Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Friday, December 27, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Good Grief and Great Tits by Dan Savage - Seattle Features - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper
Good Grief and Great Tits by Dan Savage - Seattle Features - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper:
All this for me—and I wasn't even that good. Translate that into Latin and it could be on the Palin family's coat of arms.
All this for me—and I wasn't even that good. Translate that into Latin and it could be on the Palin family's coat of arms.
Japanese Premier Visits Contentious War Shrine - NYTimes.com
Japan risks alienating allies to placate domestic right wing.
Japanese Premier Visits Contentious War Shrine - NYTimes.com
Japanese Premier Visits Contentious War Shrine - NYTimes.com
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
The Strength of Weak Ties
The Strength of Weak Ties is one of the classic works of sociology and social networking.
http://sociology.stanford.edu/people/mgranovetter/documents/granstrengthweakties.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Granovetter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bm93gN1zJg
http://sociology.stanford.edu/people/mgranovetter/documents/granstrengthweakties.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Granovetter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bm93gN1zJg
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Spike in Harm to Liver Is Tied to Dietary Aids - NYTimes.com
Spike in Harm to Liver Is Tied to Dietary Aids - NYTimes.com
Why markets do not always work: fraud.
But a federal law enacted in 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, prevents the Food and Drug Administration from approving or evaluating most supplements before they are sold. Usually the agency must wait until consumers are harmed before officials can remove products from stores. Because the supplement industry operates on the honor system, studies show, the market has been flooded with products that are adulterated, mislabeled or packaged in dosages that have not been studied for safety.
Why markets do not always work: fraud.
But a federal law enacted in 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, prevents the Food and Drug Administration from approving or evaluating most supplements before they are sold. Usually the agency must wait until consumers are harmed before officials can remove products from stores. Because the supplement industry operates on the honor system, studies show, the market has been flooded with products that are adulterated, mislabeled or packaged in dosages that have not been studied for safety.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Hedge Fund Secrets Lie in Short Term Over Luck: Cutting Research - Bloomberg
For the top investors, it is not about luck.
Hedge Fund Secrets Lie in Short Term Over Luck: Cutting Research - Bloomberg
Hedge Fund Secrets Lie in Short Term Over Luck: Cutting Research - Bloomberg
Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson Gives Drew Magary a Tour
Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson Gives Drew Magary a Tour
As we speed along, a speck of mud gets on my shirt—OMG MUD EWW SO GROSS!—and I flick it away. Meanwhile, Phil sits next to me, and his whole life is caked in mud. He’s been out here plunging his hands into the earth and ripping the heads off ducks while I’ve been in suburbia with my thumb up my ass. I feel both inadequate and ungrateful. There’s only one way to absolve myself, I figure, and that is to shoot the fuck out of this crossbow.
What is Duck Dynasty?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/20/9-questions-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask-about-duck-dynasty/
As we speed along, a speck of mud gets on my shirt—OMG MUD EWW SO GROSS!—and I flick it away. Meanwhile, Phil sits next to me, and his whole life is caked in mud. He’s been out here plunging his hands into the earth and ripping the heads off ducks while I’ve been in suburbia with my thumb up my ass. I feel both inadequate and ungrateful. There’s only one way to absolve myself, I figure, and that is to shoot the fuck out of this crossbow.
What is Duck Dynasty?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/20/9-questions-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask-about-duck-dynasty/
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
“Invert, always invert” | PRAGMATIC CAPITALISM
My favorite math problem "the planes that did not return"
“Invert, always invert” | PRAGMATIC CAPITALISM
“Invert, always invert” | PRAGMATIC CAPITALISM
Harvard Student Accused of E-Mail Bomb Threats to School - Bloomberg
Harvard Student Accused of E-Mail Bomb Threats to School - Bloomberg: “According to Kim, he was motivated by a desire to avoid a final exam
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Accidental Tax Break Saves Wealthiest Americans $100 Billion - Bloomberg
Not accidental at all. The rich are different, they do not pay taxes.
Accidental Tax Break Saves Wealthiest Americans $100 Billion - Bloomberg
Accidental Tax Break Saves Wealthiest Americans $100 Billion - Bloomberg
Monday, December 16, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Bloomberg Focuses on Rest (as in Rest of World) - NYTimes.com
Bloomberg Focuses on Rest (as in Rest of World) - NYTimes.com:
In a twist on the traditional business model of consulting, clients will not be charged.
In a twist on the traditional business model of consulting, clients will not be charged.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST: Compression of Morbidity
CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST: Compression of Morbidity:
"We already have the magic pill that produces compression of morbidity. It's called exercise."
"We already have the magic pill that produces compression of morbidity. It's called exercise."
Friday, December 13, 2013
Fixing the Shiller CAPE: Accounting, Dividends, and the Permanently High Plateau | Philosophical Economics
Long explanation of the issues with Shiller CAPE. If you do not know what Shiller CAPE is, do not bother reading.
Fixing the Shiller CAPE: Accounting, Dividends, and the Permanently High Plateau | Philosophical Economics
Fixing the Shiller CAPE: Accounting, Dividends, and the Permanently High Plateau | Philosophical Economics
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Ryan Lizza: Why Won’t Obama Rein in the N.S.A.? : The New Yorker
Long but important piece on our national security state.
