Links, links, links and more rage against the (Bernanke) machine

-The Onion continues its hot streak with an article about idioms and one about the efficacy of snapping one's fingers. Money.

-In the realm of unintended consequences, the huge failures of the banks (and might I add credit rating agencies) to police themselves has led to not only a possible economic collapse in the US (and thus the world), tax-payers bailing out companies that extort them in the good times, but also has provided Europeans rhetorical fodder against capitalism and to spread anti-US Sentiment. Great.

-I love Robin Williams. Man, he's hilarious, and good-willed, saving TED.

-Priceless. F* Dwayne Wade. You ain't no superstar, son.

-Take that Obama. Middle class tax structure is doing just fine. And you might want to see the Laffer Curve before you decide that raising taxes will do much of anything to raise revenue. Do you even know where we are on here today? I keep hearing you have great economic advisors, outstanding. My question is, are they purely posturing or have you actually listened to them? Your change movement has some strange ideals.

-Economists agree, downturn in 2008. Bernanke decides, he's going to rate-cut us into economic growth, which will actually be ineffective and just create stagflation. YAY! Who else longs for Greenspan or Volker, who at least were wise enough to take a recession when they needed to. On another note, we are seriously fucked if we don't realize that short term only thinking, especially in regards to the economy, is going to hurt us in the long run. Take our lumps now, folks. Take our lumps now.

-Kobe Bryant: fearless leader.

-Are chimps more rational than humans? I know they are more rational than some of my ex-girlfriends almost by default...

-These NBA player similarity maps are amazing. I just lost 15 minutes of my life. And LOVED IT.

-An article about why kids lie and what they lie about. Awesome. I was just offended that being able to lie and intelligence are strongly correlated, which is bad news for me because I suck at lying.

-Jordan Farmar (clap clap clap clap) Jordan Farmar (clap clap clap clap)... take a bow son.

-Scary stuff about Scientology, courtesy of Rick.

-Will Arnett interview, also courtesy of Rick.

Celebrity sighting

For those who care about such things, I saw Timothy Olyphant, notable for his services in the recent "Hitman", "Die Hard with a Vengeance", "Deadwood", and "The Girl Next Door", at the gym yesterday. He looked much, much older and grayer than he does on film. Also, he's not as tall as you might expect. IMDB tells me he's nearly 40. Never would have guessed that one.

Randomness

-"I accept chaos. I'm not sure if it accepts me." - Bob Dylan

-Some cool stuff from TED, which I really dig by the way. Put the great minds together, share innovation. Good call.

-100 photographs that changed the world. Word.

-Worth a discussion. Yellow license plates for DUI offenders? Although this brands the car rather than the driver (thanks Rick), is this that bad of an idea? DUIs are bad news. I'm not sure how I feel about it as a warning, or an automatic get pulled over sign from cops after a certain hour, but I am sure this will not really work as a deterrent. I don't know how well deterrents work in general, I'd love to see some data...

-Antidepressants don't work so well? Damn. It's not like we're prescribing them everywhere or putting them in the water practically... wait... oops.

-The human brain explored a bit. This issue of The Economist was BOMB.

-Fascinating Schneier on Security article on what/where terrorism can be/is stopped. It doesn't happen the day of, it's always stopped in planning stages. Really interesting.

-How to go with the flow. Sometimes we all need a reminder.

-Crazy idea on how to explore the oceans. Cool stuff.

-Losing faith in the pollsters. I figured they'd be more accurate as time wore on, not less.

Not to complicate matters...

An article condemning academic overcomplexity in favor of simplification. As a consultant working in a field that does the same and focuses on pragmatism, actionability, and client-centered output that is simple, simple, simple, this is an interesting argument here. Although part of me longs for the complexity and nuance of academia, the focus on pragmatism is really interesting. If something is interesting but functionally useless what's the point in business? Sure, academia has always done interesting things for the sake of the exercise and business is probably too action-oriented, but where's the sweet spot? This may be an ongoing discussion in this blog. Also, its mockery of the pluralistic rejection of binary interpretations as essentially useless and marginal analysis that has been endlessly repeated brought back stirring echoes of my academic career. What use is "everything is different" at the end of the day?

Great line bringing it all together: "Of course, to defend simplifications always and everywhere is not only anti-intellectual, but dangerous. [But] complexity for its own sake is no virtue." We must preserve a nuanced understanding, but simplification is inevitable and more practical at times as well. As frustrating and ironic as this is, I guess it depends right. Maybe this gets to the larger argument of truth and where these two sides lie - is there an absolute truth we can cut through the bullshit and simplify to attain or is the truth in fact so muddled that everything, and I mean everything, is only so true as it as based on your perspective. The metaphysics of reality are completely rejected and our experience becomes entirely subjective, complicated, and, ultimately, obscures any universal truths that you can glean form it.

That is exactly the conclusion that the complexities dramatically extended by academia has led us to. How far does this go? Is genocide covered by cultural relativism? Where does one draw the line in the sand in the name of human experience? Is there good and evil? I think that solid answers here are tough, and frustrating. The article concludes in a very tentative way, "Perhaps it is time to return to Ockham's principle of parsimony, his so-called razor: 'Plurality is not to be posited without necessity.'" I guess the tough part is defining that necessity and figuring out when it must come to play in favor of the simple, pragmatic lens of polarity. Ay, there's the rub.

The question is, can we draw this line in the sand? There's no doubt we have drifted towards the needlessly complex, but how far back should we retreat?

