It's Working for Cigarettes...

Cigarettes are taxed heavily in the United States. Every couple months a new tax is levied in an effort to curb their use and help pay for the costs to society.

So here's a question...Why not tax junk food in the same way. US obesity rates are at all time highs and the negative affects to society are clear to see. I have less space on the subway or in an airplane seat...sorry, couldn't help myself. But all kidding aside, junk food is directly linked to health problems which cost society money (side note: maybe we should give tax credits for gym membership/gym use?) Certain types of diabetes are almost entirely preventable with moderate amounts of exercise and a healthy diet.

Congress has already begun thinking about this with their proposed "soda tax." Does it go far enough? Does this line of thinking go too far?

We already charge people for engaging in activities that are harmful to society. Police give tickets for running red lights, speeding and not using your turn signal. Alcohol is taxed heavily. It's not too much of a stretch to start taxing ice cream, fast food and candy in the same way.

This post was inspired by Maxim's "The 7 Stages of Being Fat"

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Cuban's Got it Right

Most people outside of Texas, and more particularly Dallas don't have a favorable opinion of Mark Cuban. Let's face it, he's a nusance to the NBA and gets away with it because he has billions of dollars. BUT it's hard to deny that he's a very smart man. You don't make billions of dollars if you're not. He often writes on his blog the BLOG MAVERICK on a wide variety of topics. In this particular clip from a post he wrote yesterday I couldn't agree more with what he is saying. He articulates a number of my opinions perfectly.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READ (even if you don't like economics)!

Some Thoughts on the Economy

"Our government doesn’t know the difference between an investor and a speculator or trader. If we did, we would understand that we should tax the trader/speculator more heavily than the investor.

The investor allows entrepreneurs access to capital and allows them to work with it and build businesses, which in turn build employment and do great things for the economy. The trader/speculator pushes companies to make more money now rather than invest in doing the right thing for the company. The trader/speculator dominates the stock market today, which in turn puts pressure on public company CEOs to cut jobs and play games with their financials in order to give the appearance of stability in a far from stable market. The investor understands the bigger picture and is ok if profits fall for several quarters or even several years as long as the company will maximize its return over the long run.

The government should raises taxes significantly on profits from short term capital gains on the sale of public stocks, indexes, commodities, futures held for 24 hours or less and extend the length of time required to qualify for Long Term capital gains and reduce the tax rate on Long Term gains. This will discourage flash trading, ETFs that move markets purely on cash inflows rather than fundamentals and also reduce the amount of speculation on commodities. It will also reward companies that act in the financial interests of long term holders and their employers. I think the impact on the economy would be far fewer layoffs as CEOs find themselves with more shareholders who think long term rather than short term. Believe it or not, there are shareholders who are fine with companies not beating their numbers if the company is making progress towards a clearly defined goal. I don’t care if the P/E of the stocks I own is 14 or 20. I want the companies investing in being a great company rather than trying to make traders of their stock happy. Most CEOs give great lipservice to this approach, but they are so focused on marking to market their own personal stock portfolios, they emphasize stock performance over doing the right thing for the company. Taxation can change the focus on public companies and stock trading. That would be a great thing for the economy."

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Burka, Burka

Say it twice in a row. Are you enjoying it as much as me? Burka, burka. It reminds me of what the road runner would say after he screwed over Wiley Cayote.

Anyway, i found some more interesting burka stuff...enjoy.

The Burka laptop cover...very important for the hardcore perverts out there. There's nothing quite like masturbating in public...BUT with some privacy.

Eating with a Burka is very difficult. Especially spaghetti!

And then just because it sounds like burka, burka I bring you a clip from Team America. Durka, durka, durka

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The Burka Bikini?

I'm pretty sure even Muslim people find this a little crazy. The Burka Bikini is a head to toe swimsuit for Muslim women. How are they able to call it a bikini? It's anything but...

I prefer this kind of bikini....

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Found this funny

via digg

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Cat vs. Aquarium

Via Funnyordie.com

Cat vs. Aquarium - watch more funny videos

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The "Who Cares" Syndrome

There are still people out there who will remain nameless who feel that they should use status updates and twitter posts to actually write what they are doing at that exact moment. Before you post a status update or tweet (I HATE THAT WORD and CAN'T BELIEVE I USED IT) you should ask yourself:

a) Is this funny?

b) Would I care if someone else wrote it?

c) Does this relate to anyone else?

