I never feel comfortable with self promotion, but for the indefatigable out there check out my latest essay under the Featured Works section, “The Chasm Between the Economy and Finance.” For the not-so-indefatigable, just check out the intro, corporate profits, and the ending. Comments, as always, are welcomed.
Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category
The Chasm Between the Economy and Finance
Posted in Culture, E. L. Beck, Nation, Politics, tagged corporate profits, economic power, economy, finance, hedge funds, merger & acquisitions, money migration, sovereign funds, threats to governance, threats to liberty, Wall Street on November 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Bigotry and Low Expectations
Posted in Culture, Education, Ethics, Family, Law, Lifestyle, Sex on November 6, 2009 | 10 Comments »
No, this isn’t about the “soft bigotry of low expectations,” I just did that to catch the eye. There is no heat in my office, my hands are cold, and the only way to keep myself typing is to start with something eye-grabbing. This is actually about the state of Maine (with which [...]
Modesty and the male-female dynamic
Posted in Arts, Commerce, Culture, Ethics, Franklin Evans, Lifestyle, Man, Sex, Woman, tagged cosmetics, fashion, modesty, sexual attraction, sexual signals on November 5, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I thought to put a little punning in the subject line, but this is such a basic and important topic that I went (perhaps too far) toward the scholarly tone. Dear reader, I am not a scientist… but I have read and do read, and I have a substantial advantage over many of my gender: [...]
Banker’s Bonus Pay and Performance
Posted in Culture on November 5, 2009 | 2 Comments »
From Economix we get the chart of the day. Read the whole article as it is worthwhile and has a link to the Philippon paper (and several other good ones) showing that these bonuses are 30% to 50% unearned (rents). I think the chart is kind of self-explanatory. There is good reason to believe that [...]
History and Tax Cuts
Posted in Community, Culture, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., tagged fiscal responsibility, taxes on November 5, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Thoma had too good of an article up yesterday for me to pass it up on tax cuts and recoveries. Key quotes…..
In 1982, with the economy in the second part of its double-dip recession, Reagan signed a tax increase, meant to reduce the deficit. Here’s Bruce Bartlett, writing at Forbes.com:
According to a recent Treasury [...]
The Treasury Won’t Stop Singing
Posted in Culture, E. L. Beck, Nation, Politics, tagged bailouts, Banks, TARP, Wall Street on November 4, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Hang on, ladies and gents, the Treasury is just getting warmed up. Check out this tidbit from salon.com:
As evidenced by two little-noticed sections of the Obama administration’s Wall Street “reform” bill, presidents and their bank benefactors are back to thinking they can pilfer whatever they want — only now they have learned to camouflage their [...]
Jesus Loves the Bankers
Posted in Culture, E. L. Beck, Nation, Politics, tagged bankers, Christianity, England, investment banks on November 4, 2009 | 2 Comments »
There is something just plain creepy about having bankers from Goldman Sachs, Lazard and Barclays take the pulpit and preach a defense of powerful banking interests using Christianity. What is it about the Anglican and Catholic churches in England, where they feel the need for Open-Mike Sundays for Bankers?
Post-Modern Marketing
Posted in Culture, Destiny, Woman, tagged get a diaper already, marketing insanity, maxi-pads on November 4, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Take off your maxi-pad and put a fresh one on already….
Books: ‘Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women’
Posted in Arts, Culture, Jesharris, Media, Woman, tagged books, Harriet Reisen, Louisa May Alcott, PBS American Masters, The Woman Behind Little Women on November 2, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Here is my latest book review, from the Sunday (Nov. 1, 2009) Dallas Morning News:
Louisa May Alcott biography
details author’s lifelong struggles
By JOYCE SÁENZ HARRIS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Joyce Sáenz Harris is a Dallas freelance writer.
Two women, both closely identified with the American abolitionist movement, wrote enormously influential best-sellers in the [...]
Solving the Peanut Allergy Problem on Halloween
Posted in Community, Culture, Humor, Steve S., tagged Clever spouse, Peanut allergy on October 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Early in the evening while passing out candy, one of the children announced he had peanut allergies. I gave him some Dots and Starburst and off he went. I passed this on to my wife and she, being the brilliant woman she has always been, immediately solved the peanut allergy problem. She [...]
Iraq: Preparing For The Civil War
Posted in Culture, Nation, Politics, Steve S., War, World, tagged Civil war, democracy, Iraq on October 30, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I missed this from the NYT by the ex-mayor of Tel Afar in Iraq. Those on the right side of politics seem to think that we already “won” in Iraq. I believe that we had tactical success in controlling violence, but most of the essential political solutions were not achieved. [...]
A Monster on the Loose
Posted in Culture on October 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
During my teens and twenties, I looked to songs and music to help find some sense of life. Looking back, I wonder why it took me so long to realize that, in general, lyricists and musicians had no greater insight into life’s mysteries than myself or anyone else.
