The Problem With Debt

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These are all from today’s headlines: Ireland told: Take EU bailout or trigger crisis – The Guardian Euro under siege as now Portugal hits panic button – Montreal Gazette Greek deficit much bigger than estimate – The Guardian Thirty years ago, we had the savings and loan crisis. Those were the good old days, when investors were only nervous about small banks. Investors have since become nervous about big banks, then non-bank financial institutions, and now small countries — Greece, Portugal, Ireland . . . That’s the problem with debt — bad things happen when your investors get nervous. What’s next? Medium-sized countries, obviously — Italy, Britain — and eventually the biggest of the big: the United States. Read more →

Don’t Invite Me

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If you invite me to a meeting, you’ll get my opinion. I’ll probably try to state it in a way that’s interesting and memorable — because I want you to remember it. Don’t confuse that with being frivolous though. I’m not pulling this stuff out of the air. It’s based on decades of knowledge and experience. If you’ve already decided what you want to do no matter what I say, don’t invite me to the meeting. If you want me to agree that something is a good idea when I don’t think it is, don’t invite me to the meeting. Thus spoke The Programmer. Read more →

Once Again, Age and Guile Triumph Over Youth and Talent

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We’re at the gas station . . . I’m in the passenger seat while my son fills ‘er up. “This pump doesn’t have any way to lock the handle in place,” he says. “I have to stand here and hold it.” “Really?” I say. Don’t pumps always have a way to lock the handle? “Yeah, really,” he says. “I’m 100 percent sure.” I’m about to get out of the car to look things over when he says, “Don’t get out of the car.” Ignoring this admonition, I get out of the car anyway and sure enough, the pump did have a locking mechanism at one time but it’s been removed. “You owe me 10 dollars,” the boy says. “Why?” “I told you you had to hold it,” he says. “I didn’t say you didn’t. I just wanted to size up the situation.” The problem is that in the process of… Read more →

Pick Your Battles

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We live in a fallen universe. We can at least be kind to one another and not jump on one another’s slightest errors or moods. In a desperate situation, pick your battles. — Jonathan Lethem Read more →

The Rising Burden of Government Debt

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Our analysis paints a sobering picture of worsening public debt dynamics and a sharply rising debt burden in advanced economies (AEs). But perhaps the worst is yet to come. First, AEs as a group are experiencing little population growth. Second, they are facing rapidly aging populations. Third, their economies are likely to register slow growth . . . Fourth, entitlement spending on health care and pensions is likely to explode due to unfavorable demographics. — The Rising Burden of Government Debt – Brookings Institution Read more →

EppsNet Restaurant Review: El Cholo (Irvine)

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Last night El Cholo was offering a special entree: Santa Barbara Enchiladas — shrimp, chicken, mushrooms and jack cheese. ¡Muy bueno! Again, that’s not on the regular menu but for a recommendation this is, you cannot go wrong with my favorite dish, the Sonora Style Enchilada. And a margarita! ¡Olé! Read more →

Happy Veterans Day

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My dad was a Naval Academy grad who served in World War II. My brother retired after 20+ years in the Air Force. Our family is not piggybacking on others when it comes to service to America. So why do I not get the day off? Read more →

Hope and Change

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I well remember the last time the Republicans rode into town to get our fiscal house in order and curb the growth of government. That was in 1994. Twelve years later, when our Republican heroes were themselves ridden out of town, they still hadn’t managed to eliminate the goddamned National Endowment for the Arts. — Steven Landsburg Landsburg offers a few bits of advice to the newcomers. Maybe things will be different this time . . . Read more →

The Final Belief

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The final belief is to believe in a fiction, which you know to be a fiction, there being nothing else. The exquisite truth is to know that it is a fiction and that you believe in it willingly. — Wallace Stevens Read more →

A Chance, Not an Embrace

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We make a great mistake if we believe that tonight these results are somehow an embrace of the Republican party. What they are is a second chance, a second chance for Republicans to be what they said they were going to be not so long ago. — Marco Rubio Read more →

No Moss

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The biggest lesson I’ve learned watching my kid play on sports teams over the years is that talent has a physical component and a mental component, and the mental component is far more important. Players who are physically talented can actually make a team worse if they don’t have their head in the game and they’re just doing their own thing out there. I thought of this as I was reading that the Vikings just cut Randy Moss . . . Read more →

Maurice Lucas, 1952-2010

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PORTLAND, Ore. — Maurice Lucas, the fierce power forward known as “The Enforcer” who helped lead the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA title, has died after a long fight with bladder cancer. He was 58. — ESPN I enjoyed watching this guy play. Did you know that former Blazer teammate Bill Walton named his son Luke after Lucas? Read more →

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