Ryan Lizza: Why Won’t Obama Rein in the N.S.A.? : The New Yorker
Ryan Lizza: Why Won’t Obama Rein in the N.S.A.? : The New Yorker
After Setbacks, Online Courses Are Rethought - NYTimes.com
Four percent completion rate. Mine is zero.
After Setbacks, Online Courses Are Rethought - NYTimes.com
After Setbacks, Online Courses Are Rethought - NYTimes.com
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Washington Center for Equitable Growth | Hoisted from Other People’s Archives from Last January: Jared Bernstein and Kathy Ruffing on Disability Insurance Roll Growth: Makers, Takers, and Fakers Weblogging
More than 90% of DI dollars go to elderly, disabled or working. Growth has been due to aging, and growth of workforce.
Washington Center for Equitable Growth | Hoisted from Other People’s Archives from Last January: Jared Bernstein and Kathy Ruffing on Disability Insurance Roll Growth: Makers, Takers, and Fakers Weblogging
Washington Center for Equitable Growth | Hoisted from Other People’s Archives from Last January: Jared Bernstein and Kathy Ruffing on Disability Insurance Roll Growth: Makers, Takers, and Fakers Weblogging
NSA chief Keith Alexander blames diplomats for surveillance requests | World news | theguardian.com
General Alexander spoke yesterday at the Fourth Kenneth Moskow Memorial Lecture on Homeland Security at the Council on Foreign Relations in NYC.
NSA chief Keith Alexander blames diplomats for surveillance requests | World news | theguardian.com
NSA chief Keith Alexander blames diplomats for surveillance requests | World news | theguardian.com
Monday, December 09, 2013
Washington Center for Equitable Growth | Does America’s Future Contain Elite Public Universities?
Washington Center for Equitable Growth | Does America’s Future Contain Elite Public Universities?:
The fever of the MOOC has broken. As we got to have suspected all along, the students who will benefit enormously from MOOCs and Kahn Academy and so forth are the students with a cognitive skills, energy, and persistence to have been able to learn from the open University on TV, or programmed instruction, or simply picking up a book. For those who do not have the requisite skill, energy and persistence, the coming of the MOOC and of education over the Internet will do little: If they are to learn effectively, they need to be embedded in the social matrix of a university–classes and deadlines and attendance and tests and papers and peers around them all doing the same. And those who do not need this sociological matrix are a small minority, even at Berkeley.
The fever of the MOOC has broken. As we got to have suspected all along, the students who will benefit enormously from MOOCs and Kahn Academy and so forth are the students with a cognitive skills, energy, and persistence to have been able to learn from the open University on TV, or programmed instruction, or simply picking up a book. For those who do not have the requisite skill, energy and persistence, the coming of the MOOC and of education over the Internet will do little: If they are to learn effectively, they need to be embedded in the social matrix of a university–classes and deadlines and attendance and tests and papers and peers around them all doing the same. And those who do not need this sociological matrix are a small minority, even at Berkeley.
Sunday, December 08, 2013
Beating the Market, as a Reachable Goal - NYTimes.com
Russell 3000 Index beats this guy on 3, 5 and 10 year record. Why Can't We have a better PressCorps?
Beating the Market, as a Reachable Goal - NYTimes.com
Beating the Market, as a Reachable Goal - NYTimes.com
Saturday, December 07, 2013
On Buffett's Alpha
Focus on cheap, quality stocks and use leverage.
http://www.econ.yale.edu/~af227/pdf/Buffett's%20Alpha%20-%20Frazzini,%20Kabiller%20and%20Pedersen.pdf
http://www.econ.yale.edu/~af227/pdf/Buffett's%20Alpha%20-%20Frazzini,%20Kabiller%20and%20Pedersen.pdf
Friday, December 06, 2013
Quote For The Day � The Dish
Quote For The Day � The Dish:
“While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control.
A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. Debt and the accumulation of interest also make it difficult for countries to realize the potential of their own economies and keep citizens from enjoying their real purchasing power. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which have taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which become the only rule,” – Pope Francis.
“While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control.
A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. Debt and the accumulation of interest also make it difficult for countries to realize the potential of their own economies and keep citizens from enjoying their real purchasing power. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which have taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which become the only rule,” – Pope Francis.
Wonkbook: Washington has given up on growth
Wonkbook: Washington has given up on growth:
“When a man has done what he considers his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for eternity." -- Nelson Mandela.
“When a man has done what he considers his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for eternity." -- Nelson Mandela.
Thursday, December 05, 2013
Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Steve Sailer: iSteve: Graph of 2012 PISA scores for 65 countries/economies
With US broken down by race and some geography
Steve Sailer: iSteve: Graph of 2012 PISA scores for 65 countries/economies
Steve Sailer: iSteve: Graph of 2012 PISA scores for 65 countries/economies
Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt
Watch the entire film. It is worth it to show what goes behind global manufacturing.
Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt
Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt
Tuesday, December 03, 2013
Monday, December 02, 2013
condescending, callous, and, worst of all, intellectually lazy.
condescending, callous, and, worst of all, intellectually lazy.