Guess what? Bernanke sucks even more.

-So the dollar as at $1.50 per Euro, an all-time low. Inflation is rearing its ugly head. Bernanke's call? Cut rates! What a freaking idiot.

-Brain research proving cocaine is addictive. Duh.

-Rockin party dude recommends more drinking. Tom Reinwald?

-Oregon was really really mean to Kevin Love. Like should be criminally prosecuted mean. I wish I was exaggerating.

-Russell Westbrook: dunk of the year.

-Who cares if it looks like stagflation? We have BERNANKE to save us!

-Most Muslims desire democracy. Interesting. Key here: don't want democratic freedoms imposed.

-Amerika, ignorance is bliss. The Onion has been on a serious roll right now.

-An interview with Will Ferrell? Thanks Onion AV Club.

-Just The Onion at its ignorant best. Amazing. "It's almost as if this was some kind of... Chinatown."

Airport security

As if airport security was not dumb and senseless enough, now we don't even feel safe (I never did to start with). Those 3 oz limits are not enough. You can still blow the shit out of an airplane.

More stuff

-The West just got less competitive. See you next year Yao Ming.

-Baron Davis UCLA highlights. SICK. SICK. SICK. I forgot how amazing he truly was.

-Getting more and more excited about the Arrested Development movie. How could it not be better than the Simpsons movie?

-Yeah, how about those rate cuts now, Bernanke? The economy is tanking, T-A-N-K-I-N-G. But at least you helped inflation concerns (oh wait they're worse?!) and boosted consumer confidence (also at a serious low-point?!)... Well, you may not have done anything here... except made things worse but... ok, there's no silver lining. You suck. Back to "Every Change of Rate". And, yes, I will reference that every time I knock Bernanke from this point forward.

-Wait, the dollar is weak? Record-setting weak? I think a rate cute may help that Mr. Bernanke... PSYCHE!

-The Onion AV Club's Hater is starting to grow on me. This one is pretty funny: How to embody your generation's angst.

-Crocs are taking over the world! My roommates will hate it but my dad will love it.

-Great article from the LA Lakers' equipment manager. Good stuff. I love insights into what sports are really like behind the scenes.

-Who doesn't love seeing men crushed by the loves of their lives?

-This is ridiculous and amazing. I can see it being justified though. Sperm donor wins custody battle. Wow.

F*ing Ben Affleck

This video war is as far from Not Safe For Work as it gets, but I laughed so hard I almost cried.

Normally I hate Sarah Silverman and put her above Dan Cook but few other comedians, but this is comic gold.

Sarah Silverman cheated on Jimmy Kimmel and was f*cking Matt Damon.

Well, guess what Jimmy Kimmel was f*cking Ben Affleck. God they are both insanely funny.

Pineapple Express

Watch this trailer for Pineapple Express, a new comedy starring Seth Rogent and James Franco made by Judd Apatow. It will rock your world. Seriously.

Links 2/26/08

-Jay-Z + LeBron = LBJ in Bronx in 2010. Bank on it. I've been calling this one since I heard they were buddies.

-Ron Artest is Kraft cheese. He used that analogy, seriously.

-Wow. Never would have guessed that 1/4 of Americans have changed their faith from that of their parents. That my friends is true freedom of religion.

-The economics of assassination. Really fascinating.

-Jordan Farmar is the future of the Lakers! And I couldn't be happier.

-Finally, academic proof that Facebook photos are smarter/more educated than MySpace users. I've hated MySpace for a long time and now I have justification for it other than the stupid midi songs/awful formatting everyone uses, the ridiculous load times, internet sex predators, and the inability to definitively identify anyone... oh wait, that wasn't enough?

-Really interesting cut on the effect of a small minority on a crowd. We are sheep. Only takes 5% to move a mountain of people...

Serial Killer... the Oscars... and more

So my favorite film of the year, No Country For Old Men, cleaned up at the Oscar's. Kudos. And Daniel Day Lewis won best actor. All in all, great show. Jon Stewart was bomb. Wish Ellen Page had won though.

Since the Oscars had one serial killer after another, I'll relate a personal story with a serial killer (haha, only kind of joking). On Friday night, I was buying beer with my roommate and the man in front of us had the following items in his shopping cart:

15-20 containers (various sizes indicating he bought out the section) of parmesan cheese
20+ bags of frozen vegetables (all same brand and bag)
8 containers of V08 shampoo (cheapest next to Suave)
A few other random crazy things

I mean have no documented proof that he is actually a killer, but I offer the following observations. In addition to his weird order, this man was freaking crazy. He was awkward and social inept, but instead of being self-consciously awkward, he appeared to have overcome these obstacles and was quietly powerful in a way. He was a case study in how to portray a serial killer. I was just creeped out, but the idea of a serial killer didn't cross my mind until a bag-boy suggested as much. Bizarro.

Great weekend, much to digest.

Private property: the worst of all systems?

I here repeat Churchill's paradox. Private property is the worst all systems. The problem is there is no other one that can do better. -Zizek

Let's examine this for a bit, because I certainly agree with Zizek's sentiment here. I believe that the maxim, "To each according his need, from each according to his ability" is certainly a great ideal, but it just plain utopian. After years of political philosophy and intellectual pondering, the single most overwhelming conclusion to come out of my studies was that the utopian state was destined to create the opposite. Whether it was Lenin in "State and Revolution" theorizing the withering away of the state to the absolute justice of the worker's state as the Vanguard of the revolution quietly ducked out (yeah, right), Thomas More's impossibly confining "Utopia," or Plato's "Republic," the concept of the perfectly just society is simply impossible and is a severe misreading of human nature. If we have learned a few things about the human soul, I would say two of the key maxims would be that "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" and that if you want to create behavior, you must incentivize it. Human beings are at the most basic level driven by the instinctual and evolutionary focus on self-interest, which ultimately results in self-preservation and survival.

