Obama is sounding more like a comumunist than a socialist in his economic plans
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23828234/
-Zachary
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The new generation
I just read about a recent nationwide survey about how now the vast majority of kids do not want to be a leader. The want a world where everyone is a leader. Which sounds like a cop out to me. It sounds like the new generation of people are more tended toward sheep than our current generation, and that is saying something. What is happening? Is it that we truly have it to easy, that work is now looked upon as something disgusting? In addition the above these kids all say the want to make lots of money, suprise suprise there. Looks like the american dream has been twisted into something truly sinister, all expectations and thoughts of entitlement, with no willingness to lead or work. It disgusts me, it truly does. The old saying god bless america, looks more like a cursed america to me. The future looks bleak.
-Zachary
PS has everyone died? or brains still on holiday? In other words some post would be nice.
-Zachary
PS has everyone died? or brains still on holiday? In other words some post would be nice.
Monday, March 17, 2008
21 Accents
Although I work there, I've actually only been on YouTube once or twice in my life (I think 99% is useless shit) but this link is pretty cool - especially for my language/linguistics friends:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Finance Books
Zac has asked for some books on investing and finance. I've given some recommendations to a few people, so I figured I'd just post it for everyone (please jump in if you have others).
Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki: gives a good overview on how to think about money. Should be everyone's first book on finance.
One up on Wall Street, Peter Lynch: the best finance book ever written in my opinion
The Motley Fool Guide to Investing, Mark Goodson: explains P/E ratios, etc
All three of these are relatively old which makes them better in my opinion because they held true before and after the tech bubble - which many books and theories didn't.
Periodicals: Financial Times, The Economist, Wired (for tech), and Fast Company
I also recommend reading Berkshire Hathaway annual reports. Buffett is truly a master of investing and any long-term investor should try to understand what makes him great.
And lastly, of course, the greatest words regarding finance were said by Francisco d'Anconia:
"But money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. It will give you the means for the satisfaction of your desires, but it will not provide you with desires. Money is the scourge of the men who attempt to reverse the law of causality — the men who seek to replace the mind by seizing the products of the mind.
"Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants; money will not give him a code of values, if he's evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose, if he's evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent. The man who attempts to purchase the brains of his superiors to serve him, with his money replacing his judgment, ends up by becoming the victim of his inferiors. The men of intelligence desert him, but the cheats and the frauds come flocking to him, drawn by a law which he has not discovered: that no man may be smaller than his money. Is this the reason why you call it evil?"
http://compuball.com/Inquisition/AynRand/danconiaspeech.htm
Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki: gives a good overview on how to think about money. Should be everyone's first book on finance.
One up on Wall Street, Peter Lynch: the best finance book ever written in my opinion
The Motley Fool Guide to Investing, Mark Goodson: explains P/E ratios, etc
All three of these are relatively old which makes them better in my opinion because they held true before and after the tech bubble - which many books and theories didn't.
Periodicals: Financial Times, The Economist, Wired (for tech), and Fast Company
I also recommend reading Berkshire Hathaway annual reports. Buffett is truly a master of investing and any long-term investor should try to understand what makes him great.
And lastly, of course, the greatest words regarding finance were said by Francisco d'Anconia:
"But money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. It will give you the means for the satisfaction of your desires, but it will not provide you with desires. Money is the scourge of the men who attempt to reverse the law of causality — the men who seek to replace the mind by seizing the products of the mind.
"Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants; money will not give him a code of values, if he's evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose, if he's evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent. The man who attempts to purchase the brains of his superiors to serve him, with his money replacing his judgment, ends up by becoming the victim of his inferiors. The men of intelligence desert him, but the cheats and the frauds come flocking to him, drawn by a law which he has not discovered: that no man may be smaller than his money. Is this the reason why you call it evil?"
http://compuball.com/Inquisition/AynRand/danconiaspeech.htm
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Rich in Health but Poor in Pocket
So the puritans are taking over again, does the mean there is going to be another pilgrimage to the states, and if so do they realize we are only two steps behind them?
Tim I know you may live longer with all that wine but if your in Briton than you'll being paying for deeply.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23619536/
-Zachary
PS Tim tell Google I still can't copy paste in Safari on a Mac
Monday, March 10, 2008
re: Harvard Racism
Zac,
I disagree with this one. I think it's great that Harvard is making a select gym for some of their members. I think the fact that they know their market and are providing a service to increase their profits is wonderful.