If the answer isn't "yes" to any of these questions then DON'T POST IT!

I could care less if you are walking through the airport or washing your car. I care even less if you can't fall asleep or are cleaning your room. Do you want a response? I get it, your a little bored and think posting something all of your friends and pseudo friends can see is like talking or connecting with them but it's not.

Imagine if you could just as easily hire a plane with a banner behind it. Would we have millions of planes flying around with meaningless banners that read, "Doug is...Changing his underwear" Actually, that might be incredible. New thought process; Let's subsidize plane banners and kick start this economy.

Apparently some Bengals fans are ahead of the curve and already hired a plane to drag a banner. This is great! http://digg.com/d311tWx I would be fed up too if I were a Bengals fan.

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How dangerous is DC?

I finish up my second full day of orientation. It's my 8th day in this city. Life is good even though it's 11:00 pm, I'm wearing a suit and i'm walking home sweating. I'm not talking about a the type of perspiration that just builds up on your forehead but never really beads into a drop of sweat that I'm used to. I'm talking about a full on, full body drenching. I can shake my head and full streams of water, not drops, cascade off my head AND face. Turst me, I'm the first person to admit that it's gross. It's the type of sweat that drips onto my computer as I write this 10 minutes after I'm in my air conditioned apartment. But I didn't start writing to complain...

About a block and a half away from my apartment I make a slight right turn onto a street called Columbia. It's normally a fairly busy street except for this moment when it's me, my computer and three guys about half a block away that motion to eachother, look at me and then pretend to ignore me as I continue to approach them. It's about this time when all of the comments from friends (thanks everyone!) about how DC is one of the most dangerous cities in the country just behind Flint Michigan. It's about this time that they one of them starts walking ahead about 25 feet in front of me. I keep watching and slow down just a little. I get about 10 feet from the other two and the second gets up and starts walking. I make the concsious decision to continue to walk past them...after all, my apartment is just a hundred yards up the way. Plus, i keep reminding myself that i'm fast (as if that would help me at all in a suit and dress shoes). As I approach the third guy still siting on the curb he looks at the guys that started walking and then at me. We make eye contact. I try to show a confidence that I know whats going on, I'm prepared and i'm not happy about it. I walk past the guy on the street and about 5 steps past him he gets up and starts following me.

This is where I start to internally panic while deliberately not showing anything on the outside. My stride stays confident. My dress shoes purposefully making as much noise as they can. I drift closer to the street side of the sidewalk but continue to walk forward. I begin to approach an alley that seperates the my building and the one next to me. The first guy turns into the alley. The second guy turns into the alley and i'm confident that i'm about to get mugged. I ask myself, "are you fucking kidding me! I'm so hot! I don't want to run but i'm very prepared to." I continue to walk, I turn my head and make eye contact with the guy behind me again. I can't figure out if this is a good thing or not. I continue to walk. I get to the alley and don't hesitate accepting whatever is about to happen. My pace picks up as I look down the alley at two people staring at me waiting. I make it about five steps past the alley when the three guys start talking in a foreign language again. I'm pretty sure the third guy was supposed to drag me into the alley. I'm not sure why he didn't try but I'm thankful. Three against one isn't usually a favorable fight. Good times.

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Housing Sales Real?

“Existing-home sales have increased for fourth month in a row, as a combination of historically low rates, first-time home buyer $8,000 tax credit, and foreclosure pummeled prices have combined to move some inventory.

Existing-home sales rose 7.2% from June, and more importantly, gained 5.0% from July 2008.The bottom line is this is an improving, but heavily government subsidized (Tax credits, ZIRP) data point.”

- Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture

As Ritholtz states above, the subsidy is a contributing to the rise in home sales. I’m not sure why the connection between increases in home sales and a government subsidy isn’t exactly like the Cash for Clunkers program, which ends Monday evening. We might get an idea of what will happen to the housing market once the subsidies end by what happens when the cash for clunkers program ends. Will the demand fall off a cliff? Probably…

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Random observations and ramblings from DC…

I have encountered more people talking to themselves than anywhere else I have been and I’m not just talking about homeless people. It’s people in line at a restaurant, waiting for the Metro, sitting at a bar and of course the homeless man down the street.