The precise moment that one believes that they can tame or retrain these instincts, mold behavior through education, or convince society to behave as one will is the moment that one sows the seed his failures. Countless iterations of communism and various utopian ideals have failed -- including the anarchy that mimics the very chaos that caused the need for the security a social contract in the most fundamental Hobbesian sense. Society needs conflicting wills to balance each other out because they will never truely be aligned.

Madison, writing in Federalist #51 (oh God did I go to CMC), wrote: "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."

Madison, learning from the failures of direct democracies in Greece and the inability for utopia to take hold in society, realizes that the only successful governments and thus
societies are ones that rely on checks and balances at all levels and trusts no one. The American government is based on the idea that politicians will be corrupt, men are flawed, and that by having factions cancel each other out society can progress. Sure, in certain eras the Zeitgeist of the people has taken the government in negative directions, but the overall Hegelian motion of history has shown that the United States has progressed in reason, human rights, and has generally learned from its mistakes. Maybe the US has shat on Washington's parting advice of advocating neutrality and is a top candidate to go the way of the Roman Empire, but the US has been a model in the way it has dealt with human nature and is a MODEL for all democracies. Regardless of whether or not you seriously believe in the current state of the union, the philosophy of the founding fathers and the Constitution is certainly not the flaw here.

Where in God's name do you get to private property? You may be asking yourself this question (it's fair) and I must respond in the most roundabout possible way. Private property is the same conclusions about human nature applied economically. We could hope that people would be less selfish here than in government, but evidence has shown that people are more selfish here. In situations where the incentive to produce drops, amazingly so does production. When one is guaranteed a salary regardless of performance, why work hard? The market does an incredible job of allocating resources, rewarding efficient behavior, and through its meritocracy assigning people to where they are most valuable. It's not flawless and lacks the ability to self-regulate in a depression (thanks Mr. Keynes), but I am not advocating a laissez-faire economy (and neither should anyone else). Milton Friedman and Frederick Hayek, two of the most celebrated and cited free market economists, both believed in a social safety net.

The knock on capitalism is the inequality of wealth, and it's a hard one to dispute. There will be Bill Gates in a capitalist society, but everyone will be better overall. Society can never plan supply and demand the way a market naturally does it and the overall progress of a society is almost always stunted by a planned economy. You have to buy the maxim that a rising tide brings up all the ships (that is horribly misquoted). However, I believe that while capitalism is the best because it accounts for human nature, is relatively self-policing (but don't get me started on these mega-inefficient super corporations), and is the only system that works (seriously, I stand by this, show me something that works better; free-market economies will have a 100% saturation rate in the next 200 years), it is not sufficient on its own.

As I hinted at before, capitalism has an inability to get itself out of a depression and needs government help as well as regulation at times, but it also by definition creates haves and have nots. The extreme poor, the minimum number of unemployed, and those whose skills do not fit into a capitalist economy well will always exist in this system, it is inevitable. I read a Buddhist economist (I really wish I remembered who) who believed in the market but asserted the absolute predictability of these conditions require capitalism to fix them. If you are consciously creating a group of people who will be unable to survive, you are ethically required to help them. I would advocate strong economic incentives in the process, but I would have the economy support homeless shelters, unemployment (but properly thought out and incentivized), but most importantly focus on maximizing equality of opportunity. Because not everyone can have the advantage of college educated parents prodding them in the right direction, governments need to focus on the root of the problem by developing better schools, better scholarships and college programs for the poor, and focusing on job skills and marketable ones post-college for people. I know it sounds cheesy, but if you give a man a fish... is absolutely true here. Yes, there are still people who will bottom out, which will not be avoidable, but you can minimize and still support that number with the proper incentive structure.

Essentially, capitalism may be flawed, but it cannot be topped currently in the marketplace of ideas, so we're stuck. We must equalize the opportunity as much as possible, but not confuse that for equality of conditions. One is oppressive, the other is just. Let people fend for themselves, but let them be well-equipped to do so.

I don't have a 10 point plan or anything, but these are my thoughts. I'd like some feedback, please leave a comment if you have any.

9/11 Truthiness and other links

-Fascinating article on the 9/11 Truthers. I stopped buying what they are selling but I can certainly endorse any movement that is "not conspiracy theorists because they lack a theory. They just have questions." What's wrong with questions?

-My favorite: development and aid economics. (not joking.)

-The NY Knicks are not only pathetic, they fight each other... during timeouts. This is after Robinson attacked a teammate in the shower by the way. Robinson is an idiot. On top of these two altercations, he was pivotal in the fight with the Nuggets last year. He needs to be reprimanded and scared into being intelligible. Yet, Amare and Boris suffered for crossing a line last year... ugh.

-22 worst dunks ever. These are hilarious.

-San Antonio Spurs: the Musical! Need I say more?

-Handicapping the Oscars.

