Forty years yesterday man walked on the moon. It was a beautiful accomplishment, perhaps the fitting coda to the giant waves of nationalism that engulfed the planet from 1914-1945. It was also, like any piece of pure art, completely pointless.
Archive for July, 2009
Tranquility Base
Posted in Corruption, Foreigners, Industrial Policy, Inspirational, Military, Miscellaneous on July 21, 2009 | 2 Comments »
CIT from the Brink
Posted in Meltdown on July 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
So after all that drama – the sky falling on small businesses, the need for the government to watch out for deflation, the view that CIT would kick off another round of bank failures – the lenders went and negotiated a capital infusion to buy some breathing space: Directors of the CIT Group, one of [...]
Good To Be the King
Posted in Inspirational, Miscellaneous, Movies on July 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Yes, it’s ten days old; still have to post the Guardian’s explanation of Megan Fox’s casting in Transformers: Talking to Megan Fox who was in town for the Transformers 2 premiere, I found her more forthright and intelligent than her performance in the mega-hit would suggest. The role demands that she drapes herself over motorbikes [...]
Short Boat
Posted in Miscellaneous, Television on July 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
There are few things as addictive as watching an incompetent crew of environmental activists traipsing around the Southern Ocean looking to throw things at the Japanese whaling fleet. If it’s Friday, it’s time for Whale Wars:
Rules and Laws
Posted in Foreigners, Inspirational, Labor Policy, Miscellaneous, Obama, Supreme Court on July 16, 2009 | 1 Comment »
After my cranky comment that Douglas Blackmon’s Slavery by Another Name had moved back the goalposts on my quest to get through the Pulitzer Prize winners for General Nonfiction (21 of the past 25 down, but only 31 of 51 overall), I figured I should go ahead and get it out of the way. I’m [...]
Other People’s Money
Posted in Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Health Care, Labor Policy, Obama on July 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The House has decided to move forward with health care reform on pace for the August recess. It is an compelling outline, with a public option, individual and employer mandates, and sweeping restrictions on the types of insurance that can be offered. That leaves only the small matter of who is going to pay for [...]
CIT?
Posted in Corruption, Industrial Policy, Labor Policy, Meltdown, Obama on July 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Noooo! Just when it seemed the Fed/Treasury was on the verge of showing some backbone and finally screwed up the courage to allow a firm with an SIC code beginning with 6 to experience the consequences of its actions, just as Goldman bathes in the milk and honey of consolidation, here comes the the attempt [...]
Le Tour
Posted in Sports, Television on July 13, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I hate bicycles. They have never made much sense to me. I see the world as comprised of three distances – walking, driving, and flying – and have trouble understanding the appeal of a mode of transport that goes twenty miles an hour and leaves you sweaty. If you want to cover a modest distance [...]
Breast Corollary
Posted in Drugs, Health Care, Obama on July 12, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I am reasonably confident of my position on the efficiency of the health care market: it isn’t efficient, and in fact it is so inefficient that it really isn’t a market at all. I look at conservative proposals – or, for that matter, the comments to my prostate post from Joe – and am reminded [...]
AIG Again
Posted in Corruption, Housing Crisis, Meltdown on July 10, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Michael Lewis has a piece in Vanity Fair that could as easily have been titled The Banality of Derivatives. Yet the A.I.G. F.P. traders left behind, much as they despise him personally, refuse to believe Cassano was engaged in any kind of fraud. The problem is that they knew him. And they believe that his [...]