This woman didn’t find it as funny as I did when I gave her a flat tire on one of the ridiculously long escalators out of a Metro station. I find it funny…

Humidity and excessive heat and this little Jew don’t get along. There’s no escaping the oppressive heat. In Colorado where it’s a dry heat you can go into the shade and it’s much cooler…not here! The heat sticks to you! I make the same comment every day; I can’t believe I’m sweating this much! I guess I understand why so many people talk to themselves…It’s the HEAT!

People in DC consider themselves much nicer and friendlier than people in NYC. I have heard this comment in one form or another multiple times in the last week.

People think I’m upset even when I’m not…I’m going to blame that on the heat too even though I know it’s not the case. I just look like a curmudgeon sometimes, and by sometimes, I mean often.

When you first meet someone, don’t tell them that you are a great bullshitter. It doesn’t build trust or confidence. (is bullshitter really not a word? If not, it should be added to the dictionary next year. This might be my lasting contribution to society.)

And finally, friends keep telling me that DC has the highest rate of AIDS in the US. Thanks everyone.

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Washington DC politics...Cuz I'm in DC you See

A lot of people, me included find it absolutely abhorent that congress votes on bills they do not read. Sure some of them are long and boring but that's not a legitimate excuse. If it were, I would use it all the time! I would skip anything and everything I didn't find interesting. Sure my boss came in yesterday and asked me to review a contract but the details were just SOOOOO uninteresting so i skipped the T's and C's. In my perfect world I would get a raise for this...which is pretty much what congress is doing right now.

The scary part of this toxic coctail of passing bills into law that you don't read is that unlike blowing off your homework that only affects you, these bills affect everyone in one way or another. Taxes, social issues, public projects just to name a few. The Pateiot act is just one small example where it become common knowledge that the majority of congress, both the House and Senate did not read it. THE MAJORITY! Not just a fringe group of lazy ass congressmen, the majority had no idea what the details of the patriot act enacted.

Here's my solution, let's create an independent group of professors or analysts that create basic quizes on bills congress is going to vote on. I guarentee you this would either make the language of the bills easier to undertand and interpret or they would become much shorter (which in tern would help with transparency). A side effect would be that they might read the whole bill and possibly even make it harder to slip all of this pork spending into the bills. I don't think it's too much to ask a congressman to read what he is voting on. I'm pretty sure it's the main requirement of their job.

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Headlines that are obvious

Every once in a while i read a headline that is so obvious i can't believe 1. someone got paid to write the article and 2. an editor didn't suggest a different headline.

In a past post I brought up a cnn headline that told us that helmets help prevent head injuries while skiing.

Well, CNN did it again with a, "it's so obvious am i missing something headline." It read, "Jobless spike compounds foreclosure crisis" Besides this being the most obvious statement since...well, that helmets help protect the head.

The article went on to say, "The country's growing unemployment is overtaking subprime mortgages as the main driver of foreclosures, according to bankers and economists, making the crisis more complicated to unwind."

I would argue that housing prices declining in conjunction with the credit meltdown which led to people losing jobs has been the main reason we have massive forclosures. Subprime mortgages were a very small portion of all foreclosures in a nominal sense (i think and will look that one up later). What i do know is a fact is that people were defaulting on their loans long before the interest rates on the loans adjusted (not sure of the connection there but felt like adding it).

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The Adventure in DC begins...Literally

I find myself at a crossroads I’m sure I have been at before. The wrong decision will very likely lead me down a gauntlet of uncertainty while the other will bring me back to familiarity. Unfortunately this isn’t some metaphor for a life decision I need to make in my new home Washington DC. It’s as literal as it gets. I’m at the intersection Kalmorata place and Kalmorata Circle and have no clue how to get home. Throw in the fact that it’s 3:30 in the morning and I’m a little drunk and this is a less than pleasant situation. The iphone, often my savior in situations like this isn’t helping me at all. The directions tell me to go north for a mile and turn right but I have no clue which way is north, south, east or west! I’ve been walking in circles for close to an hour now, the bars long closed. I'm sweating and my feet hurt.

So here’s the interesting part of this story. As I mentioned earlier I’m sure I have been in this situation before. Am I having déjà vu? Is this a horrible flashback? I wish! It’s just that I have a horrible sense of direction and I have literally been in this exact situation before.

