2009 archive
CDS: Credit Derivative Snake Oil 0
A professor from the University of Maryland who used to trade securities distills the snake oil.
A nugget:
Follow the link to see the analysis. It’s worth the three minutes.
Aside: When you cut through the Wall Street/financial press double-talk, this stuff ain’t rocket science. That’s why they use the double-talk.
Housekeeping 1
I’ve removed some RSS feeds from my sidebar, mostly big feeds such as Reuters and MarketWatch, for which the content is readily available elsewhere.
I’ve also removed a couple of blogs that have become relatively quiescent of late. And I’ve added the food recall feed from FoodSafety dog gov, which I learned about from somewhere I forget where I’m trying to remember.
The Real Death Panels 0
Glomarization has the story.
Stray Question 1
Why did I get a spam phone call to my cell phone, in Spanish, from an unlisted number in Omaha, Nebraska?
Probably a war dialer.
By the way, I have no problem with Spanish nor with those who speak it; I mention it solely to show that whoever made the call needs some help in basic market research.
Lessons Learned 0
Mark Twain once said, “A cat who sits on a hot stove lid will never sit on a hot stove lid again. Then, again, he’ll never sit on a cold stove lid.”
Cats are smarter than Wall Street Bankers:
The Internet Is a Public Place 0
Facebook user’s video leads to arrest for spotlighting deer.
It’s generally not a good idea to do something illegal, then post a video of your doing it in a public place.
Down at the Farm 0
Had to reinitialize the modem.
That means unplug it and plug it back in.
Simple Machines: The Lever 0
The problem with using “leverage”–investing in stuff using somebody else’s money–is that it works only so long as you can keep borrowing money.
Crazy People Are Dangerous 0
The Booman Tribune explains: Part One by StephenD. Part Two by the Booman.
The crazy isn’t new. It’s the Republican Mainstream.
I studied the right wing in college (no, no pinko professor assigned it to me–I had no idea what the political leanings of sociology professor were. I had one history professor that I could guess was pretty much against the Viet Namese War, but that didn’t make him a liberal; that simply made him same. By and large, the teachers kept their personal beliefs out of the classroom, contrary to the delusions of the wingnuts, who apparently fear knowledge as much as they fear anything.)
I chose it as a project because I was interested in it, having grown up in a area that had a KKK chapter. It was a small weak chapter (probably no more than four or five guys talking crap at the local gas station) that was all talk and never appeared in public and that everyone else, even the most bigoted everyone elses, mostly just laughed at, but it was there.
Aside: The reputed leader of the chapter had a very well-regarded restaurant. There was much informal anticipation of what he might do if some black folk finally tried to dine at his restaurant.
What he did was, he served them just like any other customers. Of course, the place where I grew up being what it was, the families had probably known each other for generations.
Cost/Benefit Analysis, Big Picture Dept. 0
Talk of the cost to the government of fixing health care never seems to mention the countervailing savings to the private sector:
Return of Beyond the Palin 2
Compare:
and
Dinner for five with the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate is up for grabs on ebay. The last bid was more than $38,000 (yes that’s three zeroes) for a dinner whose value is being promoted as “priceless.”
No further comment.
We Need Single Payer 1
TPM:
Total spending on health care, per person, 2007
United States: $7290
United Kingdom: $2992
Italy: $2686
Spain: $2671
Japan: $2581 (2006)
Stray Thought 0
Why would anyone imagine that the Republican Party is any more honest, trustworthy, or competent than it was a year ago?
Cup of Joes 0
Dr. Cole discusses the ironies of Wilsons:
I should be able to work Joe the Not a Plumber in there somewhere, but haven’t figured out how yet.
Via Noz
There’s a Hot TIme in the Old Town Last Night 0
Archaeologists theorize that it was the ability to make fire that gave early humans the courage and means to migrate to less hospitable climes.
This was substantially before 4004 BC (or BCE if you are hung up on PC).
Afterthought: If God didn’t believe in science, he wouldn’t have given us carbon-14 dating.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
Opera Rocks 0
I have published a tour of Opera v. 10 at Geekazine in two parts. Check it out ahd discover the ultimate Internet experience.
Part One.
Part Two.