Back in May, Barry Ritholtz compiled a list of reasons why we are to blame for the current oil price increases. Mostly it’s a matter of having an energy policy that very much encourages the price to rise. He’s dubbed this perversity the “George Costanza Energy Policy” in honor of “The Opposite,” the episode of Seinfeld where Costanza gets a job with George Steinbrenner.
Of course, it’s not really perversity that led to this energy policy, but Bush’s close ties to the Saudis.
Now it appears that oil may actually reach $150. Could happen next week.
George Carlin died this week - a great loss to comedy and to America - the man was a bona fide national treasure. Not long before his death, he gave a very intelligent interview for Psychology Today. Carlin serves as an excellent answer to the question “how can I be spontaneous and improvise well?” The answer: plenty of preparation and practice.
How do you make valuable products when the price of a copy is nearly free? Kevin Kelly has eight proposals:
- Immediacy
- Personalization
- Interpretation
- Authenticity
- Accessibility
- Embodiment
- Patronage
- Findability
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Dating myself with the title there. Here are some hilarious posters given by budding scientists. You have to start somewhere. I’m curious about “Garlic: The Silent Killer.”
Monday, February 18, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Big Picture has a hilarious quote from Art Laffer (yes, that Laffer) about the tax rebate. Ironically, he doesn’t like it.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
90 Day Jane almost stayed alive long enough to get some serious media attention. The smart money was on it being a hoax, which of course, it most likely was. Now somebody is trying to hack her traffic and install some spyware on unsuspecting passersby. Some people are concerned about the possibility of a “suicide contagion,” which could take hold regardless of whether Jane’s blog was real or fake.