Less than a week after moving to Colorado for college I started walking from the main campus to my off campus dorm. Needless to say I got lost….real lost. At one point I ran across the freeway (real safe decision). In the far off distance I saw a blinking red light and was certain that it was on top of the building I was looking for. I walked for miles trying to get to this blinking red light. I started to doubt myself and for good reason because I was walking in the wrong direction. I had accepted the fact that I might need to just curl in a ball and pass out on the side of the street. There was a very real fear that a large animal would tear me to shreds….and then out of nowhere a creapy molester van rolled up and I made a very rash decision to flag it down. I asked for directions and the creeper inside obliged. I’m pretty sure I rolled into my dorm room at the crack of dawn; tired, sweating and exhausted.

Why did I just tell this story?

Well, the parallels to what happened last night are remarkable. I’m new to a city, moving here for school and less than a week into living here I got lost…REAL LOST. And here’s one of the most interesting parts. How did I eventually find my way home? I found a creepy car rolling through the street at 4:30 in the morning, flagged it down and asked him where Columbia street was. He pointed down the street not really speaking English and said, “you go, you go.” 15 minutes later I was standing outside of my apartment, once again exhausted, feet hurting, sweating and thankful I made it home. I couldn’t help but notice that as miserable as I was for the last couple hours wandering the streets I was also amused by the situation. I’ve said it before, good things happen to me and I’ll say it again. I had an amazing run in Colorado that included a great education and even better friends. It started with a little fear in a new and mysterious place and an adventure wandering the streets in the wee hours of the morning. I can only hope and truly believe that the same will happen here in DC which started with the same adventure wandering the strees in the wee hours of the morning in a new and mysterious place.

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The Airport Experience and Rant...

The Airport

Dogma:

LOKI

(looks around)

Now here's what I don't get about you: why do you

feel the need to come here all the time?

BARTLEBY

(off travelers)

I like to watch. This is humanity at it's best.

Look at them.

A reunited FAMILY share a group hug and move on, making way for two young LOVERS

to embrace and kiss passionately.

OC BARTLEBY

All that tension, all that anger and mistrust,

forgotten for one perfect moment when they come

off that plane. See those two? The guy doesn't

even know that the girl cheated on him while he

was away.

OC LOKI

She did?

Bartleby and Loki continue to watch the arrivals.

BARTLEBY

Uh-huh. Twice. But it doesn't matter at this

moment because they're both so relieved to be with

one another. I like that. I just wish they could

all feel that way more often.

LOKI

Maybe if someone gave them free bags of peanuts

more often they would. Now what was so friggin'

important that I had to miss cartoons this

morning? If it was to share in your half-assed

obsessions with Hallmark moments, I'm going to

slug you.

Doug’s version. While I am a big fan of the movie Dogma, especially how it manages the absurdity of religion with it being real (in the movie) I can’t relate to this scene in real life. Sure, I laughed as Damon and Affleck have this exchange but instead of compassion I see tension and screaming children along with an in person study of the obesity problem in America. Spending thousands of dollars on studies of whether America has an obesity problem is unnecessary, very unnecessary. Just go to the airport, sit on a plane, walk through any terminal in the U.S. and you will see people that make me (and hopefully you) cringe.

The people staring at me as I write this weigh a combined 1,453 pounds. Here’s the sad part, there’s only 4 people. I’m wondering which one will be sitting next to me on my flight from SLC to DC taking up more than there allotted space on my next flight. Sure, the airlines enacted a new policy forcing obese people to purchase an extra seat if they can’t keep themselves from oozing into the area I paid for but I’m pretty sure it’s never been enforced.

Unlike in Dogma where Afflec finds joy, peace and happiness in the airport, I find the it full of tension. Families fight as their departure time get’s closer and closer and they’re stuck in the security line. Children get antsy with anticipation of a vacation. Little do they know they will be stuck on a plane for 4 hours which feels like an eternity for any boy (trust me! It still feels like an eternity and I’m 25).

