Sunday, February 28, 2010

Sunday

Hamas U. (from the Boston Globe). Interesting story about the rise of Islam in Gaza and the Islamic University of Gaza.

DNA Deception. "A Texas Tribune review of nine years' worth of e-mails and internal documents on the Department of State Health Services’ newborn blood screening program reveals the transfer of hundreds of infant blood spots to an Armed Forces lab to build a national and, someday, international mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) registry." Who the hell signed off on this?

Obama Bullshit bingo. Great idea for staying awake during Obama speeches.

Federal spending as a share of GDP chart. "Obama’s budget shows that interest payments will start rising rapidly next year and hit 3 percent of GDP by 2015. And that’s an optimistic projection."

The coming collapse of the commercial real estate market.

The story behind five banned toys and games (Popular Mechanics). I like lawn darts.

One cool thing for foodies in Austin has been the rise of some awesome food carts. Here's a website dedicated to them. G'Raj Mahal has become one of my favorite places in Austin, especially since it is right next to Clive, which is also very cool.

I didn't think they had a depp run in them this year because the talent mix on the team is just weird, but what the hell has happened to my Horns?

Saturday, February 27, 2010

The Best Investment

In these uncertain economic times, the best investment is clearly a new car (right honey?). I gove you the Maserati GranTurismo convertible which might be the most beautiful car I have ever seen.

Saturday

Crazy week around here. Committee hearings, travel, and hardwoods installed at the house so didn't get a chance to post anything. Pretty lame week anyway.

8.8 quake hits Chile. That's hundreds of times more pwerful than the quake that hit Haiti. We'll see a slew of articles over the next few weeks comapring the two, but we're about to see the difference between countries with infrastructure.

I think this initiative by the Obama administration is wrongheaded. First, it's a complete sop to organized labor which is apparenty not content with destroying California and Michigan. Second, I'll let Alex Tabarrok explain the objections. Short version: "long term consequences of creating a dual labor market in which insiders with government or government-connected jobs are highly paid and secure while outsiders face high unemployment rates, low wages and part-time work without a career path."

The Exile goes under. This is too bad. I discovered The Exile when I started reading The War Nerd column. If you ever get a chance just sit down on some weekend and read all of his columns. They are awesome. The War Nerd, Gary Brecher, writes about various conflicts all over the world and he has spent most of his life just studying war.

This article had me at "an iceberg about the size of Luxembourg".

Cool photos of lions, but the dedication of the photographer in getting the pictures is pretty crazy.

Boozy ape sent to rehab. I would add more, but the headline pretty much tells you all you need to know since it is about a boozy ape (he also smokes) who gets sent to rehab.

Mark Cuban pwns Al Franken.

Obama Facebook updates. This is pretty funny.

This, however, is not funny. From the NYT, Infections Unfazed by Antibiotics.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Monday

Enjoy wine more by overpaying. "In one experiment, Mr. Hodgson served 100 wines to actual California State Fair Wine Competition judges, over the course of four years. The tastings were blind, and each judge was presented the same wine three times, each time from the same exact bottle. What Mr. Hodgson found was remarkable: On a 20-point rating scale, from 80-100, judges typically varied in their ratings of the same wine by plus-or-minus four points. The same wine could be rated a 90, an 86, and a 94, all by the same judge in the same year." A nice find here was the essay by Richard Quandt that is referenced in the article- On Wine Bullshit.

Great article on the size of international remittances. It's estimated at $338 billion which is staggering, especially when you consider all foreign aid equals about $100 billion (per the article). Money quote: "Pritchett recently calculated that sending 3,000 Bangladeshis to work to the United States for a year would provide more capital for Bangladesh than a year’s worth of loans from the celebrated Grameen Bank – the microfinance lender whose founder, Mohammed Yunus, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. “If I get 3,000 Bangladeshi workers into the US,” Pritchett asked facetiously in a recent lecture, “do I get a Nobel?”

Two very good posts from Mark Cuban on understanding salary caps and risk management in sports. The second one is really interesting, don't let the risk management thing deter you.

Just read this.

Fareed Zakaria on why Iran can be deterred.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Saturday

The top five cities for green jobs, via CAP. Detroit and San Francisco are two of the worst run cities in America. Portland strikes me as being a lot like Austin, except with rain. New York basically runs like a Scandinavian welfare state with high taxes on big earners and a ton of people on public assistance or with municipal jobs. And Boston, of course, rules.

His-panic. Article from American Conservative on the myth of high Latino and immigrant crime rates. I'm withholding judgment until my brother, a self-appointed expert on crime statistics, gives me his take. His initial thought was that it was sloppy.

The Chemist's War
. Wow. Today's must read. Story about how the US government actually poisoned alcohol during Prohibition.

Daryl Morey is a badass and one of the reasons I'm quickly becoming a Rockets fan. Kevin Martin is a heart throb among all the people enamored with PERs, Hilton Armstrong is a nice, athletic big, Jared Jeffries is an elite defender (and has the best first name possible), the draft picks are huge, and I think Jordan Hill may be the most underrated part of this deal. Yes, giving up Landry sucks, but the Rockets clearly come out on top in this trade.