I've always disliked gyms that try to be "good for everyone." The fact is, most women (even non-Muslim) don't want to work out in front of ooglers like Hodge. And there are many men (myself included) that prefer places like Case over Fitrec because it was more of a testosterone-filled clubhouse.
If it was a public place or school - that's a whole new ballgame. But Harvard is just trying to make a buck and attract the best (most Muslims in American schools are very wealthy).
I disagree with this one. I think it's great that Harvard is making a select gym for some of their members. I think the fact that they know their market and are providing a service to increase their profits is wonderful.
I've always disliked gyms that try to be "good for everyone." The fact is, most women (even non-Muslim) don't want to work out in front of ooglers like Hodge. And there are many men (myself included) that prefer places like Case over Fitrec because it was more of a testosterone-filled clubhouse.
If it was a public place or school - that's a whole new ballgame. But Harvard is just trying to make a buck and attract the best (most Muslims in American schools are very wealthy).
Racism OK?
Harvard can be agreed upon as one of the top five most prestigious schools in our country if not the world by most all people. And mabye as an icon for the american people. Not only that the average joe tends to 1 to 5 or 10 years later pick up habits that the wealthiest and most powerful do. Now when Harvard one of our wealthiest and most powerful decides that it is ok to have a gym that they are going to close down for certian times a week allow muslim women to work out is that ok? I know their are many arguments, well they can't be comfortable in their clothes they have to wear around men, or men ogglle them or this and that, but truth told they don't have to go to that gym. To me this is simply ridiculous, and going with the icon picture I tried to paint above I was curious if you all think this might move outside the realms of Harvard? I can't believe what is ok this country.
To answer Tim about the brainlessness of the world it is true that there are a select few how use most things to the best of their ability, but they are the minority and have been throughout all history. Not only that the population now has more people in it than ever lived on earth before in total. So it seems as percetage wise we are more in a bubble.
And Paternalism Government, it is not hard to see why we have and will continue to have this problem. People don't want the responsibility, they want to think that the big all knowing and helpful government will take care of them. But the government is made of people, no different than if there was way less goverment and the programs were run privately. But that would be stupid, I mean we'd have more liberty, more money, better and more efficent programs I mean that doesn't make any sense. People for some reason think its ok for the government made of people to take away liberties vs people in buisness to do the same. I guess the jokes on them, and us.
-Zachary
To answer Tim about the brainlessness of the world it is true that there are a select few how use most things to the best of their ability, but they are the minority and have been throughout all history. Not only that the population now has more people in it than ever lived on earth before in total. So it seems as percetage wise we are more in a bubble.
And Paternalism Government, it is not hard to see why we have and will continue to have this problem. People don't want the responsibility, they want to think that the big all knowing and helpful government will take care of them. But the government is made of people, no different than if there was way less goverment and the programs were run privately. But that would be stupid, I mean we'd have more liberty, more money, better and more efficent programs I mean that doesn't make any sense. People for some reason think its ok for the government made of people to take away liberties vs people in buisness to do the same. I guess the jokes on them, and us.
-Zachary
Sunday, March 9, 2008
re: Age of Less Brain Power
Zac,
Great points - I agree that most people live in a bubble. But that's been the case for millions of years. Most Greeks and Romans had no idea what Pythagoras and Plato were up to. They barely knew what Caesar and Jesus were up to. Most people have always been ignorant and relatively useless in the grand scheme of things (although they are the ones who usually feed us and clothe us with manual labor).
The select few who are using the internet and all the current information for great purposes are doing amazing things though. For example, science, computing, and medicine have done incredible things that weren't even imagined 20 years ago. In the past few months, I've read that a company in South Korea is commercially cloning dead dogs ($30k) and there is a contest for entrepreneurs to fly to the moon ($5m prize). I wouldn't exactly label this age as "less brain power..."
Great points - I agree that most people live in a bubble. But that's been the case for millions of years. Most Greeks and Romans had no idea what Pythagoras and Plato were up to. They barely knew what Caesar and Jesus were up to. Most people have always been ignorant and relatively useless in the grand scheme of things (although they are the ones who usually feed us and clothe us with manual labor).
The select few who are using the internet and all the current information for great purposes are doing amazing things though. For example, science, computing, and medicine have done incredible things that weren't even imagined 20 years ago. In the past few months, I've read that a company in South Korea is commercially cloning dead dogs ($30k) and there is a contest for entrepreneurs to fly to the moon ($5m prize). I wouldn't exactly label this age as "less brain power..."