Still, lately, the words to one of my [...]
Questions & Answers
Posted in Culture on October 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
An open thread where questions about Alexandria may be asked and answers may be given.
H. M. Stuart
Alexandria
Did the Great Society Fail?
Posted in Community, Culture, Nation, Public, Steve S., tagged Charity for the elderly, poverty on October 29, 2009 | 7 Comments »
In many ways, yes. However, the graph of the day indicates that one group has benefitted from the programs which came from that era, the elderly. Looking back to a time before Medicare, when families were bigger, when government was perceived as smaller, we see that the elderly really did suffer quite a bit. We [...]
She died today…..
Posted in Culture, tagged I'm a hamster asshole. on October 29, 2009 | 3 Comments »
At least we think she was a “she.”
She was a lovely pet, a moderately smelly companion, and a rather loving hamster.
Last night, we could sense the end was near. My son held her for a few hours, petted her, comforted her. He placed her back in her cage- seeing as it [...]
Hate Crimes, Special Victims and the Rest of Us
Posted in Culture, Ethics, Law on October 28, 2009 | 3 Comments »
The new Defense Appropriations Bill either has been or is about to be signed into law, with an amendment that places people under federal protection from those who object to their sexual orientation. I’m certainly in favor of whatever it takes to prevent atrocities like the murder of Matthew Shephard. But I’m getting [...]
Outtakes from Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound
Posted in Culture, Lynn Gazis-Sax on October 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From one of my fellow Quaker Facebook friends: NPR has outtakes from Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound.
kidney dialysis in the very old
Posted in Culture, Health Care, Janice on October 27, 2009 | 10 Comments »
As people age, their kidney function gradually goes down, usually keeping pace with overall needs. In people with longstanding diabetes or high blood pressure, though, sometimes the kidneys fail before the rest of the body does. In this situation, various toxins build up in the blood and such a person gradually becomes weaker and eventually [...]
Links: Moral Murkiness, Destigmatizing Bipolar Disorder, Same-Sex Marriage in Schools, and Black Influence on American Culture
Posted in Community, Culture, Family, Gods, Lynn Gazis-Sax on October 27, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I met Jim Burklo back around the time he had the idea for Urban Ministry of Palo Alto. He was the driving force in organizing the group, pulling together the churches that supplied the board of directors and the volunteers, and for a time was our second Urban Minister. I was on the [...]
Cheerleader-In-Chief
Posted in Culture, Ethics, Media, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., tagged honesty, President as cheerleader on October 27, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The office of President of the United States combines the position of head of state and head of government. This meant that we had Bush telling us the wars in Afghanistan and iraq were going well, when we were obviously in trouble. Bush defended the economy when the disaster was unfolding. We now [...]
Drugs and Red Light Districts
Posted in Community, Culture, Ethics, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., World on October 27, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Peter Moskos, whose book Cop In The Hood I reviewed a bit ago, has a great piece up on decriminalizing drugs. Key quotes….
In Amsterdam, the red-light district is the oldest and most notorious neighborhood. Two picturesque canals frame countless small pedestrian alleyways lined with legal prostitutes, bars, porn stores and coffee shops. [...]
The New Economics
Posted in Commerce, Community, Culture, Nation, Public, Steve S., tagged Changing economic theory, simplify on October 26, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Joseph Stiglitz, via Thoma, has a nice piece up on the future of economics. Key quotes…..
But there is, in fact, a much greater diversity of ideas within the economics profession than is often realized. This year’s Nobel laureates in economics are two scholars whose life work explored alternative approaches. Economics has generated a wealth of [...]
Gustav Metzger is a Truth Excavator
Posted in Arts, Culture, Truth Excavator on October 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Gustav Metzger, an artist and political activist, created the term “Auto-Destructive Art” to refer to this work against nuclear weapons and industrial wastage. Metzger is an 83-years old artist-political activist. I see him as an archaeologist of the constructions of the modern world, from cultural safe houses to environmental battlefields. He is the original truth [...]
The Taj Mahal of Medicine
Posted in Commerce, Community, Culture, Health Care, Nation, Public, Steve S., tagged Health care spending, lavish facilities on October 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
As I noted in an earlier post, I have been reading more on international health care, starting with T.R. Reid’s The Healing Of America. One of the things which has struck me in my readings has been the emphasis on keeping down costs in the rest of the world. Words [...]
harry potter meets roman polanski
Posted in Culture, Education, Janice, Media, Public on October 23, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I just reviewed the blog stats on Alexandria, thanks to a post that I really couldn’t figure out without going to the attached links. It was gratifying to note that Alexandria does get quite a few hits, regularly, and that, at one point or another, 70 people actually read something I wrote. I didn’t think [...]