Lakers Vs. Suns: Shaq's Debut Don't Mean Jack

The Lakers played their new rivals, the Phoenix Suns, last night, who happened to be premiering their big acquisition, the Big Aristotle, Mr. Shaquille O'Neal. And it was one of the best regular season games I've ever seen. This game was INCREDIBLE. The pace never let up and it was played at such a high level, consistently, with such intensity from the teams, the coaches, and the crowds, that I seriously can only remember a handful of regular season games, if any, that were more exciting, compelling, or must-see TV than this game.

The game was played classy too. There were a number of times when altercations or ugliness could have crept in, but the game just played on. Kobe was insane, dropping 41 points on jump shots, nasty penetrations, reverse slams, and raining threes. Lamar was usual steady self and Gasol played like he had something to prove, and he sure did. This was a big game, the Lakers won and took the season series as well as first place in the Pacific Division. But the Suns were AMPED. Amare and Nash didn't even miss until the second half. But god what a game. The Lakers would be up 15, then it would get cut to 3, up 12, down to 4, but they managed to end it on a hot streak. Shaq played pretty well, I must admit. He looked mobile, blocking shots and slamming dunks like the Shaq of old, and he was willing to do whatever. He dove and took out a referee. He pushed Kobe for a rebound (seriously though, they looked legitimately friendly before the game and they also were very positive throughout the week in terms of press). He made big shots down the stretch. The Lakers were just... better.

This game really made me finally acknowledge the hype that's been surrounding the Lake Show since this trade: we can win a championship, this year. Kobe's playing so well that we should consider tearing ligaments in his other hand, Lamar has been incredible post-Gasol trade, Gasol has fit in seamlessly on his part, and the rest of the supporting cast has been stellar. I was amazed at how well EVERYONE played, including Radmanovic, Turiaf, even Luke (who's minutes are due to start really hurting when Ariza and Bynum get back). And we are missing two of our top 7 or 8 players, undoubtedly. The Lakers are versatile, long, hungry, and have a combination of experience and youth, veterans and energy. D-Fish is stabilizing the team and mentoring Farmar and Sasha. Our role players have blossomed into the best bench in basketball. We have two 7 foot All-Stars (or soon to be when Bynum is next year). We have the best closer in the game, who finally believes in his team and is playing better basketball than I've ever seen anyone play. When's the last time someone scored 41 points in the flow of the game? We can do this. GOD I'M EXCITED TO BE A LAKERS FAN. Those irrepressible smiles during games aren't stopping anytime soon... I never thought losing Bynum would make our team better, but god when he and Gasol and Odom and Bryant and Fish are starting, who wants to play us? NO ONE.

"Diary of the Dead" Review

Well, as an avid zombie movie fan, I was thrilled to have the only theater showing "Diary of the Dead" in California north of San Diego practically in my backyard. And after passing by on Friday only to see a tremendous line, I knew I had to see it that weekend. Had to.

Romero didn't disappoint. Those who have only seen new, fast zombie movies like "28 Weeks Later" and the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, which were both excellent by the way, will need to get adjusted to Romero's campy style and slow moving monsters. Romero has not lost that camp that makes you smirk, but it has certainly been toned down and the cheesy factor here is an all-time low for his films. The effects were not cheesy at all (although he ALWAYS comes up with the most creative ways to both find and destroy zombies) and frankly HD suits his production value extremely well. He shot this movie in 3 weeks and it doesn't look rushed at all. That said, my roommate was kind of disappointed (although a self-proclaimed horror movie fan) that this was more like the throwbacks than the slicker new horror movies. I was not disappointed at all.

"Diary of the Dead" takes place at the time of the original "Night of the Living Dead" movie and follows a small group of amateur filmmakers who first learn of the zombie attacks as they are filming their own monster movie. The irony and self-awareness of "Diary of the Dead" is rare in a film, as the monster movie the students film at the get-go ends up being fulfilled in the course of the real monster movie, their lives, after being initially picked apart as illogical. The amateur filmmaker, Jason, who films the whole encounter, even sitting in a room littered with corpses to charge his camera, is constantly under siege as a leech, an opportunist, and a sicko for filming the ensuing chaos. He even goes to great lengths and danger to film as he's being attacked by zombies, which says several some things about his personality and about the compulsive need for technology.

Technology, which is kind of a broad overview, is shown as the only and most important way to circumvent traditional media and spread the truth through the internet - both with Youtube videos constantly popping up throughout the film to spread tales of survival/zombie-killing tips and blogger posts making sense of what is going on - but it also takes a more individual subtext. The technologies to which we have become so reliant almost prevent us from staying in the present moment, as it becomes more important to document memories for Youtube and others ("I got 88,000 hits in 4 minutes, how is this not important?!") than it is to actually live them. Jason spends so much time filming that he is unable to comfort or even protect his girlfriend, which Romero makes sure to hammer home.

As with any Romero film, the characters (even the zombies) are rife with hyperbole and political commentary. His first film was seen as important (albeit accidentally on his part) as a commentary on race and each ensuing one has seen countless interpretations and seemingly has new targets each time we watch them. There's no question that Romero has developed and expanded the zombie universe and mythology almost single-handedly-- his zombies have evolved from film to film--but it's interesting for him to go back to the outbreak at the onset of the MySpace/Facebook/Youtube/Google generation.

