[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooa3NVfFlEU] The other day, I saw a bike in the bicycle rack at the local Henry’s market. On the way out of the store, I looked closer and found that there was no […]
Category: Living
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.
Joannie Rouchette is an Inspiration
On Sunday, Thérèse Rochette died from a heart attack at 55. Tonight, her daughter Joannie won bronze at the Winter Games…For Rochette now, the Olympics are over. This full, fleeting moment of chaos, pressure and […]
Repeal McCarran-Ferguson Act
Today U Cal prof Robert Reich asserted: “Bust up the Health Insurance Trusts.” I made a similar call to action in August 2009 post: “America’s Health Insurance Cartels are the Problem.”
What Worthless Means in Housing Dollars
Their home, meanwhile, which was originally valued at $585,000, had depreciated severely in three scant years. It was now essentially worthless at $270,000. Attorney Wajahat Ali This is the dramatic and sad kind of situation […]
The Bicycle Thieves
We rent half a garage to protect our bicycles, two of which someone stole sometime between Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning (Feb. 17th and 19th). The thieves got access to the garage and hacked through two Kryptonite HardWire cables. The thieves nearly cut through the Kryptonite Evolution Mini U-Lock protecting a third bike, presumably the prize of the three.
Pepsi Throwback
Why is sugar soda only available for a limited time when high fructose corn syrup is so much worse? (Taken and uploaded with Google Nexus One).
Google stands Alone Before China
It’s all about profit, and I understand where the silence is coming from, but they are missing the long-term picture. [Chinese leaders’] end game is to extract as much technology out of American companies as […]
Gene Munster tells a Good Story, But is it Believable?
IApple’s mobile phone business would go the same way as the Mac did in the 1980s and 1990s.
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.
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.
'Walk Away from Your Mortgage'
Morgan Stanley recently decided to stop making payments on five San Francisco office buildings. A Morgan Stanley fund purchased the buildings at the height of the boom, and their value has plunged. Nobody has said […]