Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

The Great Recession captured in 1 minute of comedy

Just watch this.  It is 1 minute long. Could it be anymore surreal? HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO DO THIS? HOW MANY FREAKIN’ TIMES DO WE HAVE TO LEARN THE LESSON? Obviously, the lesson has not been relearned since at least sometime before 1992.  If it had been relearned, we would not be […]

Quinceañera

Fifteen years ago this evening, my wife made the biggest mistake of her life. And she still hasn’t repented. But that doesn’t mean there might not be a little “buyer’s remorse“: G-d help me, that was the best specific option I could find.* So let’s go instead with a standard: *Really, folks, does no one […]

From the coastline to the city All the little pretties raise their hands

I’ll add the scene from It later. Or someone can put it in comments and we’ll promote it to here. UPDATE: R.I.P., Clarence Clemons. QOTD from Walter Jon Williams: Young folks may be shocked to discover that Clarence Clemons had a band before Lady Gaga.

Random Notes on Economics, Music, and Death–and a Bleg

Excess Rents Datapoint of the Day: Since the NYT doesn’t pay Paul Krugman for his blog posts, why should reading those count as part of the “20 free articles” non-subscribers are allowed? I want the Grapelli track, but not enough to pay for a six-CD set. This—built by government employees—is the greatest accomplishment in music […]

Another Blogger Stops

Sadly noting that Lawrance G. Lux has declared that his blog is at an end. It does not take great skill reading between the lines to know that the blog is not the only thing nearing its end. This post seems to come from a happier time, not just a month ago.

It Takes a Village: Scarcity, the NCAAs, and the Decline of U.S. Manufacturing

I don’t remember seeing any of this type of story last year. But this year, Socialism stories abound from the Midwest. My ex-roommate* sends this link to a story about Butler Bulldogs’s Senior Matt Howard’s family being able to attend the NCAA Finals tonight in Houston (video link here). Luke Winn of Sports Illustrated covered […]

Japan May Have Reached Point 7

I give up. It was perfectly obvious what was happening at Fukushima on Saturday afternoon, when I posted bullet points at Skippy: there was going to be a major cleanup cost and the live reactors were not salvageable, but nothing fatal to many was loose in the atmosphere yet. Which is why I followed up […]