Showing posts with label Polis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Polis. Show all posts
9/28/10
The legacy of Reagan economics ... next stop banana republic ...
The average middle-income American family had about $9,000 less after-tax income in 2007, and an average household in the top 1 percent had $741,000 more, than they would have had if the 1979 income distribution had remained. SOURCE. See Will Hutton’s talk and book titled Them and Us.
7/23/10
Thinking about Etruscan places ...
Back in the last millenium, in college, a fan of Lawrence’s writing on Etruscans, I had a poster of the Etruscan piper.
From “Cypresses” by D.H. Lawrence:
The smile, the subtle Etruscan smile still lurking
Within the tombs,
Etruscan cypresses.
He laughs longest who laughs last;
Nay, Leonardo only bungled the pure Etruscan smile.
From “Cypresses” by D.H. Lawrence:
The smile, the subtle Etruscan smile still lurking
Within the tombs,
Etruscan cypresses.
He laughs longest who laughs last;
Nay, Leonardo only bungled the pure Etruscan smile.
7/6/10
6/27/10
Looking over Winona, Minnesota ...
On our way back from biking on the Root River, we saw these cloud formations.
Here’s a link to the high res version of the pano.
Here’s a link to the high res version of the pano.
6/11/10
Listening to Oxford-style debate on organic food ...
Southest Minnesota farmers are mentioned about 18 minutes in. Not in a good way. This fellow suggests organic farmers in our region helped create the mudslides a couple years ago. Liar, liar, pants on fire.
5/1/10
A day we will not soon forget ...
Another sorry chapter in our national faith in progress through petrol.
4/30/10
How Lincoln learned to read ...
Nice title, eh? Nice book cover too. By Daniel Wolff:
“Part of what I hope to do with How Lincoln Learned to Read is simply to broaden the questions we ask about learning. To acknowledge that some people learn best in the backyard with a tin can and an irrigation ditch, and some people learn best with a text book and a clock ticking. I think we all know that; we just don’t say it very often.”
“Part of what I hope to do with How Lincoln Learned to Read is simply to broaden the questions we ask about learning. To acknowledge that some people learn best in the backyard with a tin can and an irrigation ditch, and some people learn best with a text book and a clock ticking. I think we all know that; we just don’t say it very often.”
3/24/10
Now for something entirely different ...
As Monty Python used to say. This blog is meant to teach me and reach you with notes of appreciation. But I’m going hedge this purpose once with this link to an article that sums up a lot of what I see around me politically. Thanks to Russell King. Let me add: I was raised by a mom who was a convinced and thoughtful conservative: a Buckley and Goldwater Republican with a sense of fairness and a sense of humor. Both are necessary to democracy and both are simply lacking today in that party.
2/11/10
Thinking about the Times ... and Mores ...
Today the New York Times made its historical archives available to subscribers. Nice. Here’s the front page for March 5, 1861, the first of Lincoln’s inaugurations. Probably not readable here. The inset is the text of the article. Nice again. The NYT is making a push to secure paid subscriptions by leveraging several new services. My best wishes.
Speaking of best wishes: The term inauguration* caught my eye. It’s that extra “u.” I’m presently reading a historical novel about Cicero, Conspirata, in which the auguries are part of the political rituals of transition.
*ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from Latin inaugurat- ‘interpreted as omens (from the flight of birds),’ based on augurare ‘to augur.’
SOURCE: New Oxford Dictionary
Speaking of best wishes: The term inauguration* caught my eye. It’s that extra “u.” I’m presently reading a historical novel about Cicero, Conspirata, in which the auguries are part of the political rituals of transition.
*ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from Latin inaugurat- ‘interpreted as omens (from the flight of birds),’ based on augurare ‘to augur.’
SOURCE: New Oxford Dictionary
12/18/09
One good graphic leads to another ...
Last year The Economist listed the graphic below, along the one by Minard, now above, as one of the best three graphics created. Interestingly it’s by Florence Nightingale. Quite modern in look. And coincidentally I finished an Anne Perry novel about a Nightingale nurse just yesterday. Nightingale’s graphic depicts the seasonal frequency and causes of death of soldiers in the Crimean War at her hospital.
12/14/09
Finding what's beautiful as we approach the shortest days of the year ...
Gran Torino has that elegiac beauty consonant with the season. Over his career Clint has moved from representing the most naive heroes in American film to some wonderful attempts to see our heroes as fallen folk who enter heaven a dog’s breath before the gate closes.
12/13/09
Listening to a Neil Sheehan interview ...