One of the most interesting facets to me was the uselessness of our modern skills in the face of such a crisis. As the characters were forced to adapt, they had to find out who they really were in the face of battle, firing a gun, and up against life and death pressure. These traits, which are animalistic and have been honed over generations through evolution, are conspicuously absent in our daily lives and very few of us know how to wield a weapon successfully or how to survive on our own in the wilderness. At one point, Jason remarks, "$100,000 education and I can't find my way out of a f*ing warehouse." His point could not be more clear: our preoccupation with artificial skills has led us to lose the ones that would help us to survive a crisis. Our control over the world is tenuous and one disaster away from total mayhem. The citizenry of 2008 could scarcely be counted on to pick up arms and serve as a militia... what hope do we have for the zombie invasion?

Super-sized Links 2/19/08

-Seriously, Best Buy talked my parents into buying an HD-DVD player about 3 weeks before happened: The Death of HD-DVD. What kind of f*ed up commission structure do they use?

-Is the examined life still worth living? Interesting take on Socrates.

-Great article on investing in Africa. Just don't buy any Nigerian scams.

-More stuff on school vouchers. God this is an interesting debate. Don't know where I stand anymore. The only real definite is that we must revamp the current one, somehow.

-Compelling evidence Obama may actually be BETTER for the economy than McCain, who clearly doesn't understand much of anything in that arena...

-If you ever wanted to learn more about the motion offense...

-Not sure if I agree with the extreme left that this is pitch-perfect, but Olbermann is surely a rhetorical genius in his frequent rips on Bush. It's tough to see him as only a sportscaster, no?

-The NHL's equivalent of the Auburn Palace Brawl in 2004 (aka Ron Artest melee)

-Western Conference rankings for the next 5 years... (Highly speculative)

-As a Lakers fan, I hate the Sacramento Kings. Alas, they've hired a highly likable coach with all the right stuff I'm forced to like. And he's doing great. A good little article on my main man Reggie Theus.

-Guide to optimal caffeine usage. Hint: don't take it all at once.

-A stirring and disturbing article on American anti-intellectualism and anti-rationalism. This stuff is true folks, and it's called Texas.

-And the anti-Patriots fodder starts... LAWSUIT!

-Why there aren't right-wing professors. Shut up, Claremont Independent. Someone has an answer to your stupid queries.

-I'd love to see this... TO in the NBA? He'd no longer be a problem child...

-22 huge movie ending changes, courtesy of the AV Club.

-Article on economic freedom (degree of) required for economic growth.

Links 2/14/2008

-Funny commercial hated on by the Onion AV Club.

-Happy Valentine's Day!

-Great article by Michael Wilbon about how his heart attack changed his life.

-An interesting technical evaluation of cryogenics.

-I LOVE UCLA BASKETBALL. And this video is incredible. CRANK THAT SHIT. I'll watch Josh Shipp and Jordan Farmar dancing all day er day.

-Thank you, Economist, for saying what everyone has been ignoring for so long. What kind of president will Obama be, rhetorical pretenses aside?

-All we need, larger airlines. Let's fool ourselves and pretend it will make them more efficient...

More Patriots Fodder

I hate the Patriots enough to make this its own blog post. Even beyond the touchdown records set by dropping 52 on the Redskins, 49 on the Dolphins, and numerous other unnecessary blowouts complete with spiteful 4th and 5 conversions in the 4th quarter, the Patriots are a dirty, nasty team and deserved to lose. Beyond the steroids, the poking in the eye, the dirty plays, the head-butting of an assistant head coach, the taunts of inviting Giants to their post-party mid-game, the Patriots have been cheating a long time. Mr. Roger Goodell confirmed today what all of us secretly knew when rumors of them taping the Rams secret plays during their final pre-Super Bowl run-through: the Patriots have been taping teams going way back, apparently way back to 2000.

This has huge ramifications. The Rams, who lost the edge of tons of new looks and plays by having their plays taped and still only lost by 3, have a legitimate gripe against them, as well as both of the other Super Bowl teams they've beaten. This could be HUGE. Thank God, karma is killing them for an entire year of "Fuck you" ball by the Pats.

2/13/08 Links

-The Onion AV Club (which is a great, great website) has an interview with the King of the Zombies, George Romero. And another feature in the L.A. Times. As a serious horror movie (my favorite genre films are horror) fanatic and zombie movie connoisseur, I'm really excited for "Diary of the Dead." Also super excited for "Be Kind Rewind" next week.

-Will Obama be good for business? Apparently not as bad as everyone thinks.

-The neurological basis for prejudice.

-The Onion AV Club looks at an all-time underrated band, The Kinks.

-Kobe sure seems happy, which is certainly great news in Laker Land. Especially when he says "every day is like Christmas." If he is not satisfied as a result of the Pau Gasol trade, what could make him happy? Also, other than maybe MJ, who could possibly be more competitive than the Kobester. Also, 7-2 on the 9 game road trip would not only be fantastic as a Lakers fan, but the greatest road record on a continuous road trip since 1974-1975 saw the elimination of neutral site games. BALLER!

-The Onion makes a ridiculous argument against Obama. But really, if he brings comets to destroy the Earth by becoming president, can we afford to elect him?

-Another brilliant Onion article mocking the Israel-Palestine conflict with the metaphor of cats. I can't emphasize how brilliant this is.

-More evidence that corporate do-gooders get better sales in return.

-Radiohead remixes, available free! Pitchfork may be a bunch of elitist bastards, but they can be useful at times and they do generally know their stuff.

-Things to do now to retire comfortably. I don't do most of these, do you?

-This is not as funny as it should be. It's too close to reality. Conference calls...

2/12/08 Links

-Compelling argument of why the Lakers will win the Pacific Division, Bynum or nay.

-I love that the NBA D-League is playing H-O-R-S-E during All-Star Weekend.