On the first leg of my journey to DC via Boise, ID to SLC I was lucky enough to sit next to some coked out aviator glasses wearing, non stop talking maniac (sure he wasn’t encroaching on my space but he made up for it through his incessant talking). I was forced to put on headphones mid sentence for him to get the clue that I was no longer interested in his white trash sister (how HE referred to her). But after learning that she lives in a trailer with 2 children from different guys and twins on the way, I’m pretty sure I could come to that same conclusion. Oh, and she receives food stamps…awesome! Icing on the cake for that winner of a woman and society. Everyone, pat yourself on the back for taking care of this woman and her family. We deserve a little positive reinforcement for what we DO for people sometimes instead of only hearing about what we are not doing.

Side note…staring at a young white kid with a baseball jersey that says “sacrifice” and a baseball cap with a giant money symbol in fake diamonds on the back. He’s sitting with his family; grandparents and all. My initial reaction is this, “Really? That’s what you decided to where today? Classy.”

Second side note…while staring at this family trying to figure them out the father started picked his nose. It makes more sense now.

Third side note…The SCL airport has more blond haired, blue-eyed people working at McDonalds than anywhere else in the world. Sweden might have more but I’ve never been there.

A woman with half her head shaved just walked by. I’m pretty sure she had a tattoo on her arm that said “Virgin” but it might have said “Vagina”. Awesome. can't really believe I wrote that but it's the truth and it made me laugh...

More to come later….

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Ouch! Shots edition

Ouch! Shots edition

I remember a time, back in the day when my mom would take me to the doctors office. A time when the major worry of the day was weather I would watch GI Joe or play Mario brothers. I still have a vivid memory (much more like a horrible nightmare) of going to the doctor and fearing, absolutely fearing that I would need a shot. The fear started as soon as we got into the car. I would ask my mom if I needed to get a shot and she would always assure me that they wouldn't but even at that age I knew she was full of shit.

The wait in the doctors office was the worst! I would envision the doctor and three nurses walking through the door with a foot long needles. The nurses were there for the sole purpose of holding me down as I kicked and screamed. I remember telling my mom that the reason there were metal bars on the outside of the window was to prevent kids like me from trying to escape (there really were metal bars on the windows)! If you couldn't tell by now, I really, really didn't like going to the doctor. In the end I would take the shot without much fuss but it was the anticipation that did me in each and every time. Just thinking about a shot, the long thin needle slowly passing through the skin sends a shiver up my spine. I get clammy, uncomfortable, squirmy, irritable.

The fear should have subsided by the time I was 10 or maybe even 13 (when I had my bar mitzvah and officially became a man. Sorry I had to write that, it made me chuckle). Well it didn't. Before college I needed vaccines. The standards, Hep A, Hep B, meningitis and Tb. I tried to procrastinate getting the shots but it only made it worse as friends kept telling me about how big the needles were. Throw in the fact that you needed 3 Hep B and 2 Hep A shots and I thought I was going to die. I remember thinking that I would gladly give up a small toe instead of getting these shots. In the end I came up with what I thought was a genius plan. I decided that I would procrastinate long enough so that I could only get a couple of the shots and then hope the school, my mom and the doctor would forget that I needed the rest. Well ladies and gentlemen, IT WORKED, kind of.

I made it through college completely forgetting that I escaped what I thought was certain death via vaccine which is ironic because the vaccine is meant to save you. I'm about to head back to school and the dreaded pink slip indicating what vaccines I need showed up at my door. Once again I ignored it. Then the email came. I ignored it too. Then another came...and I broke down.

I went to the doctor today and got the final Hep A and B shots along with a TB test. I rolled up my sleeve and turned my head. I told the doctor that I didn't even want to see the needles, "JUST STICK ME DOC.!" and she did. I barely felt a thing.

So, here's the moral of the story (besides me just liking to write). If you need a shot and get petrified like I do, simply turn your head and never, NEVER look at the needle.

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Too much information?

All right internet, you win. and i'm not very happy about it. Just the other day i claimed that I could find everything and anything on the internet. I made the bold claim that there is a bigger cultural gap between my generation and my parents generation because my generation will be connected to the world and technology forever, continuously learning about new technology through the internet. I made the point (and actually think it's a good one) that the hierarchy of knowledge has somewhat flattened. What do i mean by this? I'm talking about the fact that previous generations had to learn everything from those that did it before them and how was this information passes on? through interaction and communication. Nowaday, if i don't know how to do something i can bypass the older generation and simply look up the answer on the internet. In fact, i will probably get a better answer than if i had asked the older know it all who in reality has been doing it ineficiantly for over 29+ years.