Years ago I sat next to Neil Sheehan on a flight to DC. Ashamed to say, he expressed more interested in my work than I did in his. Very nice guy. Here’s an interview on his new book.
11/24/09
Post transaction scammers
I don’t use this blog for rants; I prefer to do that in comments section right next the writer’s piece. But this online retailer scam is breathtaking in its breadth and audacity. Here’s the short of it and links to the article and the congressional information.
Article summary and link:
“Ever wonder if those last-minute offers on e-commerce sites for coupons and savings are actually legitimate? According to the Senate Commerce Committee, they are actually coordinated efforts to dupe consumers – to the tune of $1.4 billion.
“The committee on Tuesday released a report that slammed online marketing companies Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty for selling unfamiliar membership programs to consumers who are in the process of buying products on trusted Web sites.
“Entering the e-mail address actually signs consumers up for membership programs through companies like Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty, but many consumers do not read the fine print that explains this arrangement. Credit card information is pulled from the original purchase page. [Emphasis added!] Most do not know they have agreed to these services until the monthly charges show up on their credit card statements; most between $10 and $20.”
Congressional report key finding and link:
*Using aggressive sales tactics to enroll consumers in unwanted membership clubs is a billion-dollar business. Affinion, Vertrue, Webloyalty and their e-commerce partners have earned over $1.4 billion in revenue by using aggressive tactics to charge Internet shoppers for club membership programs. Since 1999, Internet consumers have been enrolled more than 35 million times in Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty‘s membership clubs. In June 2009, there were 4 million Internet consumers currently enrolled in these three companies‘ membership programs.“
Partners Paid Over $10 Million (and link):
1-800-Flowers.com
Buy.com
Classmates.com
Columbia House
Confi-Check
Expedia/Hotels.com
Fandango FTD
Hotwire
InQ Intelius
MovieTickets.com
Orbitz
Priceline
Redcats USA
Shutterfly
Travelocity
US Airways
VistaPrint
Article summary and link:
“Ever wonder if those last-minute offers on e-commerce sites for coupons and savings are actually legitimate? According to the Senate Commerce Committee, they are actually coordinated efforts to dupe consumers – to the tune of $1.4 billion.
“The committee on Tuesday released a report that slammed online marketing companies Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty for selling unfamiliar membership programs to consumers who are in the process of buying products on trusted Web sites.
“Entering the e-mail address actually signs consumers up for membership programs through companies like Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty, but many consumers do not read the fine print that explains this arrangement. Credit card information is pulled from the original purchase page. [Emphasis added!] Most do not know they have agreed to these services until the monthly charges show up on their credit card statements; most between $10 and $20.”
Congressional report key finding and link:
*Using aggressive sales tactics to enroll consumers in unwanted membership clubs is a billion-dollar business. Affinion, Vertrue, Webloyalty and their e-commerce partners have earned over $1.4 billion in revenue by using aggressive tactics to charge Internet shoppers for club membership programs. Since 1999, Internet consumers have been enrolled more than 35 million times in Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty‘s membership clubs. In June 2009, there were 4 million Internet consumers currently enrolled in these three companies‘ membership programs.“
Partners Paid Over $10 Million (and link):
1-800-Flowers.com
Buy.com
Classmates.com
Columbia House
Confi-Check
Expedia/Hotels.com
Fandango FTD
Hotwire
InQ Intelius
MovieTickets.com
Orbitz
Priceline
Redcats USA
Shutterfly
Travelocity
US Airways
VistaPrint
11/6/09
"Regulation can never cure the disease of excessive risk."
Great quote in a helpful interview. Not that I don’t believe in regulation.
“You also can’t excuse Alan Greenspan for handing out free money to Wall Street every time the big firms screwed up over the past thirty years. It gave them incentive to double down on their risky bets until of course they double-downed so much the system blew up.” Charlie Gasparino
“You also can’t excuse Alan Greenspan for handing out free money to Wall Street every time the big firms screwed up over the past thirty years. It gave them incentive to double down on their risky bets until of course they double-downed so much the system blew up.” Charlie Gasparino
11/4/09
Lead like the great conductors ...
Jim Campbell published this link to a Ted Talk on Facebook.
“An orchestra conductor faces the ultimate leadership challenge: creating perfect harmony without saying a word. In this charming talk, Itay Talgam demonstrates the unique styles of six great 20th-century conductors, illustrating crucial lessons for all leaders.”
“An orchestra conductor faces the ultimate leadership challenge: creating perfect harmony without saying a word. In this charming talk, Itay Talgam demonstrates the unique styles of six great 20th-century conductors, illustrating crucial lessons for all leaders.”
11/2/09
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