-Speed traps on your Blackberry? I'd PAY for that service.

-Unaired Reebok commercial to the 19-0 (Oh, wait they lost?) New England Fuckheads Patriots.

-Shaq mocking Vlade Divac with some interesting help from the Cheers theme song.

-The Good Dr. Hunter S. Thompson's obituary for Nixon. God I love everything that man has written, ever.

-Radiohead is not even coming to California. F* that.

-And Kanyeezy is not coming to SoCal. What the hell? When did bands stop coming to LA?

-This 6'8" high school girl dunks easily. Watch the video. Helluva lot more impressive than Candace Parker, but any talk of her going to the NBA is definitely premature. Do yourself a favor and watch the video.

-Walton Vs. Shaq is way more interesting than Keyshawn Vs. T.O., no?

-Jesus, don't people realize that it's too obvious for Al Qaeda to strike the same way twice? And this is just HUMILIATING.

-If you blast through way too much information daily, like me, this is for you.

-Haha, I probably need this if I want people to ever really read this blog.

Fake New Article Written After Bitter Airport Experience

Area Man Reacts to God’s Will

Area man Brad Johnston, struck by a sudden revelation, realized that this was the way that the Lord intended it to be. Johnston, who foolishly had believed that the plan was for his plane to arrive on time for him to catch his connection and start his three-day weekend skiing in the Rockies, became aware that destiny had other arrangements. He started the day with Delta’s flight plan and ended up with the Lord’s itinerary instead.

“I never realized or appreciate that everything DOES happen for a reason and the Lord works in mysterious ways,” Johnston remarked. “But once I figured it out, the signs were everywhere.” As Johnston walked off his plane, which arrived nearly two hours late because the first mate was unable to make it to the airport in time, he was initially disgusted and angry. He talked to the airline workers assigned to find him a hotel room for the night, silently cursing the pilot who had brought him here and delayed him from spending time with his family.

“I’m sure glad I held my tongue, because right after I left the counter, that’s when the magic happened,” Johnston beamed. As he walked towards the baggage claim, he decided to stop in the bathroom, an experience he vows never to forget. “I was minding my own business,” Johnston describes, “when I saw the Virgin Mary’s outline in the stray paper towels scattered around an overflowing trash bin.” Johnston added that the image also had a halo formed by a stray urinal cake and the sight completely turned around his night, maybe his life.

“I really think that God’s will brought me here and to Salt Lake City in particular,” Johnston noted. Salt Lake City, with its infamous restrictions on alcohol and famous lack of anything actually fun to do, is the city of the chosen people and offers very few tourist stops outside of Mormon temples and historical sites. “What else was I going to do other than check out this God stuff?” Johnston chuckled.

Unsure if he was going to be able to secure a flight the next day, Johnston wouldn’t be upset if he got to stick around a little longer. Johnston doesn’t even know if he’d take a seat if he’s offered by another passenger. “Before, all I could think of was being through all this travel stuff and arriving at our vacation house,” Johnston said. “But I realized that God made that pilot late for work so that I could see his divine plan. The journey really is the destination in this crazy life of ours, who cares if the journey takes an unnecessarily long time? Plus, the hotel room they put me up in is really nice for an airport hotel.”

Johnston hopes that his newfound relationship with the Lord doesn’t end here. “It’d be really cool if God would stick around,” Johnston ponders. “The next time I’m in an insanely long line at the bank, watching senseless acts of violence and destruction on the news, or stuck in rush hour traffic, I’ll know that I’m just acting out part of God’s plan and play my role with a smile on my face.” To Johnston, traffic is no longer an inconvenience, but some kind of cosmic ballet eloquently orchestrated from up above.

In the end, Johnston can only smile and know that it was all worthwhile. “All these years, I had no idea what God was or what role he played in my life,” he somberly considers. “But now, I’m just thrilled to be a part of it all and I’m glad God is focusing on this kind of stuff and not remedying horrible injustices or stopping evil atrocities from occurring in other parts of the globe.” For one traveler, the Lord’s ways aren’t so mysterious anymore.

"Blow" Starring Johnny Depp

I must admit that I really liked "Blow" a lot and I think I'm pretty much a fan of every rise and fall movie. I mean, who can really argue with them as one of the greatest of the genres? "Raging Bull," "Goodfellas," "Requiem For a Dream," "Scarface," "The Godfather" trilogy, "Casino," etc. comprise thrilling movies that make you attached the characters because you see them from the beginning and force you to emotionally react as they slowly lose everything. Movies like "Alpha Dog" that do not show the progression from underdog to top dog are much harder to watch and lack the ability to create audience empathy as effectively. "Blow" is a top-notch rise and fall film, well-acted and fascinating in subject matter. The cinematography, script, and direction were all excellent and created a very textured movie with a lot of layers and a lot to peel away during viewing.

The flick is also surprisingly moving and left me resolved to be a better man and to never be that kind of father, the father Johnny Depp couldn't help being because of the cocaine. Depp, Liotta, Cruz, and company are all fantastic and I felt myself feel extremely remorseful and determined to grow up, a feeling I also held at the end of "Lars and the Real Girl" as well as "Knocked Up" last year. I'm used to the presentation of rise and fall movies as cautionary tales and becoming attached to the characters; I'm not used to being moved or emotionally stirred. Ethan Suplee (an underrated ensemble actor) and Paul Reubens (I know, right?) give excellent support in this film, which is an essentially a biopic of a great cocaine smuggler. Know I'm a bit late with this one, but certainly glad to have seen it.

