Archive for August, 2007

Remembering how things were

Remembering how things were

| August 30, 2007 | Reply

Brad DeLong, economics professor at UC Berkeley, has posted a great article reminding us just what life was like for most US citizens back in the early 20th century: A quarter of American households in 1900 had boarders or lodgers (compared to two percent today). Half of American households in 1900 had fewer rooms than […]

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Ten Postulates of Political Correctness

Ten Postulates of Political Correctness

| August 28, 2007 | Reply

Baron Bodissey [nice pen name, since I happen to know where it comes from] does an excellent job of laying out what he calls the Ten Postulates of Political Correctness: 1. America is uniquely evil. 2. America is never justified in defending itself. 3. Illiterate people from poor societies are superior to Americans. 4. The […]

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A great ad

A great ad

| August 27, 2007 | Reply

As an almost-native Californian (missed it by several months, though my mom and all my sisters are native Californians), I thought this ad was spot-on and quite funny (click to go to ad): More ads are here. Hat tip to The Volokh Conspiracy. ..bruce..

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Law and Order drinking game

Law and Order drinking game

| August 24, 2007 | 1 Reply

OK, I don’t drink (at least, not alcohol), but as a long-time fan of Law and Order, I found this proposed drinking game both funny and dead-on. Example: The Defense serves Jack or Cute Assistant DA with a Motion to Dismiss – Another very common one. Honestly, I’m a little shocked if I don’t see […]

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Banking Under Stress – Data Behind A Fear

Banking Under Stress – Data Behind A Fear

| August 22, 2007 | Reply

The past 2 weeks have seen a great deal of activity in an otherwise very orderly and well structured financial system. As many of you know it’s a bit of a personal crusade to expose useful information that is hidden in plain sight, and expose it in a way that helps normal people gain insight […]

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Why history matters (part XXVI)

Why history matters (part XXVI)

| August 21, 2007 | Reply

Victor Davis Hansen talks about how his graduate work in Classics led to writing about military history — and why military history matters: Try explaining to a college student that Tet was an American military victory. You’ll provoke not a counterargument — let alone an assent — but a blank stare: Who or what was […]

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I may have just sworn off vegetables for a while…

I may have just sworn off vegetables for a while…

| August 21, 2007 | 2 Replies

…this is a bit too unnerving: Hat tip to Defamer (one of my guilty pleasures).

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Cosmic chase

Cosmic chase

| August 20, 2007 | Reply

Thanks to a tip I saw somewhere on the net today and the ever-helpful information at Heavens Above, I knew that the International Space Station (ISS) would be passing overhead here in Denver around 9:00 pm MDT. And sure enough, just before 9:00, a very bright dot appeared in the northwest sky, slowly heading toward […]

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Great military motivational posters (and an update on the video below)

Great military motivational posters (and an update on the video below)

| August 16, 2007 | Reply

Blackfive is on a role. First, they tracked down, identified, and conducted a phone interview with the USMC Staff Sergeant who did the slam poetry video below. And they did it before the mainstream media could. Second, they have this link to Military Motivator, a place where individuals use the “do-it-yourself-Demotivator” function at Despair.com to […]

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Uh oh …. Tech Crash 2.0?

Uh oh …. Tech Crash 2.0?

| August 15, 2007 | Reply

I fully anticipated the 2000 Tech Crash, due to the insane spending of dot.com startups with no products and no clear business plan. Having been part of a venture-funded startup in the early 1990s — one that took five years to run through a grand total of $7M of venture capital — I heard big […]

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