Paternalistic Government
As a staunch supporter of freedom of choice and consumer rights, I absolutely DESPISE the fact that governments impose restrictions on private businesses. Some do have merit (such as FDA regulations), but I think they can be done in the private sector more effectively. In particular, I think forcing a bar to outlaw smoking is absolutely insane and a major disavowal of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Drinking, especially when paired with driving, causes more deaths than smoking. Does this mean we should force bars to stop allowing patrons to drink?
Why can't we just let people do what they want? Some bars will allow smokers, some won't. Some restaurants will allow drinkers, some won't. Otherwise, people are forced to resort to acts like this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7285808.stm
Why can't we just let people do what they want? Some bars will allow smokers, some won't. Some restaurants will allow drinkers, some won't. Otherwise, people are forced to resort to acts like this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7285808.stm
Age of less brain power
It is funny you brought that up Tim. I think about trying to know everything quite often. And I always ask myself; are we as a generation of Internet, and Google more informed and more widely educated than the generation of the newspaper and the black and white cathode ray tube. Call it the pessimist in me but I feel that we are not, I feel our generation lives in a greater bubble than the afore mentioned. We have all this information but it rarely, as I see gets used. Our attention span is shortening and our apathy is growing. I feel like we remember less, quite simply because it takes .006 sec to look up something in Google so why remember vs 20 years ago when it took you 30 minutes to look it up in the Britannica that the book sellers brought around every couple of years. I think we live in the most exciting time there has ever been, stuffed with security, knowledge and freedoms that the human race had never even dreamed of, and I hope that we all take full advantage of it all and fight the apathy and blind sense of entitlement that is sweeping us all under water.
-Zachary
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Age of Information
I remember reading a few years ago, in a book called "Uh-Oh," about this guy who used to drive his wife to work in the morning and spend the entire day at the library before picking her up. He used to dive into all sorts of subjects and wrote about the fact that there are hundreds of books published every day and how exciting he found it that he'd never be able to know everything - but it's fun trying.
I think about this excerpt (in fact the whole book) quite often, but I was reminded of it again when I heard today that every minute, 100 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. Most of it (as well as most things written down) is useless shit - but much of it isn't. The magnitude of that number is astounding.
Sorry, this probably wasn't very coherent, but sometimes I just get floored by the amount of information in the world and how little we all really know...
I think about this excerpt (in fact the whole book) quite often, but I was reminded of it again when I heard today that every minute, 100 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. Most of it (as well as most things written down) is useless shit - but much of it isn't. The magnitude of that number is astounding.
Sorry, this probably wasn't very coherent, but sometimes I just get floored by the amount of information in the world and how little we all really know...
Monday, March 3, 2008
This little piggy went to the market
Tim
As to my eating habits changing. I to have forgone the metrx bars, but I will still eat a zone bar as a snack. And I really had never forsaken pork, but when I did not have the ability to cook on my own, warren towers did not supply me large amounts of pork choices. But since my freedom from that disease trap at 700 commonwealth I have been eating pork once or twice each week. I love the flavor. In fact just last night, I made a slow roast french cut pork loin with a white wine reduction sauce, preceded by pop overs and honey butter and followed with a freshly made strawberry short cake.
But with my ability to cook my own food, I have turned much healthier, tending towards leaner recipes but trying never to cut flavor.
I guess long live wine is a fitting call, with your articles.
On a separate note, Nader is running again. No one has mentioned that yet so I figured I would. This looks good for me in that he should take votes from the Dems. which I fear the Reps. have very little chance of beating.
-Zachary
As to my eating habits changing. I to have forgone the metrx bars, but I will still eat a zone bar as a snack. And I really had never forsaken pork, but when I did not have the ability to cook on my own, warren towers did not supply me large amounts of pork choices. But since my freedom from that disease trap at 700 commonwealth I have been eating pork once or twice each week. I love the flavor. In fact just last night, I made a slow roast french cut pork loin with a white wine reduction sauce, preceded by pop overs and honey butter and followed with a freshly made strawberry short cake.
But with my ability to cook my own food, I have turned much healthier, tending towards leaner recipes but trying never to cut flavor.
I guess long live wine is a fitting call, with your articles.
On a separate note, Nader is running again. No one has mentioned that yet so I figured I would. This looks good for me in that he should take votes from the Dems. which I fear the Reps. have very little chance of beating.
-Zachary
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