America's best health care economist discussing cost controls. I think he actually takes it pretty easy on Rove here. The "buying insurance across state lines" idea has never made a ton of sense to me. I'm with Reinhardt on it, it's probably not a bad idea, but you're really not going to get much savings out of it. Part of the fantasy of health care reformers, both conservative and liberal, is that there is some way of tinkering with the regulation that will somehow radically reduce the cost. There isn't.

"Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll." Here.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Friday

Obviously, it's not a justification for flying a plane into a building, or for violence of any sort, but the law in question does seem unfair.

Yes we can!

I can't tell if this is real, but if it is real then I'm really concerned for my country.

Roger Ebert profile
in in Esquire. He's battling cancer right now and has lost the ability to speak.

Do spies and assassins really wear fake beards? They sure do.

The World's 18 Strangest Airports.

The importance of vacations. “The practical lesson for an individual is that you derive most of your happiness from anticipating the holiday trip,” he said.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

I Love Kevin Durant

From Bill Simmons:

"Let's leave out the historical possibilities this time around. (You know, like the fact that he's already at 5,000 career points, that no forward has ever averaged 30 points a game three times and he might do it 10 or 12, that he might have a 37 PPG or a 55-45-95 shooting percentage season lurking in him, etc.) Just look at this particular season. How is Durant not our No. 2 choice for MVP?

The young Zombies have quietly climbed to 30-21 and third in the league in defensive field goal percentage. Durant goes into every game knowing two things: (1) There's a decent chance nobody else on my team will make more than five baskets tonight; and (2) If I suck, we almost definitely will lose. They're 17-8 in their past 25 games; he has scored at least 25 in every game, racked up 29-plus points in all but three and averaged 32.4 PPG (first in NBA in that span), 7.8 RPG, 52.3 FG percent, 88.6 FT percent (third) and 51.9 3FG percent (first, minimum 50 attempts). His plus/minus in those 25 games is plus-194, second only to LeBron. His team is improbably headed for 48-50 wins in a loaded Western Conference, with a top four that's 21, 21, 23 and 20 years old, without anyone averaging even 6.4 rebounds or 1.1 blocks a game. And Durant has scored nearly as many points as his best two teammates combined. I could go on and on. Other than LeBron/Cleveland, Durant means more to that team than anyone else means to any other 2010 team. You can't tell me differently.

UNSTOPPABLE

Players who scored 25-plus points in at least 25 consecutive games over the past 30 years.

Player Streak Dates
Kevin Durant, Thunder 25 Dec. 2009-Feb. 2010
Allen Iverson, Sixers 27 Jan.-March 2001
Michael Jordan, Bulls 40 March 1988-Dec. 1988
Michael Jordan, Bulls 40 Dec. 1986-March 1987

Thursday

Didn't find too much interesting to post for a few days. Plus, I actually had to work.

Awesome kid gets detention for being hilarious.


Cavs get Jamison. I think this is a way better pick up for the Cavs then Stoudemire would have been. Jamison is probably a better rebounder, he's a crafty scorer, good teammate, and he fits in with Shaq on the frontline much better.

The $555,000 student loan burden. Finding it hard to muster too much sympathy for this doctor who made a number of terrible decisions and then basically said "maybe some of it was my fault."

Holy Rasputin! Marine cheats death, many times.

Why Google failed in China
. Some interesting facts about Chinese Internet users and how they differ from Internet users in other countries.

Canadians choose bacon over sex. At least, 43% of them did.

The use of food by police during interrogation
.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Sunday links

A Stone Age Subculture Takes Shape in the US. From Der Speigel, about the folks who are going back to the caveman diet. One thing I think such people ignore is how bad it must have sucked to be a caveman.

Torture Lawyers on Trial (from The Nation). I don't consider them to be a particularly credible news source, but I think the legal ramifications of whether a government lawyer can be disciplined or prosecuted (not to mention whether they can be prosecuted in a foreign court) for developing a legal strategy are pretty important.

The Fable of Market Meritocracy. It seems to offend some people that the market rewards people they believe lack "merit". I would think those people would be cheered by the fact that you can be an idiot in the overall sense and still get rich.

The 5 Most Notorious Recalls of All Time.

The case against banning the word "retard." I don't understand the idea that we should not use certain words because people have taken the original meaning and turned into a term of derision. That seems backwards. I mean I get that using the N-word or dropping random F-bombs is frowned upon, but those are intended to offend.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Saturday (but really Friday's)

Well, my wife accurately pointed out that one of the reason my blog sucks (there are many) is that my links never really describe what's in the article very well. So I'll try to do a better job.

A simple health care fix fizzles out. The current health care system we have really does not concern itself much with results. That's primarily because the reimbursement system for providers really doesn't have anything to do with results. The system rewards volume and high cost interventions (often ones that are not too effective).

In honor of the Winter Olympics, a slideshow of the 10 hottest female athletes participating.