"I've got my family to feed"

Latrell Sprewell, who famously turned down a 3 year, $21 million dollar extension because he had to feed his family, actually apparently does need helping feeding his family (as well as paying off his home and Milwaukee and his boat). I might add that the best part of the entire article is that he named his yacht, worth $1.4M, Milwaukee's Best. Wow. You go 'Spree.

2/11/08 Links

-Slate has a great article on customers' willing to spend more to purchase socially responsible products. Products like the red iPods (which donate a portion of revenues to AIDS) as well as environmentally sound ones are not only intriguing to consumers, they're good business. Fair trade labels are worth their weight in gold.

-A dirty, nasty play from Tim Morris of Washington straight up heaving the ball right into Alfred Aboya's face as a result of his defense on the inbound play. You're going to tell me that's not intentional/dirty/should be reprimanded? Look at the windup!

-Marginal Revolution has a great post about the economic tradeoffs of a long distance relationship.

-What a gem! This Shaq card from 1995 makes him look like some kind of... well... I'm not sure what. Just take a look. 360 pounds of tie-dyed glory.

-The White House seems to be in denial about the prospects of a recession in 2008, which at least is in lock-step with its recently appointed Fed chair Mr. Bernanke. This White House, disconnected from reality? Really? In the face of subprime fallout and the credit crunch, projecting 2.7% GDP growth seems a little too rosy...

-The Lakers (5-2 on their big road trip and looking really good with the new addition of Pau Gasol) are also keeping DJ Mbenga for the season. Mbenga has been surprisingly effective in short minutes as a sub this season and is a great fit with the Staples Center crowd screaming for tacos every time they can keep opponents under 100.

-I haven't weighed in on the Shaq trade, but I'm beginning to get more and more scared as a Laker fan. Honestly, he won't have to carry that team as he might have if Miami ever wanted to be good, he just needs to defend, throw outlet passes, and rebound. The only real concerns are: his health (apparently not anymore) and foul trouble. Remember folks, Kareem was the slow big man on a very effective Show Time Laker team in the '80s that might have won a few titles...

-A great post from the Schneier on Security blog (one of my faves) about how fear of terrorism is more unhealthy than terrorism itself. We should strive to be a nation of fear no more.

-Speaking of terror, The Onion is absolutely brilliant in its commentary about our culture of fear.

-Another Schneier post about the necessity (in this case lackthereof) of increased airport security. I think we have enough of our time wasted with all of these delays, personally...

-Continued pressure on the Rocket's statistical claims that his late-30's resurgence is nothing abnormal. Love the Freakanomics blog.

-I can't believe anyone can write about the Zimbabwe elections as anything less than a complete joke/Zanu PF powerplay.

-I loathe Daniel Hackett as a basketball player. I think he's a jerk and I've mocked him at UCLA games to the point where he's stared me down repeatedly. That said, I don't wish this kind of injury on anyone.

Bailouts?

I know this is a flurry of posts, but as a recent victim I feel that I have to write about something very close to me. This weekend, of my 4 flights, I was 1+ hrs late 4 times and had to spend the night in Salt Lake City (ugh) and wait 6 hours in the same airport on the way back for a total of around 30 hours excess travel time not including the time my parents sacrificed to pick me up from a different airport than the one I was supposed to arrive at. Delta cost me 1/3 of my 3 day weekend and I'm glad that I'm not more easily excitable in these situations. I'd say I was remarkably calm, but I think a lot of people would have blown their tops and maybe I should have. It just got me thinking about the massive, inefficient juggernauts that are blowing up all over society in different sectors in the name of "synergies," "cost-savings," and "market share" that end up reaming the public for massive profits before flaming out like a giant supernova and demanding exorbitant bailouts to save them from bankruptcy.

Airlines are a classic example, failing to effectively police themselves after being privatized in the 1990's. Delta itself, which is quickly sliding down into the worst airline in the skies, is considering merger at current in the name of these "synergies." More recently, the juggernaut banks that were formally able to join the capital of commercial banks and the deals of investment banks with the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act are reeling in the wake of their own, ridiculous speculative investments and an endless wave of write-offs as subprime losses continue to mount. Citigroup has been mentioned for such governmental support as it lapses into financial dependence on Uncle Sam. The Economist had an outstanding article last week criticizing these firms for robbing consumers blind during the good time and passing on the entire cost of their failures to the tax payers. These firms are quickly saved in the name of the public good (and perhaps incredible lobbyists working Washington) as they constitute such a large percentage of our GDP.

Where does one draw the line? What if Wal-Mart loses it's magic? McDonalds would be an obvious candidate to eventually sink under its own weight, but it is seen as such important indicator for consumer spending that one might be able to picture the government buying out the Heart Attack With Cheese. From my perspective, I feel that when companies reach such inefficiencies and are massive leviathans unable to function, they should be either be supplanted by their competitors or sold off into pieces that can become useful. No one can question that such firms have strong assets and were once run extremely well, but the era of the megalith corporation has seen such unholy levels of consolidation (AOL-TimeWarner?) and unnatural union after union have snowballed into companies too large for their own good. And companies so large that the market is much less shielded from major errors and depressions than it would be in a more fragmented marketplace.