BUT TODAY WAS DIFFERENT

This all started with a blog post and it will end in another post (this one). I wanted to include a cartoon picture on the post about Bing that had two guys looking at a computer searching "bing" into a google search bar. The comment below said, "Google isn't Too Worried about Bing" or something to that effect. What bothers me most is that the cartoon was actually much funnier than that. So for the last 3 hours and I am not exagerating, I have been scouring the internet looking for this stupid cartoon. I watched an entire movie with my laptop on my lap typing in keywords into google AND bing. I looked over the last 150 blog posts on Ritholtz.com where I have a vague memory of seeing the cartoon, and still, no luck. I'm beginging to think that I will never find this damn cartoon. Was it a figmant of my imagination? Probably not...so then where is it.

IS THERE TOO MUCH INFORMATION?

The answer is no and here is why. For all of the frustrations I am having trying to find a specific cartoon, it's my fault that I can't find it. I'm clearly not using the right search words. And furthermore, if i wasn't looking for this specific cartoon I could have stopped hours ago. I mean, within the first couple of minutes i found plenty of cartoons...JUST NOT THE ONE I WAS LOOKING FOR. Furthermore, over the hours of searching I probably found enough information to write an entire, well thought out report on the algorithms and comparisons of google and bing which is the real purpose of the internet...information.

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The Jewish Triathalon

Shit...Shower...Shave...

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Props to a Boulder Sandwich Shop

A couple years ago I was introduced to Jimmy and Drew's in Boulder. For years I longed for a real Jewish deli in Boulder, CO where I could get a corned beef sandwich the way it should be made, (by a Jew! j/k) What I really mean is, corned beef piled high (minimum 2.5 inches of meet) with swiss cheese on Rye bread and mustard. That's it. End of story.

So, when a couple friends heard about this little sandwich shop in Esquire magazine that rated one of it's sandwiches one of the best in the country I couldn't wait to try. Jimmy and Drew's . And since Jimmy and Drew's is half owned by a Jew I figured it might not be half bad (or however that saying goes...).

The sandwich that put it on the map is "Jimmy's Favorite." A classic pastrami sandwich piled high. The wrinkle? It replaces the rye bread with latkes (potato pancakes for all you gentiles out there). The result? let's just say I gained about 10 pounds.

Well, the shop is now getting some more props. The sandwich made it onto a list Seven of the Fattiest Sandwiches in the US put together by the people at Divine Caroline - the list for your viewing pleasure.

But think about this for a second, is it any shock that one of the best sandwiches in the US is also one of the worst for you? NOT AT ALL.

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Microsoft just Doesn't GET IT

In an attempt to be "cool" and promote it's new web search engine Microsoft announced a contest to create a song representing the new search engine. With most things Microsoft does these days it's a buck short and a day late (not sure that fits but i'm going with it).

Microsoft jumped on the let the people vote or submit shit because how can the majority of people ALL be wrong? Well my friends, they so often are and here is a great example of it.

So instead of letting the product stand on it's own they released this,

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Fucking Fannie

Does anyone else love this alliteration as much as I do? FUCKING FANNIE! It just rolls off the tongue. Equally as fun is Fucking Freddie but unfortunately it's not in the news today.

Fannie Mae is using some of the credit line the treasury offered it (i mean, why not it's there right?). I mean don't worry, the fact that they lost 14.8 billion in Q2 ' 09shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone. In the last 2 years they have lost over 100 BILLION dollars. And since billion is the new million it doesn't seem like that big of a number. I mean, it's just a couple extra zero's.

14,800,000,000 is 14.8 billion and 14,800,000 is 14.8 million. (I guess when it's written out it really is bigger ~ literally bigger.

So the next time someone tries telling you that the financial problems are behind us question them. Is it really over or do we just have the credit lines and tools in place to deal with the mind blowing losses. When the government no longer needs to hand out billion dollar checks then, maybe then will I consider this mess over.

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A Safe Place?

I'm not sure what it says about DC that there is an iphone app that rates how safe of a neighborhood you are in. It's called "areyousafe" and its very cartoony look and feel can make even the most dangerous drunken walks home fun! It's a pretty great idea if you just moved or are visiting a city.

http://areyousafedc.com/

I find it interesting that more people tell me where NOT to go in DC as apposed to where TO go. Apparently the capitol hill area is nice and safe until you go one too many blocks east and then you WILL die. J/K, i think. I thought it would add some intensity to this post.

