Ecomonic report card by Simon Johnson
Economist Simon Johnson has just issued a detailed report card of the economic condition of the U.S., as well as many other countries, and it's not pretty.
Large and Small
I previously posted on the magic of "Power of Ten," a book that inspired me with images of things both very large and very small. Here's another wonderful set of images to illustrate the relationships among things that are large and s
F22 capabilities
Though I am totally against the current U.S. military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, I can still appreciate the incredible technical capabilities of U.S. weaponry--in this case, the F22 fighter aircraft. I've never before seen aircraft doing many of these maneuvers.
This is why Elizabeth Warren is one of my heroes
Elizabeth Warren is doing exactly what she was hired to do--speaking up for ordinary Americans:
Banks and brokers have sold deceptive mortgages for more than a decade. Financial wizards made billions by packaging and repackaging those loans into securities. And federal regulators played the role of lookout at a bank robbery, holding back anyone who tried to stop the massive looting from middle-class families. When they weren't selling deceptive mortgages, Wall Street invented new credit card tricks and clever overdraft fees.This is more than I can say for Barack Obama. He should be taking full advantage of his bully pulpit and cranking on Wall Street and the financial "services" industry, but he is only giving lip service. This makes me wonder why he isn't using that silver tongue week after week to shame Congress into enacting reform. And he shouldn't wait for the banks and Congress to give him support for reform. Screw the banks, and enact reform. Don't wait for the banks to get in line. We need credit card agreements that people can read and understand, for starters. We are more than a year into Obama's Presidency and nothing significant is happening to clean up our corrupt financial system. This young President needs to go read his campaign speeches to remind himself of what he needs to do. And if Congress is so corrupt that none of his campaign promises can be accomplished, then shame Congress, week after week.
An inside look at Reverend Billy Talen’s Church-of-Not-Shopping
Reverend Billy is a clown and a prophet. All dressed up, he is a serious clown, self-honed and bearing sharp claws in the best tradition of court jesters. At the recent True Spin Conference in Denver Colorado I had a chance to meet the Reverend Billy of The-Church-of-Not-Shopping. Reverend Billy is an outwardly cartoonish persona constructed by actor Billy Talen. Talan has been at it for so long and so intensely, however, that it is difficult to see where Talen ends and Reverend Billy begins. Even while he was discussing his mission during his presentation at True Spin, he was prone to erupt into his preacher voice, standing up and beckoning those present to heed the central tenet of his Church: that we “Not Shop.” Although Reverend Billy is famous for his anti-consumerist sermons, he also preaches on numerous other social justice issues. One of those other concerns is that free-flowing conversational and intellectual space—the place where naturally-occurring culture used to thrive—is now jam-packed with the profit-seeking messages of corporations seeking to deny us the natural flow of our social interactions. "They want to sponsor our stories." He is concerned that corporations have filled our heads with their music and their values, and their buy-oriented slogans, largely displacing us of our ability and desire to construct original thoughts through natural conversion. Billy argues that we need to ramp down the shopping because on a daily basis we are selling our very souls when we unnecessarily buy. We have remade ourselves into commodities, and our unwitting plan is to deliver ourselves to our sponsors. Pop quiz: according to Rev. Billy, what is the best thing you can get someone for Christmas? Answer: nothing. Why should we stop shopping? Reverend Billy might answer you with the Title to his 2007 documentary: "What Would Jesus Buy?" No words really work well to introduce you to Reverend Billy. Take a moment, if you will, to allow Amy Goodman to introduce him to you. Those who think Reverend Billy is only a clown fail to listen closely to his serious message, perhaps because of the outrageous way with which he delivers it. But make no mistake that Billy has carefully constructed both his message and his means of delivering it. He delivers it in a way that seems absurd in order to bring a modicum of attention to his message. You see, Americans love their shopping their conveniences, and they fiercely resist any suggestion that they need to change their ways.