three pages.
To get a sense of what kind of balance is due, Salon spoke to experts in seven different fields. Wherever possible, we have tried to express the damage done in concrete terms -- sometimes in lives lost, but most often just in money spent and dollars owed. What follows is an incomplete inventory of eight years of mis- and malfeasance, but then a fuller accounting would run, um, somewhat longer than three pages.
If you've been to the Jersey shore on a summer weekend night, you've seen, or maybe even performed, the Guido Fist Pump
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
"She left because she wanted to sit around on the couch and hold hands. Well, that's not in the cards for Master Legend."
Add Up the Damage (Herbert,, NYtimes)
In our collective relieved anticipation for an Obama start, Bush and his villains are getting off easy.
In our collective relieved anticipation for an Obama start, Bush and his villains are getting off easy.
Counties, municipalities, and states will join in the bankruptcy fiesta. It would be reasonable to expect collapsing services as a result. This would be a situation fraught with danger -- of rising crime, of public health emergencies as water systems are not kept up and sewage treatment becomes unaffordable. I don't imagine the federal government stepping into every Podunk or Metropolis from sea to shining sea and propping up these services. People will have to cope with danger and deprivation.
The Long Emergency author Jim Kunstler's predictions for '09
The Long Emergency author Jim Kunstler's predictions for '09
Monday, December 22, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Would you like body-fries with that?
Burger King sells cologne, or body-spray, or whatever this nasty crap is.
Burger King sells cologne, or body-spray, or whatever this nasty crap is.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
10x Mangafication: Chris Scarborough takes photographs of real people then digitally manipulates the images to resemble cartoon manga.
Polaroid film is going the way of the rotary dial. The factory will produce it's last package on Dec 31. This is kind of sad. If you're action-minded, you could always write them a desperate letter.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Most Likely to Succeed: How do we hire when we don't know who's right for the job (newyorker)
On teaching, football, and everything else...
On teaching, football, and everything else...
Friday, December 12, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
When The One comes down, and bulbs of sweat pop from Star Child's brow, and the bass thumpasaurus slaps its cosmic tail against a lighted dance floor, every boo-tay in the house meets its neighbor as hineys mash together in plush synchronicity.
The Cosmology of Funkadelic
Can you get to that?
The Cosmology of Funkadelic
Can you get to that?
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Monday, December 08, 2008
White House altered documents on 'Coalition of the Willing' (rawstory)
The White House altered documents regarding the nations involved in the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" that aided the US invasion of Iraq.
A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor says he found that the White House had modified elements of its website dealing with the coalition and in some cases deleted key documents in the public record.
The White House altered documents regarding the nations involved in the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" that aided the US invasion of Iraq.
A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor says he found that the White House had modified elements of its website dealing with the coalition and in some cases deleted key documents in the public record.