Feels good to be writing again~!

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Lost Generation ... Really? (interesting)

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Natural Resources

While a country cannot succeed in the long run with the majority of their GDP coming from non-renewable resources it can certainly create an imense amount of wealth in the short term. Look at the MIDDLE EAST. A hundred years ago it was primarily a dessert with some nomadic tribes and now it's pumping out the majority of the worlds oil and swimming in US dollars. While unsustainable, it looks pretty fun in the short term. Well, enough banter...here's a great visual of the world natural resources: both non and renewable resources.

http://www.mint.com/blog/uncategorized/mint-map-the-worlds-resources-by-country/

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Award Winning Idea? I think SO!

How are Americans still going to bed hungry?

A Grilled Stuffed Chicken Burrito is 89 freaking cents! Sure it's not the most nutritious or healthy but it's 89 cents and FOOD!!! Plus with all of the calories and a fair amount of protein, it should keep you hungry for hours. And, if you really wanted to splurge you could get a side dish of nachos for 69 cents. If you want to get totally funky with your bad self you could upgrade the nachos to Triple Layer Nachos for a whopping 10 more cents or the Nachos Supreme for...wait for it...20 more!!!!! I'm not trying to be completely insensitive to people's struggles but how are there still people going hungry in the US? I just created a comprehensive way to cure hunger in the US...just repeat the Taco Bell bonanza 3 times a day. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner; ALL TACO BELL BABY!

If Taco Bell is selling a huge burrito for 89 cents, what does it cost them? 40 cents? 50 cents?

Grilled Stuffed Chicken Burrito

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 325g

Amount per Serving
Calories 640 Calories from Fat 207
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 23g	35%
Saturated Fat 7g	35%
Trans Fat 0.5g
Cholesterol 65mg	22%
Sodium 2160mg	90%
Total Carbohydrate 73g	24%
Dietary Fiber 7g	28%
Sugars 6g
Protein 34g	68%

Vitamin A	10%
Vitamin C	8%
Calcium	30%
Iron	35%

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Est. Percent of Calories from:

Fat 32.3% Carbs 45.6%

Protein 21.2%

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Autism - "In My Language" and The Human Camera

One of the top stories on digg today is about an autistic girl who sings the national anthem. It reminded me of this video I watched years ago that was incredibly fascinating, and insightful into the world of autism. The first half of the video is in "her own language" and the second half, 3:30 mark, is her explaining in english what is going on.

It took me a long time to find the video so i'm posting it...

Here's another video I watched years ago that's amazing. He's called the human camera.

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Does He Look Like a Bitch

I used to love Guess Who and still Love Pulp Fiction. Great Mashup!

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Spelling Bee

The National Scripts Spelling Bee is one of the greatest sporting events of the year. It pits brains and...well that's pretty much it. Brains vs. brains. I am completely enamored by the event mostly because I can't spell worth a dam (that's a spelling joke). The stress these kids go through as they stand on national television alone, just them and a panel of supposedly super smart adults who have the spelling of the word in front of them so it's easy to look smart, would make the common person crap their pants. It's surprising how many of the contestants left are of Indian descent. Here's an example of one of their names: Mouctika Paluri.

Here's a GREAT word i just learned.

hebdomadally: occurring every week

without missing a week; "she visited her aunt weekly"

On a related note, what's the deal with the word Biweekly? It has 2 definitions which appear to be in contrast with each other.

- Occurring twice a week

OR

- Occurring once every two weeks

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Housing Sales Up or Down?

I have two points to make about last months new housing sales reported today.

1. When housing sales for the month of April rose .3 percent with a +/- margin of error of 14.5 percent how can anyone use the number as a positive or a negative number. It is statistically irrelevant. "Margin of Error" is exactly that, the margin of error.

2. Sure, March to April sales have increased .3 percent (bullshit number) but April 2008 to 2009 sales have plummeted 34 percent +/- 11 percent (making the 34 percent statistically significant because even with the margin of error it's still a positive number). I woke up today to a cnn.com headline with encouraging news, HOME SALES RISE. They smartly removed the article shortly thereafter. I wonder what their editor does because they do this every month when the housing reports come out.

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