Are snobby bicyclists their own worst enemy? Let me go ahead and answer that. Yes. It will be interesting if more "normals" start biking. Then biking won't be hipster enough anymore and they'll have to find something else that makes them special.

How do you judge a camel beauty contest? Yeah, it really is about camel beauty contests. "We are looking for camels with big heads, firm ears, broad cheeks and big whiskers. There is no single important thing - the neck and body should be long, the hump and the back should be big, and we also look at the colour and posture of the camel."

The best shooters in the NBA. If I were teaching someone to shoot...let me start again. If someone was dumb enough to ask me to teach them how to shoot, I would tell them to watch Ray Allen. He has one of the most beautiful jump shots you will ever see. Steve Nash's isn't as pretty, but as you see in the link, his numbers make it pretty clear he's the best shooter.

Crazy, crazy article from the NYT on the "My Way" killings in the Philippines. From the story:
The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.”

Awesome pictures of sled dogs.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Monday Morning

Colts lost. Pretty sure the biggest turning point in the game was that I had picked the Colts to win. The onside kick and the interception return for a touchdown were big, but you can overcome that kind of mistake. What you can't overcome are the cosmic forces involved when I wager on a game. Oh yeah, congrats to the Saints, that's a nice story. So, onto some interesting links.

"The unpalatable reality that few, self interested industry participants are prepared to admit is that much of what passes for financial innovation is specifically designed to conceal risk, obfuscate investors and reduce transparency. The process is entirely deliberate. Efficiency and transparency is not consistent with the high profit margins on Wall Street and the City. Financial products need to be opaque and priced inefficiently to produce excessive profits." That's Satyajit Das from his recent blog post on the current proposal to regulative derivatives. He's considered an expert on CDS'.

This is pretty interesting. Graph of how many second mortgages are held by large financial institutions and why that complicates any plan to modify first mortgages. I was not aware that the Big Four held such a high percentage.

Fire department's charging for services. Pretty outrageous if you ask me. I think this does raise a lot of questions about spending priorities and crowding out of certain priorities.

Looks like over 100 million people watched the Super Bowl. Crazy. The NFL is so much more popular than any other sport in the US. I wonder how fans will react if the anticipated breakdown between the owners and the NFLPA comes to pass. I mean people did not really care when the NHL pulled this, and they cared about it a bit when baseball did it, but neither of those sports are anywhere close to the NFL in popularity or ratings.

Nurse to Stand Trial for Reporting Doctor. The sheriff in this story should be fired.

Glad everyone got so riled up about that Tebow ad. By the way, I don't get offended like some people do by the Super Bowl ads and their supposed misogyny, but I am pretty sick and tired "be a man" type ads. They are annoying, usually unfunny, insulting to both sexes, and tired. If they were funny I could live with the other stuff.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Super Bowl Sunday

The myth of CPR

NYT article on gender imbalances on college campuses and the impact on dating. My BS detector went off a bit reading this. Favorite quote is from a Ms. Jayne Dallas who is a senior and offers the following: "Out of that 40 percent, there are maybe 20 percent that we would consider, and out of those 20, 10 have girlfriends, so all the girls are fighting over that other 10 percent”. Nice math skills.

Ryanair and the shafting of your customers as a reputational strategy.

America's dismal record ending wars
.

I'm taking the Colts.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Friday Stuff- Lots!

D's like socialism. I've never understood why people get so bent out of shape about people calling Obama, or other politicians, socialists. I mean, he is. He's not the murderous red type, but his political and economic beliefs are pretty similar to your boilerplate Eurostyle socialist parties which, by the way, openly run as socialists.

Interesting NYT article on Haitian emigres.

This is really, really disturbing. Really.

Yikes. 25 foot crocodile that has eaten over 200 people.

Innocence Project clears 250th person wrongfully convicted.

Cool pictures of Pluto.

Antidepressants no more effective than placebos.

If Colleges (or Air Tavel) Worked Like Health Care.

Guy's wife cries at every movie. He records it and puts it on youtube. Then he started his own site.

Why single women eat salad.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Tuesday Night

What's a degree really worth. (Wall Street Journal). I've often been thankful for how easy I got off relative to today's students. I came out of five years of college (Super senior!) with "only" about $20K in debt. A lot of that was due to scholarships and grants, but it still seemed a manageable level of debt. I have many friends that are managing $75K+ in debt. In my house it was just assumed that we were all going to college (my dad's an academic). I wonder if that would be true today. Probably so. But it sure is crazy to read about college tuition levels today.

Pretty good article on the NFL labor negotiations.
Money quote: "If we can't get this resolved, we will collectively be the dumbest people on the planet."

Keith Hennessey on Obama's budget.

The World's 25 Dirtiest Cities.
Africa is well represented.

Rasmussen poll from the Texas Governor's race.


Tuesday

What's the matter with you Americans?

Fall out from credit card industry "reform". Click on the links in the story too, they're interesting.

How to fall 35,000 feet- and survive.

North Korea vs. South Korea from satellite. Any questions?

Good grief. Who is waging the war on science again?