Best of the Blogosphere


Video Killed the Campaign-jingle Writer RBC - Yes, and fire burns. Obama is then doomed, as will.i.am is no brow, at best. (I wonder if "I got it from my mama" is meant for Obama, as well.) Where to go for highbrow campaign music? Anna Netrebko didn’t make a video for Medvedev, and I doubt that Esa Peka Salonen is composing a symphony...	Tough Times for Turkey’s Generals Mesh - Turkey’s democracy has long rested on a delicate equilibrium between the guardians of the unitary secular-nationalist paradigm who dominate the civilian and military state bureaucracies on the one hand, and the populist politicians who appeal to the particularistic sub-identities of Turkey’s...
Labor's Fighting Back Angry Bear - I know, start firing away about the need to not tie the bosses hands so tight, free markets in labor...etc, etc, etc. Personally, I see this as a step toward moving labor from an identity of “commodity”. Besides, the labor department has been against labor for about 8 years now....	The Games Terrorists Play the monkey cage - While the paper is still a work in progress, I worry that this is one of those cases where game theorists reach confident conclusions on the basis of ceteris paribus conditions, where the ceteris are anything but paribus if you look at them closely. Entirely apart from the ethical implications (which...
Selling Sex Is OK and Child Abuse Isn’t will wilkinson - I think we can all grasp that it possible to reject some moral distinctions and accept others. In this case, it would seem that Ross understands the answer perfectly well. Children are not consenting adults. So there you have it....	Unrest in Tibet rconversation - The Chinese system of Internet censorship and media propaganda may have a lot of holes, but when tested by events like the Tibet unrest this past week, so far it's holding up well enough for the regime's purposes....


A Brief History of the Credit Crisis Random Walk To Wealth - Its hard to say where it all began, but one of the first places it reared its ugly head was in the private equity market. It was in that market that we were introduced to "Pik-Toggle" and "convenant lite" loans as well as bridge loans that slowly transformed themselves into "pier loans." After setting...	GE's Immelt Takes on The Ideaologues GristMill - Immelt's outburst came toward the end of a Q&A session that saw him repeatedly assailed by ideological conservatives angry over his involvement in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of large businesses lobbying for a carbon cap-and-trade system, and his leadership role in pushing the...
How To Strike a Work and Life Balance Stephen Covey - With today’s technology, multitaskers are using PDAs, cellphones, text messaging and emails to stay in connected 24 hours a day. While lighthearted nicknames like “crackberry” have been coined to describe this almost obsessive behavior, what happens when we become addicted to this connectivity?...	Does Language Reflect Biology or Culture? ebbolles - One of the biggest controversies to emerge so far at the Evolang conference in Barcelona concerns the eternal split that arises in any inquiry into the humanities, biology or culture. Does language reflect biology or culture? Plainly, the answer is both, and nobody pretends otherwise, but which is...
Straight Talk from Buffett Peridot Capitalist - One of the great things about listening to Warren Buffett speak, and I suspect one reason why thousands gather each year in Omaha for his company's annual meeting, is that despite the fact that he is a brilliant man he speaks in plain, logical language that is easy to follow and usually hard to argue...	Defense Department: Remote Control Sharks the oysters garter - You know you’ve seen this one: A normal animal is given a robot brain by well-meaning scientists. The scientists promise everyone they have complete control of the situation. Then the lead scientist gets eaten when the creature escapes and TRIES TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD. All right, maybe that was just...


An Open Letter To Will Ferrell the reel addict - Dear Mr. Ferrell, So let me cut right to the chase: you need to stop making sports movies. After KICKING & SCREAMING, TALLADEGA NIGHTS, BLADES OF GLORY, and now SEMI-PRO, enough is enough. Heck, I might even suggest you steer clear of films that rest solely on making fun particular professions,...	A Great Love Story uniquely priya - My wife is a happy person with the ability to see the positive in a situation. Her cheerful disposition helps her make friends easily. She is one of the finest managers I have seen, meticulous about completing every task on time with quality and within budget. Sudha was the only female student in her...
A Little Travel Project Marmite - Eleven years ago, I arrived in Paris by train with only a backpack and a guidebook. This time, I arrived by rail with a backpack and a guidebook. And, of course, my beautiful wife. Last time was a week, this time it was a weekend. As with so many other vacations I have been on, this one required...	Dear Crack Whore Certifiable Princess - I am writing to thank you for being the low life piece of scum that you are. Not only did you feel it was okay to smash my passenger window of my car and steal my purse, but you also were inclined to use my credit card. Sadly for you, Crack Whore, you weren't able to use my card. It is maxxed out. I...
Architecture in Dubai Lebbeus Woods - One thing for sure, Rem Koolhaas doesn’t hedge his bets. He also knows how to stick his neck out and not lose his head. He has perfected the old debating trick of disarming his critics in advance. Philip Johnson was also a master at this. Before anyone could criticize the pandering commercialism of...	Metaphors For Pain Blistered Avalon - When I was little, I dreamed of being chased. Sometimes, the assailant was the thumbtacks hanging posters above the head of my bed - they would fly through the air, aiming to stab me, and there was no where I could run that they couldn’t follow. Sometimes the assailant would be an unknown man, and...