Category: Living

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Masters of the Econolypse

While I was flu-snookered last week, Rolling Stone issue 1099 arrived. It’s the third issue received since my resubscribing after more than 25 years. Amazon made an offer I couldn’t refuse: Half-year subscription for a buck. The writing is better than ever, although a contributing editor wrote the best story—”Wall Street’s Bailout Hustle“.

That best story is simply amazing. Matt Taibbi puts the mortgage crisis and subsequent government bailout in grifter terms (Seven different cons). Matt’s storytelling is exceptional, and he gives the crisis the rip-off context it deserves.

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Conan O’Brien Should Out-Fox NBC

NBC’s reasoning for bringing back Jay Leno to late-night TV is baffling. I now understand why TV programming is rife with dumb-ass decisions: The people making them.

Here’s the basic story: Last year, Conan O’Brien replaced Jay Leno as host of the Tonight Show as planned. But then NBC gave Leno his own show at 10 p.m., preempting Conan by 95 minutes, five nights a week. NBC figured Leno could carry the timeslot, saving boatloads of money otherwise spent on producing dramatic programming. Whoops, Leno couldn’t deliver the ratings, and NBC affiliates complained they were losing local news viewers at 11 p.m. The solution isn’t rocket science: Can Leno.

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Our Yaris

We begin the year with a new auto, purchased a few weeks ago—2010 Toyota Yaris. The cutie car replaces our 1992 Toyota Corolla, which was totaled in a Black Friday weekend 2009 accident.

The family looked at several options, including the Honda Fit. Hertz rented us another Yaris, which charmed us all with its snub nose, compact size, and tight turning radius. We couldn’t resist.