Do we really believe that we are better off in the long-run as a result of these bailouts? In the short-run the economy takes less of a hit, maybe, but the long-term existence of these monsters is a dubious proposition. In the age of the private equity firm, why not let the newest craze, actually running companies better instead of just profiting through fees and singularly technical savings in saved regulatory costs from going private, take over these broken machines part by part? I really think that the short-term focus, personified in these deals and the Fed's utter incompetence in the face of stagflation and complete inability to inspire any sort of consumer confidence by simply panicking and slashing the hell out of interest rates, is going to do some serious damage. The fall-out from subprime and the inefficiencies of these corporations, as well as a number of other economic factors, simply demands that we take our lumps and go through a recession. Going through inflation at the same time would not be an advisable move for the Fed to facilitate. Really brings new life to hilarious Glen Hubbard music video "Every Change of Rate", doesn't it? I think that from a purely theoretical standpoint the market does best with perfect information and fooling consumers into bliss is only going to work for so long. Let's see the government have the courage to do what it seems like they should do: let the economy suffer for a bit and grow from its adjusted value.

My Top 10 Movies of 2007

My Top 10 Movies of 2007
1. No Country For Old Men
2. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Juno
5. Rescue Dawn
6. Charlie Wilson's War
7. Zodiac
8. The Orphanage
9. Lars and the Real Girl
10. Sunshine

Honorable Mentions: I'm Not There, Knocked Up, 3:10 To Yuma, The Host

Genre Movies That Made 2007 Great: Die Hard 4, Bourne Ultimatum, 28 Weeks Later, Superbad, Simpsons Movie

Election 2008

Not sure who to support in this election anymore. Although I think I'm registered as a Democrat (not even sure at this point), I'm decidedly anti-partisan at this point. I've voted Libertarian, Democratic, Republican, and even Green (the only one I truly regret).

When I was in high school, I was voted most likely to be a lawyer first and a close second in most likely to be president. Shortly after entering college, I realized that my sense of justice was too strong to be a lawyer. Then I read "All of the Kings Men" and became convinced that no politician can ever rise through the system to change things without being corrupted significantly enough to cloud over their once-proud ideals once they rise to the top. That is why I am highly skeptical of politicians (seemingly all of them, I might add) who espouse the "trouble with Washington" and claim to be the agents of radical change.

It seems that Obama, the widely hailed black JFK, is the favorite of the idealistic youth in our country, but honestly who knows what his platform really is? He's a big fan of rhetoric and not so big on actual ideas. It seems that the Democratic party has run on glittering generalities and the anti-Bush platform for so long that I don't know if they actually have a platform at this point. The only thing I know for sure is that Obama stands for higher taxes... but to what end? I mean I could get behind a meaningful increase, but I am skeptical of nebulous tax burden shifts which are tantamount to redistribution of wealth (on a smaller scale) just because. Why not a flax tax which takes away the cheaters?

Our friend Hilary is flat-out unelectable, as anti-Hilary sentiment is so wide in battleground states that anyone who thinks that she is the next great hope is almost certainly electing John McCain. Hilary also has some crazy platforms, but I don't really want to get into it.

As far as McCain goes, if you had asked me 12 months ago, I would say I would vote for that man unconditionally as a man of integrity who has, as well as anyone, fought the corruption of the machine throughout his political career. But his recent pandering to the radical right in a shameless effort to get votes, as well as his insane hawkishness, have me more than a little bit worried. People have spoken of the McCain/Huckabee ticket as a dream ticket in terms of electability, but I think most rational people realize just what a kook Huckabee is. In short, I don't have a horse in this race and am resigned to playing the lesser of two evils yet again.

Ron Paul is a man I know will never get elected but I'd love to see in office. Ron Paul would tear down a lot of the porkbarrel politics and cut unnecessary shit (too much probably, but that'd be a nice place to rebuild appropriately from). In addition, he would actually stand for freedom (whoa, really?). Yes, I know he's a little crazy, and a lot extreme, but I think he would slow government down a lot to make sure all of our shit was in order. And is that really a bad idea? To make Congress earn legislation and remove unnecessary provisions? I don't think he could ever fully succeed in his ideas, but man I'd love to see him roll back a lot of the damage done and cut the waste.

It's always tough to place a significant portion of the future in one man's hands and our system has not done the greatest job of checks and balances in recent years. In fact, I'm mostly rooting for a divided government, as anyone one party who controls all three branches of government just flat out has too much power (Bush before 2006 anyone?) and can accomplish too much too quickly. Hilary, Obama, McCain, we don't want to see any of them able to sprint ahead with the torch, so let's slow things to a crawl for awhile.

First Post

Although I'm still fuming from a haphazard UCLA Bruins effort in a loss to the Huskies and about 24 hours worth of flight delays in a 3 day weekend, I'm going to attempt to formulate a half-decent philosophical approach to this blog on the coattails of an otherwise relaxing weekend and the Lakers continuing success on their make-or-break road trip. My name is Craig and I'm a management consultant in Los Angeles, just starting my professional career. My blog is named after my fascination with Nietzsche, who is both my favorite philosopher and the subject of my most significant piece of academic scholarship, my senior thesis.

This blog, like my mind, aims to be fragmented and cover everything from the latest independent cinema to the ongoing drama behind the Lakers latest acquistion, Pau Gasol. I like to read philosophy, follow economics, watch movies/sports/selected TV shows, and follow as much of the news as my time permits me to. I will post a potpourri of links, articles, and my own (more or less coherent) musings on all of the above. I'm not sure anyone will appreciate everything I post/follow, which is to be expected, but hopefully there will be a little bit of something for everyone. Cheers and welcome!